The police services are considered to be the “gate-keepers” of the criminal justice system of every country and nowadays few people are engaged in the system because of range of reasons. One of them is that police officers often have to perform “dirty work” such as dealing with threatening people, homeless, those who are mentally ill or abusive.
Communication with them cannot but affect culture of the police officers not only as of separate individuals, but it also affects culture of the whole police service.
It has been argued that “Police Culture” has been a limiting factor in developing a more open and responsive policing organization.
It is not a secret that often policy seems to be isolated from the rest of the society in the interests that it should serve. Often it happens so that police officers do not demonstrate that they take into account, or they simply do not, needs and interests of people of community which they serve.
Generally speaking, police is not trusted to and there are many reasons for the mistrust. Lack of organizational culture is one of the main reasons to explain this fact. Many researchers developed definitions dealing with culture. According to Edgar Henry Schein, it is “a learned product of group experience.”
This definition is the most suitable one to culture of police organizations: “culture is a pattern of basic assumptions – invented, discovered, or developed by a given group as it learns to cope with its problems of external adaption and internal integration – that has worked well enough to be considered valid and, therefore, to be taught to new members as the correct way to perceive, think, and feel in relation to those problems.”
In order to become people who really are engaged with protection and service to community, authorities of police should apply a wide range of programs, as well as workshops that would promote human rights and values among the officers.
One more step to improve culture of the police is improving their own sense of responsibility and confidence in the rights in order to become encouraged act independently, follow the Code of professional ethics and demonstrate initiatives.
Trainings should also teach the officers to avoid demonstrating indifferent and prevent them from usage of physical violence. Moreover, all the officers should take into account that they poses exclusive powers which should be used fairly only and directed to serve the interests of those people who need protection.
All the officers should be trained not to violate powers that were delegated to them and thus promote respect of the society towards police authority.
It is not a secret that some people became witnesses of events in which policemen used their force in a brutal way, such as attacking people. However, it is not an advantage, but a necessity to prevent policemen form such actions in the future in order to improve their culture requires.
This aim can be reached by means of delegating new rights and exercising control in different fields of activity of the police officers in order to …