Posted: August 26th, 2022

Challenges in Policing in the 21st Century

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Identify the challenges for policing in the twenty-first century. What are the obstacles and demands theses issues create and how will the police combat these issues?

Papers must be a minimum 5 pages and have a title and works cited page. Students are also required to use a minimum of 2 sources and Wikipedia is not an acceptable source. The textbook may be used as one of your sources. Additionally, papers must be double spaced using #12 Arial font with 1-inch margins at the sides, top, and bottom.
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Challenges in Policing in the 21st Century
The policing field faces numerous challenges that are extensively varied depending on the department’s level, either local, state, or federal. Some of these significant challenges include terrorism, gangs, illicit drugs, gun violence, an increase in cybercrime, social media, behavioral health, among other issues.
Since the terrorist attacks in 9/11 in the United States and more happening in Bali, Madrid, and London, there has been an array of different forms of security attacks that posed a risk to countries in which terrorism was previously unheard of. Terrorist groups such as Al Qaeda are constantly preparing to engage in symbolic crimes that were aimed at distinct social or cultural targets such as the pentagon, signal crimes such as nighttime bombings whose focus is disrupting everyday life and security perceptions, and finally the spectacular crimes such as the World Trade Centre which is a combination of symbolic and signal crimes (Ransley and Lorraine, 4). The increase in different types of crimes, especially due to technological capabilities, has put the police on the spot of constantly ensuring that they are one step ahead of the terrorist organizations. However, the reality is that the terror groups will attack and pose a risk to public safety. The value of these treats, their frequency in numerous unprecedented locations, and the evident incapacity of security and police organizations to prevent their occurrence signified an urgent imperative from the governments (Ransley and Lorraine, 4).
Another challenge is that the increased communication platforms such as social media have led to police activities being scrutinized constantly by the public. The public, who are the main stakeholders in public safety, currently has very high expectations from law enforcement. While in the past, the police mainly reported takers and investigators, but currently, the public demands that the police achieve a direct and measurable impact on criminal activities. Police are expected to achieve greater accountability levels; nonetheless, while these high expectations are a good thing since they push law enforcement to do better, there is still a gap in the tactics and strategies that existed before the 21st century not working for the police. The intense scrutiny will, at times, cause tension between the police and the public, especially the latter, which fails to understand the conditions organizations are working with. On the other hand, the police understand that community relations are fundamental and should not risk straining them. It takes a lot of resources and initiatives to ensure that the public understands the policy environment and how they are presently handling their operations so that the community can know how they could aid the police to achieve greater public safety levels.
Another challenge in this century is the increased movement of people due to numerous factors such as refugees, political unrest, poverty, and even climate change. These movements ate at times unauthorized such that a country would have to deal with unauthorized arrivals constantly to mitigate any threat to public safety (Ransley and Lorraine, 6). For instance, refugees from Iraq and Afghanistan will raise potential national security concerns since the foreign country will not be completely sure whether they are true refugees or bringing in the war in the refuge’s disguise. Furthermore, the migrations could involve individuals coming from countries that have been affected by epidemics. Notably, several and distinct immigration controls have been developed to handle the movements by different stakeholders. This leads to a considerable overlap in these controls to the measures implemented to restrict terrorism and other threats to public safety (Ransley and Lorraine, 6). While the police and other security agencies are brought closer to agencies dealing with immigration, customs, and public health, their overlapping functions have poor coordination and deficiency. Therefore, instead of having the right people moved, a country has to deal with both authorized and unauthorized individuals within their territories whose main agendas are challenging to differentiate.
The police are currently working under government bodies dealing with persistent economic woes, which makes it difficult for the police to budget. The underfunded police find it difficult to compete with other developing sectors such as the corporates to bring in qualified applicants and retain experienced personnel (Thompson, 3). There is also a growing necessity to have the right advanced technologies such as body-worn cameras, integrated database systems, and interoperable communication systems. Their leaders are now forced to determine how technological advancements will be integrated into police operations with limited funds. While the police agencies may be committed to having their officers get the right advanced equipment, they come at a cost. Apart from the equipment, police officers require extensive training to handle the challenges of various crimes within the current society (Thompson, 3). Police officers need to know how to deal with implicit bias, de-escalation, the use of force, and other subject matters that are considered important. While each police department will have specific challenges, the dilemmas they face are the same, which have measures that uphold the utmost public safety, which could entail a remodeling of the entire organization.
Solutions for Police Organizations To reduce The Challenges.
Police officers are the face of the criminal justice system hence represent more than just the justice system. It is prudent that the police have improved community relations with the police. These community relations could start by having initiatives that will involve the public where they could familiarize themselves with each other. The public needs to understand police procedures and practices in different situations (Meese et al., 5). The police will need to understand the complex challenges faced by the community. These relations are fundamental in coming up with the right strategies to fight crime within the communities, including preventing issues like terrorism. A community will more likely know individuals with distinct tendencies, which could be a threat to society. Better community relations will ensure the police are informed of any attacks before their occurrence (Meese et al., 5). The police will then act promptly on this information hence ensuring that their respective communities are protected.
While the police departments are strained on their resources, it is prudent that the available direct funds invest in advanced digital equipment that will streamline their activities. The new modern environment wants technological solutions, or instead, the police departments will lag in their progress of achieving public safety (Skelton). Nonetheless, it is important that even as the agencies bring in the new technologies, they need to ensure that they address the ethical questions that arise with technology use. Some of these ethical issues include privacy and surveillance. Generally, when the citizens are aware of what police agencies are doing to ensure public safety without invading their privacy.
Current models of training need to be implemented, which will deal with the contemporary challenges of policing. These models include incidence-based training, which focuses on real case studies, and realistic simulations will equip the officers with knowledge and skills to handle the real crime issues (Meese et al., 8). Another model is improved in-service training, which focus on mentor-based training and field based training. The training needs to be done for a substantial duration for the recruits and incorporated for those already in force during their normal operations. It needs to focus on de-escalating strategies such as violent situations; hence they will not be required to use force. Generally, the present century requires police officers to require extensive knowledge and skills to apply in the different issues they will deal with (Meese et al., 8). The present century requires officers that are more intelligent, well-educated, and professional to handle their duties. Also, the force needs to provide officers opportunities to further their education if desired, as they also get motivated individually and in their careers.
Conclusion
The 21st century has presented unprecedented challenges to the police force, which have mainly been triggered by technology. The police force has been forced to change their ways of doing things to handle issues such as terrorism previously not happening. Notably, the right stakeholders should invest in having the right resources to equip them with the right knowledge and skills to handle these challenges.

Works Cited
Skelton, Sebastian K. “Police Require Radical Reform to Deal with 21st Century Challenges.” ComputerWeekly.com, 4 Aug. 2020, www.computerweekly.com/news/252487155/Police-require-radical-reform-to-deal-with-21st-century-challenges.
Meese III, Edwin, and John Malcolm. “Policing in America: Lessons from the past, opportunities for the future.” Policing in America: Lessons from the Past, Opportunities for the Future (2017): 1.
Thompson, Alonso. “CHALLENGES FACING LAW ENFORCEMENT IN THE 21st CENTURY (2017).
Ransley, Janet, and Lorraine Mazerolle. “Policing in an era of uncertainty.” Police Practice and Research: An International Journal 10.4 (2009): 365-381.

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