The Criminal Justice System has many styles and techniques that are used in law enforcement. The policing styles have changed over the years and has improved in areas that had been difficult to maintain in the past. The historical era of policing revolved around the watchman style of police work. The watchmen style of police work has evolved around keeping peace and catching criminals who were not following the laws. In the lower class neighborhoods is where many watchmen were used to keeping the disruptiveness down and maintain order.
The watchmen style worked well for that time period when the crime was not as prominent as it is today. The pros of this type of style were that police were able to keep peace in the towns they lived in and it was very productive. The downfall is that it was not as efficient as policing today. There were still criminals who were at large and there were no programs that helped change criminal lifestyles.
The legalistic style of police work was used after the watchmen and the styles were similar in nature. Legalistic policing consisted of following the law and enforcing it when necessary. The police in this era did not spend much time with social or legal issues that were brought forth in the communities. “The approach was the hands off scenario that was focused towards people who were a nuisance or bothersome in the neighborhoods” The legalistic style was proficient in keeping peace and enforcing the laws that were needed to maintain civil living styles. It worked fine for the era that it was used in. This type of policing would need more reinforcement to be able to control crime in the current time period. The downfall for this type of style is that it did not focus on the cause of crime to be able to deter it from reoccurring again. If crimes were occurring on a political aspect there were no involvement in trying to stop or deter those criminal activities.
The Service Style of policing was focused on helping the people in the communities. It was people oriented and offered services to help society in receiving the assistance they needed. This type of policing is used in today’s society. The officers would refer people to resources that would help them with services that they are needing assistance with. The police try to relate to citizens on friendly terms. “Law Enforcement wanted to eliminate the soldier style of authority and relate to the citizens on a more personal and resourceful level” .
The Service Style was very effective because it focused on the main points of crime and helping citizens with resources to stop crime from happening. If citizens were committing theft because they needed to feed their families, then the police would offer resources to help them from having to steal to have food. This type of policing style was very productive and it similar to what we use in today’s society. It focuses on the cause and reasons that crimes are committed and then offers assistance in changing the cause of those crimes.
This type of policing that is referred to today is community policing. It is related to the Service style policing techniques that were used prior to today’s society. The reason for the change in the police techniques was to gain trust within the communities. The officers would have better opportunities to gain information from the citizens if the citizens felt comfortable around officers. This type of policing has worked well since it has been put into action. People who live in the communities are more apt to assist police in catching criminals and stopping criminal acts before they occur. The citizens are the eyes of the communities and police can learn from this type of policing.
Work Cited
Hassell, Kimberly D. "Policing Styles ." Sage Journals (2015): 1-2. web.
