Just some thoughts from research I have done and found interesting…
The theory on crime control is one that was set forth on some basic principles. Protecting society in a manner conducive to enforcing laws and curbing criminal behavior. These theories can be linked to criminological behavior and analysis, policing models, specialized units for enforcement, and many more similar in scope.
To effectively believe that officers, both public and private would be able to “control” the behaviors of another is near impossible. When a person sets their mind to do something, no matter the preventative measures in place, a person can succeed under the motivational statement; “the most committed wins!” The opening statement to this discussion question simply puts some facts and behavioral analysis into perspective. The true facts however are police prevent crime through crime control techniques all day every day. Police officers achieve this through presence, response, force both minimum and deadly, and the application of a core set of policies and procedures effected by corps values.
Many departments run into issues with Justice Department oversight when reaching too far into the control portion and find themselves with rouge divisions or actors. The Los Angeles Police Department is an example of a rouge unit in the extreme sense of the example. Rampart was started as a criminal apprehension and “deployment” squad analyzing behaviors and patterns of criminal activity suppressing it where they could. What ended up happening were the police actions stepped out of bounds and due process in the officer’s minds became criminal intent (Reese, 2003). Crime control works well when adopted under the appropriate guidelines and Due Process in the standard in which laws are enforced. The Broken Windows model of policing sets boundaries, goals, and achievable standards to achieve the suppression of crime and criminal behavior (Wilson & Kelling, March 1982). Not every model of policing is effective for numerous reasons, but many work very well when managed through partnerships with communities and systems.
Due Process of law ensures the entire system is operating as the cog it was designed to effectively providing the police to combat criminal behavior through legal statutes. Conversely, this same authority could keep police in line and provide motivation to detract them from crossing the line of wrong and right. Due process is a series of steps through the criminal justice system from start to finish and not all agree that crime control is effective when due process is involved.
Thank you for reading as always,
Chris Grollnek
www.chrisgrollnek.com
References
Reese, R. (2003). The Multiple Causes of the LAPD Rampart Scandal. California State
Polytechnic University. Retrieved from http://www.csupomona.edu/~jis/2003/Reese.pdf
Wilson, J., & Kelling, G. (March 1982). Broken Windows – The Police and
Neighborhood Safety. The Atlantic Magazine, Retrieved from http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1982/03/broken-windows/4465/
