The Complexities of 21st Century Policing

This article examines the changes made in the context of policing during the last 30 years that make its management today hugely more complex. These changes are discussed under tasks, public demands, strategies, technology, accountability, and resources. These changes have three significant implications for police policy, namely, that the division between politics and policing has vanished, that policing with ‘consent’ must be rethought, and that the traditional notion of police professionalism is dead. The article concludes by suggesting three courses of action for dealing with these complexities and their attendant implications: (1) new institutions are needed for regularizing the input of the public into police policy; (2) senior police officers must be better prepared for assuming the responsibilities of chief officer and (3) a new professionalism is needed that relies more on rigorous evaluation of policies, both strategic and managerial, rather than personal experience.