The patrolman has the most difficult, complex, and least understood
task in the police department. Much less is known of him than of
his better publicized colleague, the detective. In this important
and timely book, James Q. Wilson describes the patrolman and the
problems he faces that arise out of constraints imposed by law,
politics, public opinion, and the expectations of superiors.
The study considers how the uniformed officer in eight
communities deals with such common offenses as assault, theft,
drunkenness, vice, traffic, and disorderly conduct. Six of the
communities are in New York State: Albany, Amsterdam, Brighton,
Nassau County, Newburgh, and Syracuse. The others are Highland
Park, Illinois, and Oakland, California.
Enforcing laws dealing with common offenses is especially
difficult because it raises the question of administrative
discretion. Murder, in the eyes of the police, is unambiguously
wrong, and murderers are accordingly arrested; but in cases such as
street-corner scuffles or speeding motorists, the patrolman must
decide whether to intervene (should the scuffle be stopped? should
the motorist be pulled over?) and, if he does, just how to
intervene (by arrest? a warning? an interrogation?). In most large
organizations, the lowest-ranking members perform the more
routinized tasks and the means of accomplishing these tasks are
decided by superiors, but in a police department the lowest-ranking
officer--the patrolman--is almost solely responsible for enforcing
those laws which are the least precise, the most ambiguous. Three
ways or "styles" of policing--the watchman, the legalistic, and the
service styles--are analyzed and their relation to local politicsis
explored.
In the final chapter, Mr. Wilson discusses if and how the
patrolman's behavior can be changed and examines some current
proposals for reorganizing police departments. He observes that the
ability of the patrolman to do his job well may determine our
success in managing social conflict and our prospects for
maintaining a proper balance between liberty and order.
General
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