The Police

Abstract

Australian policing has a distinctive state-based structure, but its main day-to-day operations mirror those of police all over the world. As the front line in law enforcement, police operate an extensive 24/7 public response service, as well as a labour-intensive investigative arm. The basic functions of patrol and investigation have changed little over time, but in other ways policing is constantly evolving. Australian police have fairly enthusiastically engaged with the latest technologies, whether it be capsicum spray, DNA databases or online 'stings' against accused paedophiles. Over the last 30 years or so they have also been required to take on a new performance measurement regime, new philosophies of 'community policing', 'problem-oriented policing' and 'intelligence-led policing', as well as a significant personnel diversification. At the same time that Australian policing has adopted many of these 'new accountabilities', it has also been beset by recurring problems of corruption. Moreover, its limited capacity to prevent crime has stimulated the growth of a host of parallel private and public sector policing agencies.

Keywords: police, crime, police power, crime prevention