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Content: But apart from this ideal,
there is a second sense in which police are not neutral –they are agents
of a particular state and enforce the laws of that state. To those who
disagree with those laws, police behavior will not appear neutral since
it is on behalf of the regime in power. This is one reason why even in
a democratic society police are likely to be much more controversial than
other agencies of government. Varieties of and Supports
for a Democratic Police
There are social scientific
and moral debates over what practices are most conducive to a democratic
police (e.g., centralization vs. decentralization, specialists vs. generalists,
internal vs. external controls, closeness or distance from those policed,
maximum or minimum discretion, single vs. lateral entry). But it is clear
that a democratic police can take many forms. Democratic societies show
wide variation in their police systems. For example in the United States
we have a quasi-military, rather decentralized, non-standardized, fragmented
system, although one which mixes local and national police agencies. There
is a single entry system. Those who supervise come from the rank and file. There is a Bill of Rights and other laws, which significantly circumscribe
the behavior of public police.