Introduction
The responsibility of upholding law and order in the United Kingdom in the 21st century is split among various entities. These organizations include the police forces of England and Wales, as well as those of Scotland and Northern Ireland. These organizations are responsible for maintaining law and order, protecting life and property, and suppressing criminal behavior.
Community policing, which involves forming relationships with local communities to address specific problems related to criminal activity and disruption, is given significant weight in the contemporary approach to policing in the United Kingdom. This approach emphasizes community policing. In many instances, this entails collaborating with other organizations to provide a coordinated response to criminal activity and community unrest.
Background of the Contemporary UK Policing
The British police force is composed of several separate organizations, each responsible for a unique range of responsibilities and possessing its own area of influence. The Metropolitan Police Service is the largest and most well-known of them, and it is responsible for upholding peace and order in the Greater London region. The West Midlands Police is the second-largest police force in the United Kingdom (Trendl, Steward, and Mullet, 2021). Its jurisdiction includes the West Midlands region. Additional law enforcement organizations in the United Kingdom include the Greater Manchester Police, the West Yorkshire Police, and the Police Service of Northern Ireland.
Each of these police departments possesses the authority necessary to launch investigations and bring cases before the courts. Their task can be viewed as complex because of the context-specific nature of crime (Piroozfar et al., 2019). Thus, the police force in the UK is structured into a variety of grades and posts, with chief constables serving as the most senior officers and being responsible for the overall management and direction of their respective police forces (Davis, 2020). They are assisted by various other senior officers, including assistant chief constables, chief superintendents, and superintendents, among others.
Role of Policing
The police force in the United Kingdom plays a crucial role in maintaining peace and order, as well as protecting the public. The regular members of the police force are supplemented by various specialized units that make up the United Kingdom’s police service. These include the Special Branch, responsible for counterterrorism and national security, and the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), which investigates serious crimes. Their collaborative contribution to the leadership practices truly demonstrates the skills and fundamental principles by which they operate.
The Department of Justice plays different functions compared to Homeland Security. This office is responsible for the majority of criminal law regulations. Making sure the suspect is responsible before being adjudicated in a court of law is one method of administering justice. Inspections help determine guilt or innocence.
The police force in the UK also receives assistance from a large number of civilian personnel who perform a wide range of administrative and support responsibilities. This includes jobs in forensic science, investigating crime scenes, working in offices, and preparing investigation reports (PoliceConductUK, 2020). Both the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) and the courts are essential components of the criminal justice system in the United Kingdom, and the police force maintains strong relationships with both of these institutions. The Crown Prosecutor Service (CPS) must bring all criminal matters before a judge in court, where the judge will then hear the cases and decide how they should be settled.
Walklate et al. (2022) clearly mention that they can grant a petitioner the privilege of going over every trial. The CPS is well-known for its professionalism and dedication to duty, despite facing various challenges, including limited funding, shifting patterns of criminal activity, and evolving public perceptions. There has been a recent pushback from the general public against the excessive use of force by police and instances of racism within specific police units. To win back the trust and confidence of the communities they protect, the government and police forces have taken specific steps to address these issues.
In the early years of the new century, the city of Manchester in England, located in the United Kingdom, served as the setting for a police operation that was known as “Operation Castle.” The purpose of the operation was to bring the rate of violent gun crime and activities associated with gangs in the city down to a manageable level (Waddington & Lister, 2021). Greater Manchester Police (GMP) was responsible for it, and it employed a range of methods, including the authority to stop and search individuals, increased patrols, and the use of surveillance equipment.
Ethics and Police Response
Warning a motorist and informing him that what he did was improper is still maintaining and applying the law. However, the everyday application of the law tends to lean more toward policing contentious situations involving the public. It also requires balancing individual privacy rights and social safety (Almeida, Shmarko, and Lomas, 2022).
The duty of the police is typically more about mediating conflicts so that they may be resolved in court, whether they are breaking up a domestic quarrel, a noisy party, or a traffic bottleneck. As a result, it might be argued that the actual, practical function of police in society is to serve as quick-fix arbitrators. A law enforcement officer should uphold the law as well as enforce it.
The operation was started as a response to a series of shootings and other events involving guns that took place all across the city, most notably in the communities of Moss Side and Longsight. These incidents prompted the police to act quickly (Lomas, 2022). Local communities and other organizations, such as the juvenile services, worked closely with the Gun Crime Task Force to obtain information and identify individuals involved in gun crime (Osei-Berchie et al., 2019, pp. 102-441). They utilized current technology, including cameras with Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR), to track the movements of individuals they suspected were members of a criminal gang.
The ANPR launched a thorough investigation into this problem with funds released from the national treasury. Findings of the investigation reveal that the operation was successful in reducing the quantity of gun crime and violence related to gangs in the city (Engel, McManus, and Isaza, 2020). A report from the Greater Manchester Police states that the operation led to a significant reduction in the number of shootings and police use of force in the areas targeted by the operation (Engel, McManus, and Isaza, 2020). The operation itself reportedly caused this reduction. In addition to that, it led to the arrest and conviction of several people for various additional offences that involved guns.
On the other hand, some people have expressed their disapproval of the operation, claiming that it unfairly targeted minority populations and led to an increase in the number of searches and stops that were conducted on people of ethnic minorities. These individuals have voiced their disapproval of the operation by using the phrase “targeted minority populations” (Loader & Walklate, 2019). They also claimed that the operation has not addressed the underlying socioeconomic concerns that lead to gun crime, and that the problem of gun violence in Manchester has not been entirely remedied as a result of the operation. These claims were made in conjunction with the assertion that the operation has not been successful in reducing gun crime.
The Role of Law Enforcement in the 21st Century
In the contemporary world that we live in at the turn of the 21st century, there are many different aspects to the role the police are required to play. The police are assigned the task of enforcing rules and regulations, as well as maintaining public safety and order. This responsibility falls under their jurisdiction as it is within their scope to do so. This includes giving help during times of crisis, preventing and investigating criminal conduct, and making arrests when necessary (Loader & Walklate, 2019). It is the responsibility of the police to protect the citizens of the community, both in terms of their lives and their possessions (Lea & Young, 2022). This includes a variety of functions, such as responding to requests for assistance, conducting investigations of crimes, and providing security for events and other public gatherings.
Investigations being carried out: The task of identifying criminals and bringing them to justice falls squarely on the shoulders of the police, who are tasked with investigating crimes and gathering evidence. This requires cooperation with other agencies, such as forensic labs and the court system, conducting interviews with witnesses and suspects, collecting and analyzing forensic evidence, and building relationships with local communities to combat specific crimes and other forms of disturbance.
Community policing is an approach where police focus on establishing relationships with local communities to address particular crimes and disturbances. This form of policing is also known as “neighborhood policing” (Kochel & Skogan, 2021). To accomplish this, it is necessary to work together with other organizations, such as neighborhood councils and social assistance agencies, to provide a coordinated response to problems such as lawbreaking and anarchy in the community.
Maintaining the Status Quo
The duty of keeping order and ensuring the public’s safety falls on the shoulders of the police force during all forms of public gatherings, including marches, rallies, and other events. They have been tasked with maintaining order and protecting the rights of all participants while avoiding acts of violence and criminality. According to Brayne (2020), it is the duty of the police force to make use of emerging technology and data analytics to raise the level of effectiveness and productivity achieved by their operations.
Examples of such tools include surveillance cameras, social media platforms, drones, and many other types of technology. The function of the police force can shift depending on circumstances such as the political climate, the severity of the criminal activity, and the geographic location of a particular area. In spite of this, the primary roles of the police force in today’s society are to protect the members of the community, enforce the law, serve the community, and secure the general public’s safety.
The Greater Manchester Police (GMP) should be more forthcoming about the operation, including its objectives, procedures, and findings (Lea & Young, 2019). The level of responsibility that is expected of them will consequently increase as a result of this. This could involve giving regular updates on the operation’s progress and making those updates available to the broader public. In addition, the GMP ought to have a higher level of accountability for its operations by allowing a greater degree of independent oversight. This can be accomplished by allowing third parties to have a greater degree of control over the GMP.
Engage the Members of the Community
The GMP will need to involve members of the community in preparing and carrying out the operation. One alternative is to try to lessen the number of firearms available in the first place (Lea & Young, 2019). It could involve working with community organizations to address the underlying issues that contribute to gun crime and hosting public meetings to receive input and feedback from members of the public.
Take the necessary steps to address the fundamental issues: The operation should take steps to address the underlying socioeconomic problems that contribute to gun violence. This could entail collaborating with the municipal administration and several other groups to offer assistance and support to persons and communities who are vulnerable (Fox, 2019). These difficulties include poverty, unemployment, and a lack of educational opportunities and other avenues to achievement. Gun crime is one of the many negative consequences of these issues.
Conduct an assessment of the use of stop and search powers. During the operation, the Greater Manchester Police Department (GMP) should review stop and search powers to ensure that they are being used appropriately and not disproportionately targeting minority populations. This could involve instituting training for officers on the appropriate use of stop and search and gathering statistics on the race and ethnicity of those who are stopped and searched. Alternatively, this could refer to the practice of searching and stopping people at random.
Promote Alternatives and Regular Evaluation
The Gun Violence Prevention Task Force should promote alternatives to standard policing approaches, such as community-based policing and restorative justice initiatives, to address the underlying causes of gun crime and cut down on recidivism. By integrating the lesson into the school curriculum, the task force can enlighten the community to create a culture of gun safety (Turner, 2019). Independent bodies should regularly evaluate the operation to assess its efficacy and identify areas that require improvement.
Collaborate with Other Agencies
The GMP should collaborate with other agencies, such as health and social services, education, and housing, to offer a complete and coordinated response to gun crime and to address the underlying conditions that lead to it. According to Rich (2019), most police departments in the UK have a post-incident way of handling issues. Although the method has been prevalent for years, it is better if the cases can be foreseen before they happen.
Police Governance and Performance Management
Police Governance
The structure of police governance can affect the success of an operation like Operation Castle. For example, if the operation is not adequately planned, coordinated, and managed, it may not be as effective in reaching its aims. A well-structured governance system may ensure that the operation is correctly planned and that resources are allocated effectively, for as Green (2019) puts it, “good is not enough.” Proper coordination among the key players within the police administration can greatly enhance job performance in the field.
Performance Management
Performance management can affect the outcome of an operation like Operation Castle by ensuring it is carried out correctly and efficiently. The use of performance indicators and targets can help monitor the operation’s success and identify areas that require improvement. The GMP should have a performance management system in place to monitor and analyze the operation and make improvements as needed.
Transparency and Accountability
Good governance and performance management can also help ensure the operation’s transparency and accountability. This involves regular reporting on the operation’s progress and making this information available to the public. The various departments also set strategic objectives, which are spearheaded by top-ranked government officials (Lomas, 2022). The GMP should be open to independent scrutiny of the operation to ensure it is carried out appropriately.
Community Engagement
Good governance and performance management can help guarantee that the community is engaged in the operation. This can involve frequently communicating with the community about the operation, soliciting feedback, and incorporating community members in the planning and implementation of the operation.
Collaboration
Effective governance and performance management can ensure that the GMP collaborates efficiently with other agencies, such as the council and social services, to provide a coordinated response to gun crime and tackle its root causes. Police governance and performance management can play an essential role in determining the result of an operation like Operation Castle.By ensuring that the operation is appropriately planned, managed, and reviewed, and the community is engaged and informed, the GMP can improve the odds of reaching its aims and lowering gun crime in the city.
Ethics and Principles Important for Policing
Accountability of the Police
The system of policing that the Metropolitan Police Department implements is known as the Tripartite structure. The Home Secretary of the Central Government, the Chief Constables of Individual Forces, and the Police Authorities all participate in a power-sharing arrangement as part of this structure, which acts as a form of governance for the organization (Engel, McManus, and Isaza, 2020). The Home Secretary has the authority to approve the appointed Chief Officers whom local police administrations have chosen. The Home Secretary also has jurisdiction over implementing salary and working conditions regulations.
The Chief Constables of each force direct and control operational matters, and the Police Authorities are obligated to designate senior officers and receive an annual written report from them. Funding for policing is provided by both the central and local governments, with the central government contributing 51% and local governments providing 49%.
The Officers of the Metropolitan Police
Sir Robert Peel is largely considered the person who formed the Metropolitan Police.It was popularly referred to as the “Bobbies,” combining the River Thames Marine Police Force, which was created in 1798, and the Bow Street Horse Patrol, which was established in 1805 (Cote, 2021). The Metropolitan Police is a police organization with a decentralized command structure that reports to the Ministry of Defense.
Norms Regarding Recruitment
The minimum age needed to become a constable is 1812 years old. When entering the military, there is no maximum age restriction; yet, the normal retirement age is 55. Now, joining the police force does not entail meeting any particular height restrictions, either minimum or maximum. Although there are no official educational prerequisites for recruitment into the police force, applicants are expected to take two written examinations, the goal of which is to ensure that they have a suitable level of English proficiency.
After the final stage of the process, an interview with a panel of more senior officers and civilian personnel officials, the candidate is expected to complete criminal conviction checks and acquire clearance into secure areas (Waddington & Lister, 2021). In addition to this, one will be asked to demonstrate proficiency in mathematics. The arithmetic and reading comprehension examinations, combined with the observation evaluations, make up the Initial Recruitment Test for the Police Department. Candidates who have made it through the previous stage of the selection process will be put through a battery of exams consisting of role-playing scenarios.
Instruction for Probationers
Following the various rounds of the recruitment procedure, the recruits complete an intensive training period to become probationer constables. In addition to this, the probationer will spend time with a tutor constable with the aim that they will obtain crucial practical operational experience throughout this period (Walker, 2011). In most circumstances, this will require a time of residence at a regional training center, during which core police officer talents will be taught (Engel, McManus, and Isaza, 2020). Once every two years, confirmation of appointment to the office of Constable is affirmed only if additional training and an evaluation of performance have been completed (Reiner, 2020). During this phase, the probationary constable will be provided with the tools and training to build the confidence necessary to patrol independently.
Important Responsibilities of a Police Officer
A police officer is an official representative of the government and is tasked with the obligation of working within the constitutional framework. This responsibility requires the officer to adhere to the law at all times. This country’s laws and constitution give police officers the authority to do their jobs and the power to enforce the laws.A police officer’s principal responsibilities include, among other things, serving the society they are assigned to defend, safeguarding the lives and property of the people they are assigned to protect, and preventing harm from coming to innocent civilians. In addition, all members of the police force will be held accountable for promoting and preserving peace and stability, as well as the protection of the fundamental rights of all citizens to be treated with freedom, equality, and justice.
The Essential Dispensation of Duty, Impartiality, and Objectivity
It is expected that a police officer will carry out all of their duties in an impartial manner, without showing favoritism, affection, or malicious intent. They will also be expected to carry out their responsibilities without showing favoritism toward the status, sexual orientation, racial or religious affiliation, or religious or political leanings of other people in any way.The law will treat each individual with consideration, courtesy, and dignity on the same level, regardless of who they are or their background (Muñoz Terrón, 2021).
Officers will try to prevent their personal feelings, friendships, and rivalries from affecting their official reputation. In carrying out their responsibilities, the rules will be enforced in an appropriate and respectful manner. Officers are expected to make every effort to get the full participation of members of the general public. They will also be expected to portray themselves in a way and style that inspires confidence in them and reverence for their position of public trust.
Employing an Unreasonable Amount of Force
Every single police officer is required to adhere to the rule that they will never use unnecessary force or act violently, and that they will only use as much force in the performance of their responsibilities as is reasonable given the circumstances.This is the case even when it is impossible to avoid using force (Collins, 1998). The use of force shall be contemplated with the utmost amount of caution, and only after it has been determined that other methods, such as conversations, negotiations, and persuasions, are either unsuitable or ineffective. It is required by law that all police officers be prohibited from unnecessarily inflicting injuries, pain, and agony on citizens. They should also refrain from participating in brutal, debasing, and dehumanizing treatments of other citizens and civilians.
Integrity
No member of the police force will be permitted to participate in illegal activities like bribery or corruption, nor will they be permitted to condone the behavior of their fellow officers who engage in such activities. The inviolability of a police officer’s moral compass is a requirement shared by the government and the general public. In any circumstance, police officers are instructed to refuse to accept any gifts, presents, favors, gratuities, or promises that could be seen as attempts to prevent the officers from carrying out their duties in an open and accountable way (Caldero & Crank, 2010). To maintain the public’s trust in law enforcement agencies, police personnel are obligated to abstain from any conduct that could cast doubt on their ethics and, as a result, reduce the public’s confidence in those agencies.
Coordination and Collaboration with Law Enforcement Agencies
In pursuing justice, police personnel must collaborate with all constitutionally authorized authorities and their representatives. Under any circumstances, police officers must assist their fellow officers comprehensively and respectfully, showing the utmost respect for their colleagues (Reiner, 2020). A police officer or agency may be one of the many institutions that can provide law enforcement services to different jurisdictions.
Confidentiality
Everything a police officer sees, hears, or gets wind of that is considered confidential in form will be kept a secret, except for situations in which the dispensation of duty or the legal provisions demand otherwise. Information obtained on them must never, under any circumstances, be divulged to a third party without first obtaining their approval, unless such disclosure is required by law (Shearing & Stenning, 2020). Everyone, including civilians and officers of the government, has the legal right to privacy and confidentiality.
Problems when Handling Volume and Priority
Crimes
Police officers may face several issues when dealing with volume and priority crimes, including problems in resource allocation.Volume and priority crimes can consume a large amount of police resources, such as personnel and equipment, making it challenging to allocate resources to other areas of policing (Gill et al., 2020). Dealing with a high volume of crimes can lead to a significant workload for officers, leading to burnout and decreased job satisfaction. Determining which crimes are considered high-priority and allocating resources accordingly can be challenging for police departments.
The trust offered by the community to the police is crucial to help the administration operate at the optimum level (Lomas et al., 2022). When police are seen as over-policing a specific community or demographic, it can lead to a lack of trust and cooperation between law enforcement and the community. Since the citizens make laws in a country, civic rights are one of the significant problems. A focus on volume and priority crimes can lead to practices such as racial profiling, which can result in civil rights violations.
The police also face great difficulty in investigating and solving crimes. Priority crimes are often complex and require significant time and resources to investigate and solve. Repeated offenders often commit priority crimes, which can be difficult to arrest and prosecute. The police department might face public criticism if they are not seen to be addressing the priority crimes effectively. High crime rates can make the community feel unsafe, negatively impacting the overall quality of life (Osei-Berchie et al., 2019, pp. 102-441). High crime rates can deter businesses and investment, negatively impacting the economy. The police and the government administration should carefully consider the vulnerable population in society. Priority crimes such as violent crimes, drug offenses, and human trafficking can disproportionately affect vulnerable populations, such as the elderly and low-income individuals. Specific communities may be disproportionately impacted by volume and priority crimes, which can lead to racial and ethnic disparities.
Conclusion and Recommendation
In contemporary policing, addressing volume and priority crimes has become increasingly crucial as crime rates change and evolve. Police agencies use various techniques to address volume and priority crimes, such as data-driven policing, community policing, intelligence-led policing, problem-oriented policing, and hot spot policing. However, these strategies can also lead to issues related to over policing and civil rights violations if not implemented correctly. Therefore, it is essential for police agencies to continually evaluate and adapt their strategies to address volume and priority crimes in a way that is effective, fair, and respects the rights of community members.
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