5.2.5 Law Enforcement

(This is an archived extract from the book Patterns of Power: Edition 2)

Laws have to be enforceable if they are to be able to protect people. Enforcement functions include the keeping of order, crime prevention, crime detection, arrest and preparing prosecutions. The behaviour of law-enforcement agencies is important, as they are the only point of contact with the law for most people. In a pluralist society police have to do their job with sensitivity and comply with human rights, otherwise the law can be seen as a tool of oppression – as is the case in a so-called ‘police State’.

The resources and capabilities of the enforcement agencies, including the police and prosecution services, can become a constraint in the formulation of new laws – a problem that is exacerbated by the pace of change in society and technology. Enforcement agencies constantly need to update their techniques as new types of crime and new types of criminal emerge. Policing can develop in different ways, as described next:

· Terrorism poses a law-enforcement challenge (5.2.5.1).

· Politicians are tending to augment the role of the police (5.2.5.2).

· A softer approach to policing might be preferable (5.2.5.3).

· The cost of policing can be reduced if the public takes more responsibility for protecting itself, which is the subject of a later chapter (7.2.3) – but the existence of alternative forces reduces people’s reliance upon, and undermines the authority of, the police.