"How the police have changed over the past 50 years"

How the police have changed over the past 50 years

at the Raw Story

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/12/how-the-police-have-changed-over-the-past-50-years/

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There are more than 600 state and local police academies across the country delivering training programs that vary tremendously in content, quality and intensity. This, inevitably, has an impact on the skills of their graduates.

Differences in policing also reflect the quality of leadership and the availability of resources.

Police chiefs and commanders represent a critical source of influence. They provide the doctrine (prevention or repression of crime), design strategies (police visibility or zero tolerance), and identify the practice to be adopted (rounding up the usual suspects or systematic stop and frisk). Often these police practices are not aligned with public expectations. Citizen review boards – such as those in New York City or San Diego – are the exception rather than the norm.

And then there is the money issue. Police departments that are financially crippled will simply not be able to provide regular training; they will not have the expertise then to pursue certain kinds of crime. The policing of fraud, for example, requires financial expertise and specialized units.



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