CRIM 131 Lecture Notes - Lecture 5: Authoritarianism, Crime Prevention, Subculture
7 Jun 2018
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Lecture 4: Issues of Media and Crime Rates, Introduction to Policing
Chapter 4: The Structure and Roles of the Police
A brief history of policing
The Emergence of Modern Policing
●1829: First full time police created in London, by Sir Robert Peel
●Before this, policing was a common responsibility based on the notion that every
individual was in charge for his or her neighbours
●Opposition from politicians and other groups of power, due to the power that a formal
police force would have
●Despite this opposition, he was able to legitimize a new police force by arguing that it
would be in the best interest of all citizens
●He established high standards of recruitment and introduced the concept of community
police stations
●Peel came up with principles for law enforcement, which are considered the basis for
policing
The Evolution of Policing in Canada
●Before: laws were enforced on an informal basis by community residents
●Early municipal police had a three-part mandate:
1. Police conflict between ethnic groups
2. Maintain moral standards by enforcing law drunkenness,
prostitution, and gambling
3. Apprehend criminals
●Many jurisdictions that became provinces already had their own police forces
●Most established as a response to the disorder of gold strikes
●1858: earliest police force in Canada was founded in BC
●1873: The RCMP was created
●1917- 1950: Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) took over policing services of all
provinces except Quebec, Ontario, Newfoundland, and Labrador
●Today: more than 70,000 police officers in Canada
Contemporary Canadian Policing
●Police responds to a wide variety of demands and situations all over the country
●Have the most contact with the public than any other criminal justice personnel
●They are also highly visible
●Very broad significance
●“Pluralized”- emerging of parapolice organizations, e.g. private security, don’t have
same powers as police but are considered a subcategory of them
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○as police can’t be contracted
●To Protect and Serve (be what the community needs you to be)
○Service depends on the community
Levels of Policing
●Carried out at several levels:
○Federal
○Provincial and territorial
○Municipal
○First Nations
●Established by Statutes
○Police Act (provincial and municipal, mandates that govern them and differ)
●Other organizations include the Canadian Pacific Police Service, the transit police forces,
etc.
●Delivering police services across the country can be quite complex
Level of Policing
Description
Federal Police: The Royal Canadian Mounted
Police
●Organized into 15 divisions + the RCMP
federal headquarters in Ottawa
●RCMP Police Act-
federal legislation
that provides the framework for the
force’s operation (RCMP and contract
RCMP).
●Recruits trained at central locations,
and then deployed to different places
●Activities are not unionized (broad
range)
●Most of its agents are contract
policing-
provide provincial and
municipal services
Provincial Police: Ontario Provincial Police,
the Surete du Quebec, and the Royal
Newfoundland Constabulary
●Responsible for policing rural areas,
and outside municipalities and cities
●Enforce provincial laws and the
Criminal Code
●RCMP can act as provincial police,
and has full jurisdiction over the
Criminal Code and provincial laws
Regional Police Services
●Involves bringing various independent
police departments to form one large
organization
●Claims that it is more effective at
providing a more complete range of
police services and it is less expensive
●Others claim it is too centralized and
not effective for a community police
Municipal Police
●Jurisdiction within city’s boundaries
●Enforce the Criminal Code and ,
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provincial/territorial statutes, municipal
bylaws, and federal statutes
●Provide service by: being
independent, joining another existent
municipal police, or contracting from
provincial police
●Largest body of police personnel in
the country
First Nations Police: Six Nations Police Service
in Ontario, the Armerindia Police in Québec,
and the Dakota Ojibway Police Service in
Manitoba.
●Increased involvement from
Aboriginals to create and control its
justice program
●Option of using autonomous police
force, or Aboriginal officers from
already existing police forces
●Funding is split between province or
territory and the federal government
●Usually have power to enforce the
Criminal Code, federal and provincial
statutes, and band bylaws
●Usually work closely with other existing
police forces
Police Peacekeeping
●Involved in a variety of international peacekeeping activities
●Debate of these deployments (lack of pre-deployment training)
Private Security Services
●Recent years: increase in private security (provides services performed by provincial and
municipal police services)
●Two main types:
1. Security firms selling to businesses, schools, private residences, etc.
2. Companies that employ their own in-house security officers
●Private security officers engaged in a wide range of activities
●Private security tend not to have more legal authority than ordinary citizens, however
they are allowed to arrest people
●Concern for the increase of private security
Defining Police Work
Policing- activities of any individual or organization acting legally on behalf of public or private
organizations or persons to maintain security or social order.
●Defined as an institution, an activity (police officers actively engage) and a service
(developed as this, not as exciting as portrayed in TV. Policing originally provided social
services like collecting tax and cleaning chimneys. Nowadays, they provide protection
and different services to the community, society, and members of community)
Document Summary
Lecture (cid:627): issues of 3edia and crime ates, introduction to policing. Chapter (cid:627): whe structure and oles of the police. 1829: first full time police created in london, by sir robert peel. Before this, policing was a common responsibility based on the notion that every individual was in charge for his or her neighbours. Opposition from politicians and other groups of power, due to the power that a formal police force would have. Despite this opposition, he was able to legitimize a new police force by arguing that it would be in the best interest of all citizens. He established high standards of recruitment and introduced the concept of community. Peel came up with principles for law enforcement, which are considered the basis for police stations policing whe e(cid:434)olution of policing in canada. Before: laws were enforced on an informal basis by community residents.
