- 24/01/2013
- Posted by: essay
- Category: Free essays
Police work has two main functions: to prevent and suppress violations of rules and norms of the society, and implementation of state management. Thus, we can speak of functional dualism of the police, since it serves as a punitive and law enforcement agencies and at also is a subsystem of government.
Any state-organized society has the police apparatus. Police (law enforcement) function becomes inseparable from the state, as the police and legal system of society can not be separated “as a knife blade and its cutting edge”.
With regard to police work in a modern state is observed to complete interdependence of the social role and nature of a particular state. In recent years most countries have made active attempts to update the concepts of policing and, above all, its value-orientation toward effectiveness in compliance and protection of citizens.
The functions of police and actions of policemen in modern states are entirely dependent on social role and nature of a particular state. In recent years most countries have made active attempts to update the concepts of policing and, above all, its value-orientation toward effectiveness in compliance and protection of citizens.
In modern times of problems of civil rights protection and fight with terrorism, police in the mechanism of the modern state has an important task. Underlying this concept is the proposition that the power given by law to the police from the public is based on the principles of democracy in accordance with the needs of society, the protection of public safety in partnership with it.
Policing functions and activities
In a democratic state police serve different functions, but the repressive and punitive functions are giving way to problems of law enforcement and public safety, prevention and control of crime, providing a wide range of social services to the civil society.
As a result, police face the need to change the most important tasks of professional socialization, law-abiding and professional culture of their employees. The functions of the police calling for modernization include: safety and protection of constitutional rights and freedoms, and regulatory and public services.
We can talk about the appearance in the public arena of policing, which serves as the prevention and suppression of violations of rules and norms of the society, and if necessary to use force methods, and this possibility of coercive measures is specificity of policing. In this regard, it should be noted that the use of force, even if it is authorized by law, is not enough to qualify for police work. An important aspect of police work is the realization of the functions of government. (Harris 2004)
In general the function of the police are:
– Due to nature of the state and the role that is defined by law as a body of state;
– Corresponds to the stage of evolutionary development of a separate state;
– Reflects the basic, the most important aspects of police activities aimed at fulfilling the tasks set by the State and enshrined by the legislator;
– Defines the priorities of policing in a particular State, and the very essence of the police;
– Due to the essence and content of law and applied in accordance with the requirements of social development.
It is important to mention a Law Enforcement Code of Ethics of 1957 which was taken by the International Association of Chiefs of Police, superseded by the Police Code of Conduct in 1989. This code points the values of impartial performance, the limited use of force, confidentiality of police-generated knowledge, integrity in the face of corruption and abuse of power, cooperation with other criminal justice agencies, personal responsibility for conduct and regard for the profession in one’s private life. (The Institute for Criminal Justice Ethics)
So, the modern police should meet all these requirements, that can be guaranteed by the system of police in the United States, that addresses the requirements of democratic society. The main task of the police is to ensure law and order in society, and combating crime, but since crime is a social phenomenon, then, acting on its prevention, the police also have to solve social issues.
Main principles and responsibilities of the Police
The policeman must meet certain legal obligations which the law imposes on him through the task of protecting their fellow citizens and society against violence, theft and other acts that cause harm. The law lies at the basis of every democratic society, so the task of policing and its main responsibility is to respect the law and take all the actions only under the law.
Every police officer must perform his duty honestly, fairly and with dignity. In particular, he should strongly oppose in every way and avoid all forms of corruption , there is no definitions of corruption, but every policeman knows what it means. Avoidance of bribery and corruption is of great importance, because safety and welfare of the whole society depend from the honest performance of functions and duties by policemen. (Skogan & Frydl 2004)
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