Back in the 19th century, politics had a huge influence on policing in America. This was a big worry for both regular folks and those who wanted to improve the police system. People tried to change things, but it was tough.
In the early 20th century, the Progressives, distinct from today’s “liberal” connotation, catalyzed a pivotal shift in American policing. Focused on systemic reforms rather than modern liberal social policies, they sought to enhance efficiency and combat corruption in law enforcement. Their efforts led to the professionalization of the police, merit-based hiring, and the integration of new technologies. This pragmatic movement fundamentally reshaped policing, laying the groundwork for contemporary law enforcement strategies.
Goals of Police Reform
Getting Politics Out of Policing
One main goal was to stop politicians from calling the shots in policing. Instead of politicians picking police officers and bosses to help them with their political plans, there were new rules for hiring and choosing police staff. This was a big step toward making things fairer.
Making Policing More Professional
Another goal was to up the game in policing – to make it more professional. This meant setting high standards for who could become a police officer, giving them better training, and using cool tech like motorized patrol cars and two-way radios. This was all about making the police better and more effective at their job.
🔍 Reflect
How do you think removing political influence from policing might have changed the way police officers did their job back then?
The Wickersham Commission Era
The Rise of the “Crime Fighter”
In the early 20th century, American police started focusing more on fighting crime. The Wickersham Commission in 1931 played a big part in this shift. This group looked into why crime was going up and why the police were struggling to handle it. They suggested that police should concentrate more on stopping crime, instead of the community help they used to do in the old days.
Big Changes in Policing
New Hiring and Training Practices
One major change was how police officers were chosen and trained. To keep politics out of policing, they started using a system called civil service for hiring and promoting officers. This made sure only the right people became cops. They also began to give police better training.
Smarter Policing
Police bosses got smarter about how they used their teams. They began placing officers in areas based on what those neighborhoods needed. Plus, they started using two-way radios for better communication, keeping better records, and using new tech like fingerprinting and lie detectors.
The Birth of Traffic Police
With more cars on the roads, there was a need for traffic control. That’s when state highway police came into the picture, helping to manage the increasing traffic.
🔍 Reflect
How do you think the changes in policing during this era, like focusing more on crime control and using new technologies, affected everyday life in communities?
Progressivism and Policing
A Wave of Change: The Progressive Era
At the end of the 19th century, a big movement called Progressivism started. It was all about making big changes in society and politics, and the police were a big part of this. The goal? To shake things up in policing and reduce the control local politicians had over the police force.
Leading the Charge: Chief Richard Sylvester
One key player was Chief Richard Sylvester. He was president of the International Association of Chiefs of Police and pushed for a more social work approach in policing. His idea? Help offenders get back on track, not just punish them.
Civil Service: A Game Changer
A huge change was the introduction of civil service in policing. This meant police officers were picked and promoted based on their skills and tests, not because they knew someone in politics. This was a big step towards making the police force more professional and skilled.
August Vollmer: A Pioneer in Police Reform
Then there was August Vollmer, a police chief in Berkeley, California. He had some groundbreaking ideas about what it meant to be a professional police force: focusing on stopping crime, having educated officers, and serving the public without political bias. He was also into using science and technology in policing, like forensic science and cars, and he set up a code of ethics for his officers.
O. W. Wilson: Efficiency and Innovation
One of Vollmer’s students, O. W. Wilson, brought scientific management into policing. He was all about making policing more efficient and even suggested patrolling with just one officer. Later, he became a big name in police administration and taught at the University of California at Berkeley.
Technological Advances: Changing the Game
During the 1930s and 1940s, technology was also changing fast. Cars, phones, and two-way radios started becoming part of police work, making it easier and more effective.
🔍 Reflect
How do you think these reforms and technological advancements in policing during the Progressive Era impacted the relationship between the police and the community?
The Downsides of Policing Professionalism
The Gap Between Police and Community
In the early 1900s, when governments and police forces were trying to become more professional, something unexpected happened. Police started to drift away from the communities they served. Officers were switched around to different areas and shifts to prevent corruption, but this meant they weren’t getting to know the local people.
Technology: A Double-Edged Sword
Cars and fast communication also played a part. The friendly police officer walking the beat became less common as cars took over. Then, in the 1970s, the 911 system meant police could respond to emergencies super fast. But the downside? They were so busy responding to calls that they had less time for preventing crime.
Computers and Crime Data
Computers changed things too. They were great at tracking crime patterns and making dispatch more efficient. But as police focused more on these stats, they interacted less with the people they were supposed to serve. It became more about responding quickly than really understanding community needs.
Random Patrolling: Losing Touch
The strategy of random patrolling made things worse. Police routes kept changing to outsmart criminals, but it also meant that locals never knew when they might see an officer. This made it hard for communities to build a relationship with their police.
The Era of “Us vs. Them”
All these changes, plus a spike in crime and big social changes, made it hard for police to connect with everyone, especially in diverse communities. The relationship between police and the public suffered. In some places, it even turned into an “us versus them” situation. Michael Harrington, a social activist and writer, summed it up: “For the urban poor, the police are those who arrest you.”
🔍 Reflect
How do you think the shift towards professionalism in policing, with less community interaction, affected the trust and relationship between police officers and the communities they served?
Policing in the Age of Social Discord
A Time of Upheaval: The 1960s and 1970s
In the 1960s and 1970s, America was buzzing with new ideas and protests. People from all walks of life, like anti-war activists and civil rights fighters, were standing up for what they believed in. The police, who weren’t really ready for all this social change, ended up being seen as a symbol of what needed to change in the government and society.
Police Under the Spotlight
This period put a lot of focus on police policies and practices. People started questioning how the police worked and their role in society. Police faced a lot of hostility, which made police leaders stop and think deeply about what was going on and why.
Calls for Change in Policing
Cities struggled to manage all the unrest, and soon civic leaders and politicians were asking for a big review of how the police did their jobs. From 1968 to 1973, three big Presidential Commissions suggested lots of changes to policing. These ideas got support from groups outside the police, like the U.S. Department of Justice, which worked with police departments open to new ideas.
Investing in a Better Police Force
The government spent millions on criminal justice education and supported police training, conferences, research, and tech upgrades. This was a big push to improve how the police worked.
Organizations Leading the Way
In the 1970s, several key organizations stepped up to help improve policing. Groups like the Police Foundation, the Police Executive Research Forum, and the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives were at the forefront. They did a lot of research that helped police rethink their traditional methods.
🔍 Reflect
Considering the social movements and demands for change during the 1960s and 1970s, how do you think these changes in policing strategies and the involvement of various organizations might have impacted public trust in the police?
The Birth of Policing Research
A New Era of Understanding Policing
With more federal money and a growing interest in criminal justice education, the 1970s saw a boom in police research. This wasn’t just any research, though. It started challenging what people always thought was true about policing.
Discovering the Unseen Side of Crime
One of the big surprises? Federal surveys showed that a lot of crimes were never even reported. This was a wake-up call for the police. They realized they were only seeing a small part of the crime picture and needed to work on their image and how they connected with communities.
The Kansas City Experiments: A Turning Point
The Kansas City Preventive Patrol Experiment
This was a real game-changer. The experiment found that just randomly patrolling areas didn’t do much to reduce crime or change how people felt about the police. This made police leaders start thinking about new ways to use their patrol officers.
Rapid Response: Not Always the Answer
Another study from Kansas City looked at how quickly police responded to crimes. The finding? Getting to the scene super fast didn’t usually help solve crimes. This was another big moment that made police rethink their strategies.
🔍 Reflect
How do you think these new findings from police research in the 1970s, like the limited impact of random patrols and rapid response, influenced the way police departments planned their strategies and interacted with communities?
Academic Studies in Policing
The Kansas City Experiment: A New Perspective on Crime
The Kansas City Experiment in the 1970s showed that quick police response didn’t always stop serious crimes. Why? Because many crimes weren’t reported quickly enough. This led to the idea that a fast police arrival might not always be the key to solving crimes.
Rethinking Emergency Responses
This study highlighted the need for better call-screening. By figuring out which calls were super urgent and which weren’t, police could use their time more wisely. This could give officers more time to connect with the community.
Birmingham’s Innovative Approach
In Birmingham, Alabama, the police tried new ways to manage calls and improve how people felt about their service. They used different strategies like call-prioritization and delayed responses, and guess what? People were still happy with the police service.
Directed Patrol: A Targeted Approach
The Directed Patrol study suggested a big change. Instead of random patrols, officers could focus on specific crimes. This meant using crime analysis and other support systems to guide where and how officers spent their time.
The San Diego Studies: Breaking New Ground
In the 1970s, the San Diego Police did some important research. They looked at using one-officer vs. two-officer patrol cars, how questioning suspicious people affected crime, and they even did the first study on community policing. This involved officers really getting to know their beats and coming up with custom strategies for each area. They found that getting to know the community and building strong ties was super important.
Problem-Oriented Policing: A Game Changer
In 1979, Herman Goldstein came up with “problem-oriented policing” (POP). This was all about police tackling the root causes of ongoing problems, not just reacting to incidents. A study in Newport News, Virginia, showed that POP really worked well for solving community issues.
The Rand Study on Detectives
The Rand Corporation’s study shook things up by showing that detectives only solved a small percentage of crimes. It suggested that patrol officers should get more involved in investigations to help solve cases quicker.
Foot Patrols: Building Trust
Foot patrols, like those in Newark and Flint, showed that police walking in neighborhoods could improve relations with the community, make people feel safer, and even make officers happier with their jobs.
🔍 Reflect
How do you think these studies and innovations in policing, like problem-oriented policing and the focus on community engagement, have shaped modern police practices and their relationship with the community?
The Police Response to Changing Times
Police Leadership in Times of Change
In the 1960s and 1970s, some dynamic police leaders took part in Presidential Commissions and helped form new police organizations. They were all about making policing better. But, when they tried to bring these new ideas back to their own departments, it wasn’t easy. They often felt alone in their efforts.
The Struggle with Community Policing
Even though community policing was a big idea, old ways of doing things made it tough to put into practice. Many police managers and officers found it hard to let go of the traditional methods they were used to. So, it wasn’t surprising that these new approaches often got swallowed up by the old ways. Innovators in the police force sometimes even faced suspicion that they were being influenced by outsiders or just trying to advance their own careers.
Embracing New Ideas
Fast forward to today, and many police managers have studied all the new research and ideas from the last few decades. Things that were once seen as radical are now seen as essential for doing a good job. Progressive police leaders know they can’t just make small tweaks to the old ways; they need to really change how they manage and operate.
Learning from Corporate America
Taking a cue from the business world, police managers are starting to use total quality or participatory management. This means they’re realizing that police officers and other employees should have a say in how things are done. The old management styles that kept ideas from flowing and stopped innovation are making way for new approaches. Police understand that those who work in the community know best what it needs and how to provide it.
Involving the Community
There’s also a growing recognition that it’s not just about the police deciding what’s important. The community they serve needs to have a say in setting priorities and working together to come up with creative solutions to the problems of crime and violence.
A Profession Ready for Change
Today, the push for change in policing is coming from the police themselves. The move towards community policing shows a real effort by the profession to rethink its policies and methods. Combining the key parts of community policing with the methods they already use is just the start of this ongoing change.
🔍 Reflect
How do you think the shift towards community-oriented policing and more inclusive management practices has influenced the effectiveness of policing and the relationship between the police force and the communities they serve?
Summary
Over the past century, American policing has undergone significant transformations, influenced by political, social, and technological changes.
Initially, policing in the 19th century was heavily influenced by politics, causing public concern. The early 20th century brought about a wave of reform, driven by the Progressives, who sought to professionalize policing and remove political influence. This led to the establishment of standards for police recruitment and training, and the adoption of new technologies like motorized patrol cars and two-way radios.
The Wickersham Commission of 1931 marked another pivotal moment, emphasizing the role of police as crime fighters and advocating for a shift away from community services. This era also saw advancements such as the civil service system for hiring, improved police training, and the introduction of traffic police.
However, these reforms led to unintended consequences. The professionalization and reliance on technology created a gap between the police and the community, with increased focus on rapid response and randomized patrolling, resulting in a loss of community connection and trust.
The social upheavals of the 1960s and 1970s brought policing under scrutiny again. Presidential Commissions and new police organizations suggested reforms, focusing on community engagement and better management of police resources. However, the transition to community policing was challenging, hindered by traditional practices and skepticism among police ranks.
Research in the 1970s, like the Kansas City Experiment, highlighted the limitations of rapid response and random patrols, leading to more focused and community-oriented strategies. Studies emphasized the importance of police-community relations, problem-oriented policing, and the role of patrol officers in investigations.
Today, police leaders recognize the need for significant changes in management and operational practices, drawing inspiration from corporate management models. There’s a growing understanding that effective policing requires community input and collaboration, and that officers need to be actively involved in understanding and addressing community needs. The shift towards community-oriented policing and inclusive management practices signifies an ongoing transformation within the profession, aiming to rebuild trust and effectiveness in policing.
Key Terms
References and Further Reading
- Goldstein, H. (1979). Improving Policing: A Problem-Oriented Approach. Crime and Delinquency 25.
- Eck, John E., and Spelman, W. (1987). Problem-Solving: Problem-Oriented Policing in Newport News. Washington, D.C.: Police Executive Research Forum.
Modification History File Created: 08/15/2018 Last Modified: 12/12/2023
This work is licensed under an Open Educational Resource-Quality Master Source (OER-QMS) License.
