Introduction
For one to understand the new demands placed on policing as a result of the war on terror, it is important to define the police as well as policing. In this case the police refer to an association that has been recruited by the government to maintain law and order as well as prevent crime.
Policing refers to the concern by law enforcement representatives such as the state police, business firms as well as citizens in creation of an environment that guarantees the citizens of a nation of their safety (Bayley & Shearing 1996, p. 590).
It is noteworthy that traditionally policing in countries all over the world was concerned with the security of citizens from internal threat as well as maintenance of law and order within the country with no consideration of external threats.
Nevertheless, we are presently living in an era characterized by global violence. The character and form of terrorism has become more diverse and multifaceted and rebel groups have become even more elusive and intricate.
As a result, new demands have been placed on policing from the international war on terror. The aim of this study is to investigate the new demands that have been placed on terrorism as a result of the international war on terror.
Types of policing systems
Traditional types of policing
There are mainly two types of policing namely: the control- dominated system and the community- oriented system.
The control dominated system
In this system of policing, the main role of the police is maintaining order in a situation where the populace does not identify the state as well as its mediators namely the police as lawful.
In communities where this type of policing system exists, the police may engage in a variety of managerial responsibilities on behalf of the state, but seldom give a public service that deals with the interests of the society. The police force is a well ordered and managed organization with the paramilitary features. As a result the difference between the police and the military is small.
This system can be accredited with the conventional policing that was utilized in Continental Europe. In this case settlements were put up by Britain and its European neighbors and the Communist Europe.
A case in point is Fosdick 1969, 270 who worked as an administrator with the New York Police Department, toured Europe at the beginning of the twentieth century.
In this case he made a contrast between the central military like and the control- oriented police systems present in America and England. According to Chapman 1970, p. 35 the basis of the idea of a ‘police state’ formed the basis for the growth of policing in the former Soviet Union and consequently, its satellites in the Eastern parts of Europe.
Russia’s policing type features include a militaristic as well as centralized uniformed police affiliated with the secret police force; the main focus in this case is to maintain political stability as opposed to dealing with crime.
In this case a close linkage was present between the communist part and the police force and it was characterized by negligible communal or legal responsibility. Another policing model is the control- dominated model typical of the colonial era.
A case in point is the government of Britain which fashioned a police structure to mark its territory which was suitable for controlling the conquered populace where the requirements of fiscal imperialism needed a politically restricted paramilitary power that gives priority to communal regulation (Cole 1999, 90).
This form of policing was first created in Ireland as public approval was unreliable to the police. The kind of policing present during the colonial times was characterized by a police force that was armed and lived in the camps. In most case they were central; prioritized communal array of duties; and obtaining their legality from the regal master rather than the indigenous population.
It is noteworthy that despite the fact that this model is common all over the world it should be noted that there are varying methods in the world of the control- dominated policing model.
A country like Britain has a control- dominated model that is based in London as the main administrative centre. In other countries, the police structure center was at the regional levels. Moreover, the police were not given weapons.
In the Continental Europe there were also differences such that the policing system in Dutch was characterized by a system that was not so martial or exceptionally central.
On the other hand, countries like Spain, Italy and France also had this model conventionally but the presence of two police forces created an environment devoid of excessive power that would be a threat to the government.
Community oriented system
In this type of policing system the main role of the police is provision of public services which deals with the community requirements. Nevertheless, this does not mean that maintenance of law and order is insignificant, however much prominence is given to crime as a symptom of the society’s troubles as opposed to insulting the ruling power.
Therefore according to this model the police force are given substantial authenticity by the society at home. As a result, the police in general are run in a narrow range whereby the wall between the police and the community is diminished. This approach is typified by the problem oriented policing as well as the community policing.
In this model, when it comes to assigning specific police tasks, it is more difficult. This type of policing is autonomous and many countries would like to achieve this kind of policing system.
An example where this kind of policing was used was in Wales as well as England. In this case the police was used to calm the workers in the midst of the protests. For example the government of Margret Thatcher made use of the police to stop the mining workers from striking in the late twentieth century.
Moreover the government of Margret Thatcher recruited workers from the rural areas in order to eliminate the notion that the police officers were regular people in police attires.
In America, the police are hired at the local level and they carry out a number of duties. It is noteworthy that some countries whose policing system was previously declared as community oriented policing have been disputed for example Japan.
A call for redefining community oriented policing has been called into place where scholars like (Leishman 1999, p. 40) argue that in order for a policing system to be labeled as community oriented policing system, it has to be an ideal type according to Weber, 1999, p.1.
Recent new approaches in policing
Conventionally the main transformation initiators were subjugation as well as relocation (Mawby 1990, p. 432). Nevertheless, in recent times the initiators of transformation are outside influence as well as in-house demands.
Border Policing
This kind of policing involves a special policing agent whose main role is to guard the borders of a country. In some instances these agents are referred to as border guards and their main role is to maintain laws that oppose illegitimate migration, countering drug smugglers, human being smuggling or trafficking, as well as protection against terrorism.
Policing of borders is difficult for destination countries in comparison to internal policing as countries have no power to broadly tackle intercontinental offenses originating from other nations. As a result, boundary police forces have to be dependent on support from regimes in origin and countries of transportation.
The cross- border police entity is a mixture of policing agencies in that they function parallel to police organizations at home and receive their clout from the state as opposed to the local authority.
Just like the local police they employ the regular rounds and they take action when called upon. The difference between the border police and the local police is that the border police deal with state laws that govern migration as well as the movement of illicit goods as opposed to the local police who deal with usual crimes such as assault, robbery and burglary. Nevertheless, this differs from country to country.
In times of crisis, the border police are called upon to support a country’s military in opposition to outside terrorization. In the absence of war or international conflict the function of the police is to prevent, detect as well as respond to the illegal movement of citizens and goods across state restrictions.
In order to carry out this task they utilize modern technology to identify unlawful actions and to protect the nation state (Andreas 2001, p. 30). Examples of the technology used include: remote observation, underground motion detectors, and real- time tracking devices.
New demands on policing as a result of the international ‘war on terror’
Before the September 9 /11 attacks majority of the countries did nod employ any kind of interference from the government in its policing (Williams 2003, p. 120). Nevertheless, after the September 9/11 attack a need for change in tactic was found to be necessary.
The main problem however was whether policing was going to revert to paramilitarism that was characteristic of the traditional model or it was necessary that the main concerns were shifted.
Terrorists attack has had an impact on community policing. This can be seen by the fact that the September 9/11 attack has led to the involvement of the government in America and also all over the world as opposed to traditionally where it did not interfere in policing. As result it is imperative that a tactical deliberation on how the armed forces as well as the public service would change in order to deal with the new test (McCollum 2001, p. 45).
It is noteworthy that the new war on terror has led to the input of the armed forces in dealing with the war terror. On the other there would be an increase in the duties that have to do with policing.
In majority of the countries, the change has been striking and it has involved constricting the subsist practices (De Guzman, p.8). To an ordinary viewer in the world it is very clear that policing in the world has changed to the international war on terror. The change is such that all over the world it is evident that the number of the police officers has increased and they have become more violent in terms of their dressing and their conduct.
A section of writers has noted that after September 9/11 America’s policing tactic has changed such that it is moving towards a paramilitary style.
This can also be seen in the kind of policing present in Australia following the September 9/11 attacks which are characterized by heavy arming by the police. As a result their seems to be very little difference between the traditional policing style and the modern policing style after the September 9/11 attack as a result the citizens have been left out in the current policing tactic (Weber 1999, p.5).
Another demand on policing that has been brought out by the international war on terror is the necessity to improve technology in order to deal with the threats to terror.
This new demand has led to utilization of sophisticated machinery by the police for example in America where they use modern tracking devices to track terrorist.
Moreover the weapons used to deal with terrorists are also high tech. As a result governments have increased their budget in order to ensure that they deal with the problem of terrorism. Moreover it is necessary that the policing agents are well trained in order to deal with the increasing terrorists’ activities (Murray 2002, p.60).
The outlook of policing today
Due to the changes brought about by the international war on terror it is noteworthy that the law enforcing agencies should not move away from community policing but rather embrace it as a significant way of policing in a bid to curb terrorism.
The challenge here is that it would be detrimental if community policing was embraced in it’s entirety as some of its traits are not applicable in the fight against terrorism.
A case in point is trying to win the community over as it is tough reasoning with the terrorists. However, the police can work well with the community through creation of an association that ensures trust so that information does not get distorted (Bayley 1994, p. 20).
Another challenge faced by the police in adoption of community policing to fight terrorism is the fact that terrorists can utilize deceit in that they may pose as members of the local community and thus deceiving the police.
Nevertheless this problem can be combated by creating close relationships that are based on faith such that a difference is made between terrorists posing as community members and the real community members.
Thirdly it is necessary that an agreement is made between the policing agents and the community on the tactics that would be used to fight terrorism. Failure to this will lead to a breach of trust.
Nevertheless, it should be noted that the community cannot be informed of all the information that is confidential for the sake professionalism. On the other hand the community should inform the policing agents of any suspicions no matter how insignificant it may seem (Bayley & Bittner 1984, p. 36).
Fourthly community policing should be all inclusive such that it involves other stakeholders like the state or federal bureaus as well as the local departments. This would ensure that the threat to terrorism is combated at all levels that is regionally, locally and internationally instead of employing a narrow approach.
Conclusion
Traditionally the role of policing was to prevent crime from internal threats. Leadership was such that it was in a chain of command and it was not flexible and thus making it hard for dealing with the tests in a surrounding that is transforming fast.
Moreover the traditional kind of policing was such that it could not form close associations with the community in a bid to control crime. It therefore follows that community policing is a better option as the community is involved in a bid to combat crime in conjunction with the police.
Nevertheless, this has been tough in most countries around the world as the police force in most countries of the world view this as squashy kind of policing. Community policing is a better option at this time and age where all over the world incidences of terror attacks are the order of the day.
The main reason for this is that the community is at a good position to aid the police in combating crime when they work hand in hand. Despite the fact that the international war on terror has led to the utilization of traditional methods of policing to deal with the terrorists it is necessary to employ community policing while dealing with the global war on terror due to the changing times.
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