Police (sociology)

Police sociology examines the complex role of police in society, focusing on their evolution, philosophies, and the social challenges they face. Historically, police forces have shifted from serving elite interests to broader community roles, particularly in urban settings following industrialization. The modern police model emerged in the early 19th century in Britain, with American cities adopting similar frameworks, though early U.S. police forces often faced criticism for corruption and bias against marginalized communities.

Contemporary policing has seen varied models like community policing, which emphasizes collaboration with the public, and evidence-based policing, which relies on data analysis for crime prevention. Despite their authority, police officers often spend significant time on administrative duties rather than direct law enforcement. The perception of police legitimacy is influenced by community relations and media portrayal, with issues of racial profiling and police misconduct frequently sparking public debate. Understanding the sociology of police involves recognizing their dual role as enforcers of law and as human beings susceptible to the same societal flaws they are tasked with addressing.

Published in: 2021

By: Baker, Jeremy

Subject Terms

Police (sociology)

Abstract

This article examines the roles played by police officers in contemporary society. The author first looks at the development of the modern police force. This is followed by an examination of philosophies of policing. The article then details the major social factors facing police in their jobs from day to day. The article is concluded by a discussion of differential treatment of suspects based on race and corruption in police forces.

Overview

The Role of the Police in Society. Early in the history of every society, its members develop sets of rules of varying degrees of severity that are based on the values held in that society. These rules, or norms, can be classified into two types: folkways and mores. Folkways are those common rules of etiquette. Violating these rules does not result in strong reprisal, but rather in a minor loss of status. Mores are stronger rules that are usually enforced by more severe sanctions. Once an elite, such as a priest class, aristocracy, or group of elected officials, comes to power in society, it will seek to enforce mores in order to ensure social order and the maintenance of the status quo. An elite does this by recording mores as official rules and setting specific punishments for violations of these rules. These set rules with set punishments that are based on mores are known as laws.

Once laws are put into place, law enforcement officers must be recruited. The exact roles of these individuals and their status in society have varied greatly over the ages. One could easily exhaust oneself with the study of law enforcement officers over the ages. For this reason, this paper will focus its energies on the development of and the role played by the police in American society.

As mentioned above, the concept of law enforcement officers is ancient and can be found in the records of the ancient Romans, Egyptians, and Mesopotamians (Barkan, 2001). In pre-modern times, however, the stated purposes of police forces are quite different from those of ancient times. The job of pre-modern law enforcers was to guard influential nobles, protect property, and generally serve society's elites. In the grand scheme of history, the concept of a police force that serves the average citizen is still very new.

The modern model of law enforcement developed in Great Britain in the early 1800s (Barkan, 2001). Early British police, known as watchmen, were charged with security and the enforcement of religiously based morality codes. These watchmen were assigned to specific posts, and the bulk of their function was to keep order in their small farming villages. As the population of Britain became more urbanized, so did police forces (Rubinstein, 1973). During the early Industrial Revolution, England was at the forefront of industrial development and experienced an explosion in the urban population rate. This rapid increase in urban population led to what amounted to urban chaos, and police forces were formed to quell the frequent urban riots (Barkan, 2001).

Just as industrialization spread across the globe, so did urban police forces. Boston and New York were the first cities in the United States to form urban police forces. These early American police forces were notoriously corrupt and ineffective (Barkan, 2001). The departments did not hide the fact that they primarily existed to serve the upper and middle classes; their primary job was to keep poor immigrants and drunkards in check (Adler, 1994). Starting in the early 1900s, police departments across the country experienced a great influx in their numbers. This increase was caused by the use of police to protect the private property rights of wealthy factory owners. Workers of this era frequently went on strike to protest horrible wages and working conditions (Barkan, 2001). The sheer number of strikers forced police departments to greatly expand their departments.

Since the late 1960s, policing has gone through a period of significant innovation. This period was spurred on by the needs of a changing society and social strife. The populations of many cities in the United States were undergoing a crisis in confidence in the ability of the police to do their job, and crime was perceived to be increasing. In response to this crisis of confidence, police forces were compelled to reconsider the fundamental ways in which they served their communities. The traditional model of law enforcement held that police were the sole guardians of law and order; seeking civilian assistance was seen as unprofessional and a waste of time. During this period of crisis, several new models of policing were developed. These models are not so much instruction books for police on how to do their jobs as they are philosophical backdrops upon which policing occurs.

The first innovative model available to police is the community policing model. This model states that the community should play a central role in defining the problems that police commonly address and that these problems should extend beyond conventional law enforcement (Weisburd & Braga, 2006). The broken windows policing model states that there is a link between social disorder and crime. Since unintended behavior tends to break down into the loss of mores and other social controls, under this model behavior such as loitering, drunkenness, and loud parties become a concern of police. The problem oriented policing model requires police to deal with a wide range of behavioral problems in the community, such as a high dropout rate. The pulling levers policing model calls for a comprehensive combination of multiple community problem solving strategies. Through this model, criminal justice intervention, social services, and community resources might all be utilized to resolve a single case. Through the third party policing model resources are expanded to third parties that are believed to offer significant new resources for preventing or controlling crime and disorder.

By using third parties such as civil courts, community organizations, and civil organizations, the police recognize that social control requires and can benefit from institutions other than themselves. Under the hot spots policing model, police are clustered in discrete areas that need the greatest amount of attention. The logic behind this model is that crime clusters itself in certain areas. Therefore, in order for patrols to be effective, they must be more tightly focused on the hot spots. The CompStat policing model, which was developed by the New York City Police Department in direct response to its interdepartmental challenges, states that failures stem from the fact that forces are poorly organized. This system seeks to strengthen the police command structure. Under this model, each level of the command structure, starting with the very top, takes an interest in whether its subordinates are motivated, assessed, and successful. In this way, discipline and hierarchical relationships are maintained. Finally, the evidence-based policing model states that crime control practices should be rooted in the collection of evidence and scientific analysis of that evidence. This model makes the assumption that police cannot be more effective than they already are. Rather, it argues that the reliance on evidence will lead to more effective criminal apprehension and crime prevention (Weisburd & Braga, 2006).

Applications

The Day to Day Work of a Police Officer. Police officers are endowed with extraordinary power when compared to the average citizen. They wield powerful physical weapons such as guns, batons, and Tasers, as well as social weapons like the ability to arrest individuals, the state sanctioned ability to use violence, and the power to create an official record of an event (Rubinstein, 1980). However, the modern police officer uses this power sparingly. According to Ericson, police spend relatively little time directly protecting persons and property against criminal threats (1994). In fact, they spend most of their time as knowledge brokers and expert advisors. They give directions, instruct the public on how to prevent bicycle theft, or host antidrug programs such as Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE) (Ericson, 1994). Of course, they also do the "real police work" of apprehending suspects, but a single criminal event can result in hours of paperwork. In this way, police spend far more time recording an official version of an event for the public record than they do actually fighting crime (Ericson, 1994). Obviously, different activities are associated with varying amounts of rewards and prestige. Catching a crazed serial killer will merit a plaque, but most other tasks are viewed as simply part of the job (Rubinstein, 1973).

In much the same way that different policing activities are seen as more prestigious than others, so is the pursuit of different crimes. While ideally all crimes would be pursued with equal levels of vigor, in the real world this is not the case. Police departments simply do not have the resources to treat all crimes equally. Because any given force only has so much personnel time per week, low priority crimes will be pursued less vigorously to allow high priority crimes to be pursued more vigorously. More resources may be put into a case if the crime is against a police officer, especially repugnant, or one of high publicity (Rubinstein, 1973).

A large part of crime fighting is the work of rooting out liars. For this reason, officers must often work with little more than suspicions. They may be verbally and physically assaulted by individuals who were cooperative but a minute before. As a result, the average officer comes to deal with this high degree of uncertainly by holding a sense of constant suspicion (Barkan, 2001). For this reason, police officers are forced to view every individual they encounter as potentially dangerous. They are constantly sizing up civilians so that they may be prepared for physical confrontation. According to Rubinstein, becoming a police officer is to accept the risk of assault and injury (1980). For this reason, police must not only learn to accept the fact that they could be seriously injured as part of their job, but they must learn to control this fear so that it does not cause them to act unprofessionally (Rubeinstein, 1980). Skolnick called the set of coping mechanisms developed by police their working personality (1994). He stated that police behave in the ways that they do because of the nature of their work. Kirkham found that due to police officers' tendency to perceive that the general public hates them, they are inclined to believe that all citizens are either out to get them or in some way being covertly uncooperative (1984). When this perception is combined with dangerous situations that require police to think and act quickly, the results can be tragic.

Community Perceptions of the Police. The popularity of police in a community can serve as a gauge of how willing the populace is to accept the state's monopoly on force. If the police are unpopular, then the populace can be interpreted as not being accepting of their monopoly. If they are popular, on the other hand, citizens will accept their power and willingly cooperate with them (Ericson, 1989). In order to maintain control over this monopoly of state sanctioned force, police must actively maintain the persona of the police officer in the public eye. This persona may vary according to the local situation and community needs. Police may encourage the public to view them as people to be feared and respected, people that the public can turn to, or as other personas that may be useful for fighting crime in a particular area (Ericson, 1989).

Another way police manage their identity is through the ways they speak and behave in different settings. Ericson dissected the areas in which police work into three types: secrecy, censorship, and publicity (1989). Areas of secrecy are those to which the police do not give the general public access. They include precinct locker rooms, offices behind closed doors, break rooms, and other areas in which police can converse with each other without worrying about the general public overhearing them. Areas of publicity include public places such as the precinct's front office, the streets, the courtroom, and the media. In this area the police maintain their public image and work with the public. Areas of censorship act as middle grounds between the two. This region allows police to acknowledge the existence of secret information and take control of otherwise public spaces for the purposes of an investigation (Ericson, 1989).

Police departments use a variety of methods to maintain their persona in the public eye. Not only can media be used to convey vital information to the public, such as the image of a wanted suspect or other information of concern to public safety, but it is also used as an outlet for the maintenance of the public police persona (Ericson, 1989). The relationship between media and police is complex, and at times there are serious disputes between them. However, despite their disagreements, both sides are vested in maintaining the relationship in the long term. In this way, the relationship between law enforcement and media outlets is maintained (Ericson, 1989). Apart from utilizing media outlets, this public persona can be maintained in various ways such as making examples of certain suspects, the way officers conduct themselves in public, and highly ceremonial events like funerals (Ericson, 1989).

Viewpoints

As pointed out by Rubinstein, police wield extraordinary power as compared to the average citizen. However, as is often forgotten, police officers are also human beings with virtues and flaws, and these flaws may be accentuated by the power given to them. As a guardian of the law, an unscrupulous officer is in a unique position to break it. Among the worst problems that have occurred in regard to police in the past century are those relating to corruption and racism.

Racial Profiling. One of the hot button issues in debates over proper law enforcement centers around the legitimacy and effectiveness of racial profiling. Organizations such as the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and National Association for Colored People (NAACP) strongly oppose racial profiling as a racist practice that does little more than encourage police to harass minorities. However, there remains a core of police administrators and officers who support racial profiling, arguing that racial minorities, particularly young, black males, are statistically more likely to commit crimes. From this point of view, it is not the fault of the police that more minority males are arrested, and ultimately imprisoned; it is the fault of the minority males for committing more crime in the first place. To counter this belief, groups such as the NAACP and ACLU argue that minority males are not more likely to commit crimes. Instead, they say, all young males are equally likely to commit crimes, but since police target black males and patrol predominantly black neighborhoods more frequently, black males are caught in their deviant acts more often and, therefore, labeled with the title of criminal more often (Lundman, 2004).

Lundman's research has yielded results that may be surprising to both sides of this controversy. In order to understand the phenomenon of racial profiling, Lundman observed traffic cops in a large midwestern city. His reasoning was that traffic offences are the most common types of legal infractions in American society, and that if there is a difference in how people are treated based on race, it will come through in traffic stops. Findings showed that the primary difference in treatment between racial groups was not in whether the car was pulled over, but the treatment of the suspect after the car was pulled over. Not only were white violators treated qualitatively differently from those of other racial groups, white traffic violators were less likely to have their cars searched than black or Hispanic offenders. Since police cannot find illegal items such as open alcohol containers, drugs, or paraphernalia if they do not search a car, they are less likely to find these contraband items in the cars of whites than the cars of blacks or Hispanics. Women of all races experienced fewer vehicle searches than their male counterparts (Lundman, 2004). Such differential treatment could account for reports of police discrimination against black males.

Two prominent examples that further raised the question of racial profiling within the police force occurred in 2014, sparking lengthy nationwide protests and debate. When a white police officer shot and killed an unarmed black man in Ferguson, Missouri, in August 2014 after a suspected robbery, accusations of racial profiling mounted—especially considering the city’s history of maintaining a predominantly white police force that typically arrested twice as many African Americans as whites during traffic stops (Lowery, Leonnig, & Berman, 2014). Earlier that summer, another racially charged case that also highlighted concerns regarding general police brutality involved the death of a black man in New York who had reportedly been placed in a chokehold by a white police officer. Grand juries ultimately decided not to indict either officer, prompting further protests.

Does racial discrimination in law enforcement go beyond official profiling? Could it be that not only police officers, but our entire society is guilty of profiling, and this is the reason for increased police harassment of young, minority males? Lundman argued that the reason for differential treatment by police may reside in the attitudes of lay people (2004). He pointed out that up to three quarters of all encounters police have with citizens are initiated by other citizens who telephoned the police; however, half the time, lay persons do not elect to alert the police to crimes to which they have fallen victim. This is due to the fact that lay persons are generally reluctant to use formal mechanisms of social control, such as the police. The victim's perception of the severity of the crime plays a major role in whether a crime is reported. Thus, the lay person's perception of the perpetrator, and the perpetrator's race, may play an important part in how the situation will play out. (Lundman, 1978)

Corruption. When it comes to police corruption, the bulk of crime committed by police is in relation to money or gifts. This can take the form of both subtle and overt bribes. An overt example would be a police officer accepting a $100 bribe to ignore an obvious case of drunk driving; a subtle case would be a police officer accepting a special "police discount" at a nice restaurant. The Knapp Commission was formed in the 1970s to investigate police corruption in New York City. As part of its investigations, the commission made a number of findings on the nature of police corruption. It found that extreme loyalty within the department was responsible for covering up the majority of corruption. This loyalty was traced to the danger faced by all police officers and their perception that society was hostile to them. Another factor that encouraged cover-ups was the desire of the department to maintain its public image. The admission of large scale corruption would not be beneficial to an institution that is supposed to exemplify law and order.

Conclusion

When considering the police as an institution in society, it is critical to remember that they are human. Like others, they are capable of being corrupted, of acting on prejudices, and of acting rashly when faced with danger. On the other hand, instances of police misconduct have at times become so prevalent that the role of the police has come into question. Considering the prevalence of law enforcement officers in nations around the world, it is unlikely that their presence will be eliminated any time soon. Society must instead seek to improve existing police forces just as their predecessors had been improved.

Terms & Concepts

Amateur Labelers: Average citizens who initiate the labeling process by reporting to the police an act that they consider deviant

Broken Windows Policing Model: A model of policing that stresses the importance of taking an interest in disruptions in a community that may not be illegal but could lead to or indicate criminal activity.

Censorship Region: The public or private social space that police control and keep secret for the purposes of a criminal investigation.

Community Policing Model: A model of policing that stresses the importance of working with individuals in the community when attempting to solve a criminal case. This is in contrast to the traditional model which views using information from the community as unprofessional and unreliable.

CompStat Policing Model: A model of policing that stresses the importance of maintaining hierarchy and discipline throughout the department.

Corruption: Any crime committed by a police officer. The most common forms of police corruption are those relating to financial benefits such as kickbacks, bribes, material favors, or unsanctioned gifts.

Evidence Based Policing Model: A model of policing that stresses the importance of evidence collection and analysis in solving crimes.

Hot Spots Policing Model: A model of policing that stresses the redistribution of resources toward those areas identified as high risk.

Laws: Social conventions that have been recorded by a society's elite. The violation of these conventions may result in specified punishments.

Problem Oriented Policing Model: A model of policing in which the root causes of a community's problems are identified and police devise solutions for eliminating the causes.

Professional Labelers: Those individuals who are paid to identify individuals as deviant. Police are professional labelers.

Publicity Region: The social space police use to release information to the public and maintain their public persona.

Pulling Levers Policing Model: A model of policing that stresses the use of a variety of resources and solutions to detect criminal activity. Criminal justice intervention, social services, and community resources might all be utilized to resolve a single case.

Racial Profiling: Focusing on individuals of a certain racial group for the purposes of crime detection. This practice is performed under the assumption that members of certain racial groups are more likely to commit crimes than members of other racial groups.

Secrecy Region: The social space that police use to conduct the secret work of policing. This area is maintained so that delicate elements of investigations may be protected and less savory elements of police work may be hidden from public view.

Third Party Policing Model: A model of policing that stresses the expansion of crime prevention to third parties. By using third parties such as civil courts, community organizations, and civil organizations, police recognize that social control requires and can benefit from institutions other than themselves.

Working Personality: The set of social skills and behaviors developed by police officers to deal with the stresses of police work.

Bibliography

Allen, T. T., & Michaux Parker, M. (2013). Police officers and their perceived relationship with urban communities: Does living in the community influence police decisions? Social Development Issues, 35, 82–95. Retrieved January 12, 2015, from EBSCO Online Database SocINDEX with Full Text. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=sih&AN=93363133&site=ehost-live&scope=site

Anderson, E. (2000). The police and the Black male. In P. A. Adler & P. Adler (Eds.), Constructions of deviance: Social power, context, and interaction (3rd ed.). Belmont: Wadsworth.

Barkan, S. E. (2001). Criminology: A sociological understanding ( 2nd ed.). New Jersey: Prentice Hall.

Becker, H. S. (2000). Labeling theory. In P. A. Adler & P. Adler (Eds.), Constructions of deviance: Social power, context, and interaction (3rd ed.). Belmont: Wadsworth.

Bittner, E. (1980). The police charge. In R. J. Lundman (Ed.), Police behavior: A sociological perspective. New York: Oxford University Press.

Chambliss, W. J. (2000). The saints and the roughnecks. In P. A. Adler & P. Adler (Eds.), Constructions of deviance: Social power, context, and interaction (3rd ed.). Belmont: Wadsworth.

Davis, M. G., Lundman, R. J. & Martinez, R. (1991). Private corporate justice: Store police, shoplifters, and civil recovery. Social Problems, 38 , 395–411. Retrieved August 14, 2008, from EBSCO Online Database SocINDEX with Full Text. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=sih&AN=9110213876&site=ehost-live

Ericson, R. V. (1975). Responsibility, moral relativity, and response ability: Some implications of deviance theory for criminal justice. The University of Toronto Law Journal, 25 , 23–41.

Ericson, R. V. (1989). Patrolling the facts: Secrecy and publicity in police work. The British Journal of Sociology, 40 , 205–226. Retrieved August 14, 2008, from EBSCO Online Database Academic Search Complete. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=6781531&site=ehost-live

Ericson, R. V. (1994). The division of expert knowledge in policing and security. The British Journal of Sociology, 45 , 149–175. Retrieved August 14, 2008, from EBSCO Online Database Academic Search Complete: http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=9408050743&site=ehost-live

Haggerty, K. & Gazso, A. (2005). Seeing beyond the ruins: Surveillance as a response to terrorist threats. Canadian Journal of Sociology, 30 , 169–187. Retrieved August 14, 2008, from EBSCO Online Database Academic Search Complete. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=17134107&site=ehost-live

Higgins, G. E., Vito, G. F., Grossi, E. L., & Vito, A. G. (2012). Searches and traffic stops: Racial profiling and capriciousness. Journal of Ethnicity in Criminal Justice, 10, 163–179. Retrieved January 12, 2015, from EBSCO Online Database SocINDEX with Full Text. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=sih&AN=78935631&site=ehost-live&scope=site

Hirschi, T. (2000). Control theory of delinquency. In P. A. Adler & P. Adler (Eds.), Constructions of deviance: Social power, context, and interaction (3rd ed.). Belmont: Wadsworth.

Knapp Commission. (1980). Police corruption in New York. In R. J. Lundman (Ed.), Police behavior: A sociological perspective . New York: Oxford University Press.

Long, M. A., Cross, J., Shelley, T., & Kutnjak Ivkovi?, S. (2013). The normative order of reporting police misconduct: Examining the roles of offense seriousness, legitimacy, and fairness. Social Psychology Quarterly, 76, 242–267. Retrieved October 30, 2013, from EBSCO Online Database SocINDEX with Full Text. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=sih&AN=90016490&site=ehost-live

Lowery, W., Leonnig, C. D., & Berman, M. (2014, August 13). Even before Michael Brown’s slaying in Ferguson, racial questions hung over police. Washington Post. Retrieved January 12, 2015, from http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/even-before-teen-michael-browns-slaying-in-mo-racial-questions-have-hung-over-police/2014/08/13/78b3c5c6-2307-11e4-86ca-6f03cbd15c1a5%Fstory.html

Lundman, R. J. (1974). Routine police arrest practices: A commonwealth perspective. Social Problems, 22 , 127–141.

Lundman, R. J. (1978). Shoplifting and police referral: A reexamination. The Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology, 69 , 395–401. Retrieved August 14, 2008, from EBSCO Online Database SocINDEX with Full Text. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=sih&AN=17515519&site=ehost-live

Lundman, R. J. (2004). Driver race, ethnicity, and gender and citizen reports of vehicle searches by police and vehicle search hits: Toward a triangulated scholarly understanding. The Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology, 94 , 309–350. Retrieved August 14, 2008, from EBSCO Online Database Academic Search Complete. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=12788277&site=ehost-live

Mazerolle, L., Antrobus, E., Bennett, S., & Tyler, T. R. (2013). Shaping citizen perceptions of police legitimacy: A randomized field trial of procedural justice. Criminology, 51, 33–63. Retrieved October 30, 2013, from EBSCO Online Database SocINDEX with Full Text. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=sih&AN=85674895

Reinka, M. A., & Leach, C. W. (2017). Race and reaction: Divergent views of police violence and protest against. Journal of Social Issues, 73(4), 768–788. Retrieved February 13, 2018 from EBSCO Online Database Sociology Source Ultimate. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=sxi&AN=126565166&site=ehost-live&scope=site

Reiss, A. J. (1980). Officer violations of the law. In R. J. Lundman (Ed.), Police behavior: A sociological perspective . New York: Oxford University Press.

Reiss, A. J. (1980). Police brutality. In R. J. Lundman (Ed.), Police behavior: A sociological perspective. New York: Oxford University Press.

Rubinstein, J. (1973). City police. New York: The Noonday Press.

Rubinstein, J. (1980). Cop's rules. In R. J. Lundman (Ed.), Police behavior: A sociological perspective. New York: Oxford University Press.

Schlosser, M. D. (2013). Racial attitudes of police recruits in the united states midwest police academy: A quantitative examination. International Journal of Criminal Justice Sciences, 8, 215–224. Retrieved October 30, 2013, from EBSCO Online Database SocINDEX with Full Text. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=sih&AN=91095593

Skolnick, J. (1994). Justice without trial (3rd Ed.). New York: Wiley

Weisburd, D. & Braga A. A. (2006). Police innovation: Contrasting perspectives . Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Police (sociology)

On this Page

Subject Terms

Police (sociology)

Abstract

Overview

Applications

Viewpoints

Conclusion

Terms & Concepts

Bibliography

Suggested Reading