Police and Law Enforcement Response

Police and Law Enforcement Response

The role of police in society is to prevent and control behavior generally recognized as hostile to life and property; to aid individuals who are in danger of bodily harm, such as the victims of vicious attacks; and to assist the movement of people and vehicles.   They are expected to aid those who cannot care for themselves; to resolve conflict, whether it be between individuals, groups or individuals and their government.   They identify problems that are likely to become more serious problems and build and support a feeling of security in communities.

Controlling communities has faced an uphill battle to persuade police officers and citizens to accept new roles and responsibilities.   Despite these controls, many strong-minded police officials and community leaders have continued in their restructuring efforts and have recorded some significant successes.   The larger problem lies in the changing scene of policing and the challenge posed by competing theories.   Community policing offers a real answer to this growing problem.   Joint police-community problem-solving plans, with open, cooperative interaction and a focus on building broad trusts that attack the problem from all sides, hold considerable promise.   This approach has been successful in addressing other social problems, and there is no logical reason to believe that it cannot be applied to the problem of public safety.

Probable cause is knowledge necessary for belief that the wanted person had committed a crime, to get an arrest warrant, or that proof of a crime would be found in an investigation, for a search warrant.   It is a better form of evidence than a suspicion, but less than what is required to insure a criminal conviction.   Even gossip can supply probable cause if it is from a dependable informant or sustained by other evidence.

To combat crime, police departments can use the information provided by the uniform crime reports (UCR) to most efficiently...