Desirable Police Model and Professionalization

 

 

1. Meaning of Public Safety

 

1) Significance of Public Safety

 

Maintaining the order and harmony of the community.

 

Importance of Public Safety

 

Necessary to prevent norms essential for the order and harmony of life from being violated by someone.

 

2) Subjects of Public Safety Activities

 

- (1) Public institutions and citizens

- Public safety activities are mainly carried out by public institutions and supplemented by citizens.

 

- (2) Citizens' Public Safety Activities

- Voluntary public safety activities

reporting of criminal incidents, reporting suspicious activities, lawful self-defense, arresting individuals caught in the act,

- Forced public safety activities

activities to avoid charges under the National Security Act, and non-compliance with the duty to assist public officials under the Criminal Act.

 

- (3) Private Organizations

- Private security companies, private investigators, private security, etc.

 

3) Types of Public Safety Activities

 

- (1) Private Security Services (Private Organizations) and Payment of Private Expenses

- Private provision of security services, funded privately, arising due to drawbacks in public safety, authoritarian bureaucracy leading to a decline in service quality, and lack of competitiveness.

 

- Drawbacks of excessive reliance on private security services:

- Unequal distribution of security services leading to neglect of those who cannot afford them.

 

- (2) Public Organizations and Private Expenses

- Emphasizes private security as a principle, providing public safety for those who cannot afford private security.

 

- (3) Private Organizations and Public Expenses

- Providing private security services with public funds, raising concerns about fairness and justice.

 

- (4) Coexistence of Public and Private Organizations

- Establishing a balance between public safety at a certain level and providing individual private security services, considered the most desirable form.

 

2. Desirable Role of the Police

 

1) Police Role According to Social Ideology

 

- (1) Police Role According to Social Ideology

 

- Conservatism:

- Emphasizes punishment for criminals, focusing on individual choices leading to crime.

- Solutions involve strict punishment for the severity of the crime.

 

- Progressivism:

- Recognizes social factors contributing to crime, emphasizing addressing societal issues for the rehabilitation of individuals.

 

- Reference to "Les Misérables" characters' ideologies.

 

- Importance of a combined approach of community-oriented conservatism and macroscopic progressivism.

 

2) Desirable Police Model

 

- (1) Practical Police Duties

- Involves crime prevention, suppression, investigation, traffic control, and prevention of dangers.

 

- (2) Current Main Image of the Police

- Crime-fighting police model:

- Perception that apprehending or subduing suspects is the main mission of the police.

 

- Reasons for this perception:

- Influence of mass media (TV dramas, movies), news media, internal police culture.

 

- Issues with the crime-fighting model:

- Inability to encompass all police duties.

- Risk of treating suspects as criminals, impacting morale of police involved in tasks beyond crime suppression.

 

- Police model as a service worker:

- Considered the most desirable police model.

 

- Concept:

- Encompasses all aspects of police activity, emphasizing service to citizens and community service.

 

- Role:

- Minimizes conflicts within the community, not only resolving existing problems but also attempting to address potential issues.

 

- Emphasizes non-authoritative safety services, such as notifying individuals walking in potentially unsafe areas.

3. Professionalization of the Police

 

1) Concept and Characteristics of a Profession

 

- (1) Concept:

- Involves utilizing systematically acquired knowledge for public service before pursuing self-interest.

 

- (2) Characteristics:

- High public respect, shared community consensus on the profession's social mission and role.

 

- Specialized knowledge and expertise, high education requirements, autonomy, and discretion.

 

- Institutionalized self-regulation to ensure service quality and protect professional understanding.

 

2) Lack of Professionalism in Police Organizations

 

- (1) Requirements for Fulfilling the Role of Police as Professionals

 

- Public service providers with specialized knowledge and skills.

 

- (2) Obstacles to Professionalization of Police Jobs

 

- Unclear distinction between tasks requiring professional skills and those that do not.

 

- Personnel systems that do not consider professional knowledge and skills.

 

- Lack of emphasis on higher education as the basis for police work.

 

- Lack of autonomy and discretion in police duties.

 

3) Direction for Desirable Police Professionalization

 

- (1) Reality of Police Professionalization

 

- Transformation of the entire organization into a profession is challenging due to the nature of police work.

 

- Professional status can be granted to specific departments.

 

- (2) Efforts for Professionalization

 

- Job analysis.

 

- Recruitment and higher education.

 

- Guaranteeing autonomy and discretion.

 

- Recognition from citizens.

 

- (3) Strategies for Police Professionalization

 

- Recognition as a semi-profession.

 

- Fostering a "professional spirit" among police officers.

 

- Institutional foundations for the "professional spirit."

 

- Improving the working environment for police, including addressing issues like treatment and organizational culture.

 

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Summary 

 

• What is policing: Maintaining order and harmony in a community
• Actors in policing: Public authorities and citizens
• Desired role of the police: security service provider
• Professionalisation of the police: public service providers with specialised knowledge and skills

 

Key issue

 

1. What is the ultimate purpose of policing?

To maintain order and harmony in the community.

 

2. What is the desired image of the police?

Policing service providers.

 

3. What are the barriers to the professionalisation of policing?

Personnel systems that do not take into account professional knowledge and skills, a police force that is not based on higher education, and a lack of autonomy and discretion.

 

 

Key questions

 

1. Which of the following is the most appropriate direction for the professionalisation of the police?

(A) make the entire police organisation professional.

(B) Granting professional status to some departments.

(C) recognise the police profession as a paraprofession.

(D) Increase police autonomy and discretion.

 

Answer: (B)

Because of the nature of police work, it is unlikely that the entire organisation will be transformed into a professional service, so it is desirable to grant professional status to some departments.

 

 

2. Which of the following would be the most appropriate institutional basis for professionalising the police?

(a) strengthening police college education

(b) amendment of the Police Service Act

(C) improving police treatment

(D) improving police organisational culture

 

Answer: (b)

To professionalise the police force, it is necessary to amend the Police Service Act to strengthen education and training to improve the professionalism of police officers and to create an institutional framework, including preferential treatment for those with higher education.

 

 

3. Which of the following is the most appropriate role for citizens to play in the professionalisation of the police?

(a) recognising police professionalism

(B) demanding better treatment of police officers

(C) working to improve police organisational culture

(D) active participation in police work

 

Answer:  (a)

It is up to citizens to recognise the police as a profession. When citizens recognise the professionalism of the police and trust their work, it creates an enabling environment for the police to fulfil their role as professionals.

 

 

4. Which of the following describes the ideology of conservatism?
(a) This is the idea of Father Molière in Les Misérables.
(B) General and special prevention can be done.
(C) The cause of crime is found in the influence of social factors.
(D) The solution to crime is to rehabilitate individuals and return them to normal life.

Answer: (B) The rest are all descriptions of the liberal ideology. Conservatism is an ideology that believes that crime is caused by individual choices and should be addressed through harsh punishment.

 

Key terms

• Security: The maintenance of order and harmony in a community.
• crime fighter: The predominant image of the police, a model that emphasises preventing and suppressing crime.
• policing service worker: A desirable image of the police, emphasising the provision of policing services.
• professional: a public service provider with specialised knowledge and skilled abilities.
• professionalisation: The process of acquiring the qualities and abilities of a profession