20th century law enforcement

• 1900 – every area across Britain had its own police force


  • The 200 separate forces had no central records on crime or criminals, and rarely shared information or worked together
  • For individual police officers, the majority of the working day was spent patrolling the local area – ‘walking the beat’
  • They travelled on foot and used a whistle to call for assistance or raise the alarm
• C20 – policing changed in many ways:

  • Women were first recruited to join the police force in the 1920s. at first, they were mostly given roles working with child or female criminals or victims of crime
  • There was more emphasis on training. 1947 – the Police Training College was set up to train new recruits. Previously, police officers were expected to learn on the job
• other developments to policing in C20

  o Increased use of science and technology

  o More specialised departments and roles for police officers

  o Move towards crime prevention

  
  

  made policing more expensive
• 1901 – Fingerprint Bureau set up at New Scotland Yard

  The National Fingerprint System keeps a record of fingerprints

  from everyone arrested, creating a database which all forces

  can use to identify criminals
• 1901 – different blood groups are discovered. Police can use

  blood samples from crime scenes to identify criminals
• in 1900s policing Photography is used to record crime scenes
• 1909 – police bicycles are introduced, allowing officers to pursue criminals more quickly
• 1930s changes in policing increased use of science and technology


  • Police cars are now quite common
  • Two-way radios are installed in cars for better communication with the station and other officers
  • 999 emergency telephone number is introduced
• 1960s changes in policing increased use of science and technology


  The Metropolitan Police first uses computers to process payroll

  and pensions
• 1980 The Police National Computer is launched, capable of holding the records of 25m people
• 1988 - First murder convictions based on DNA samples from the

  victims and the accused, DNA can be identified in tiny quantities of hair, skin or blood fluids
• 1995 - National Automatic Fingerprint Identification System and

  National DNA Database set up to share information that can be

  used to identify criminals
• • 1967 – breathalysers were introduced and enabled traffic police to test drivers’ blood alcohol level at the roadside
  • 1992 – speed cameras were introduced
  • These inventions make it possible to catch more criminals drink-driving and speeding, and act as a deterrent
• Closed circuit television (CCTV) People are less likely to commit

  crime if they know they are being filmed
• methods for solving crime

  • Improved communications Recording and sharing information directly at a crime scene, using digital technologies like tablets and smartphones
  • Forensic teams carry out highly detailed searches at crime scenes, looking for evidence such as DNA, fingerprints and objects left by criminals
  • DNA and fingerprint samples can be matched to criminals’ records in the national database
• preventing crime

  • mass video surveillance - Computer software allows private companies to analyse large amounts of footage and forecast acts of terrorism and other crimes
  • Biometric screening - This uses unique body characteristics, like fingerprints or eye patterns, to restrict access to data, places and buildings
• solving crime

  • data management - These are used to store and share information about crime e.g. the National DNA Database held records of 5.7m individuals’’ DNA profiles in 2015
  • Improved computer software - New software can rapidly analyse video data to identify criminals. This would have taken far longer when a police officer had to watch the video in real time
• C20 – police forces developed many specialist departments and units to tackle different aspects of their work

  • Specialist units help detectives tackle specific types of crime
  • They are often set up in response to changes in society and the emergence of new types of crime e.g. the Metropolitan Police Bomb Squad was set up in 1971 at a time when there was an increasing number of terrorist attacks by the IRA and other groups
• A more recent example of specialisation in response to changes in society is the National Hi-tech Crime Unit, set up in

  2001 to tackle online crimes, including hacking, credit card fraud and virus attacks
• 1946 – the first specialist Fraud Squad was set up in London to tackle crime in business and the stock market


  • These areas required police with expert knowledge of finance and business to investigate crimes effectively
  • The Fraud Squad evolved to tackle other high-value like art theft as well
  • Today the Fraud Squad is known as the Specialist, Organised and Economic Crime Command
• 1971 – the Misuse of Drugs Act was passed - This made the use of various substances – including heroin, cocaine and cannabis – criminal offences


  Drug crime is policed by special operations units that tackle drug crimes
• 2013 - the National Crime Agency was set up to tackle drug-trafficking into the UK, and large-scale drug production within the UK


  • It uses intelligence and data on known criminal groups to predict and stop drug habits reaching the country from abroad, and to disrupt supply networks for drug manufacturers within the UK
  • All local police forces have special squads to deal with drug dealers in their areas
  • All local police forces have special squads to deal with drug dealers in their areas
• 1946 - specialist dog section established by Met police, by 1950s most polic forces had dog units
• Even dogs have developed greater specialisms. Today they are trained to:

   Sniff out drugs

   Find explosives

   Track and catch criminals

   Search for missing persons

   Strengthen the police presence at major events
• Every police force has its own Special Branch to tackle threats to national security and terrorism

  • They work with MI5, the security service, to detect and prevent terrorists
  • Through extensive surveillance, they try to intercept possible terrorist acts and inform local police of potential threats
• C21 – police forces have increasingly focused on preventing crime, this type of policing can involve

   Working with schools to educate young people about avoiding

  risks that can lead to them becoming victims of crime

   Giving people advice on making their homes more secure

   Involvement with neighbourhood watch schemes
• Police Community Support Officers have a particular focus on crime prevention e.g. they work on stopping anti-social behaviour and reducing the fear of crime

  • They can confiscate alcohol and remove abandoned vehicles
  • Their work is intended to help cut down on the factors that often lead tocrime
• A Neighbourhood Watch is a local committee of people who raise awareness about crime and encourage neighbours to keep an eye on each others’ property
• • 1982 - the UK’s first Neighbourhood Watch was set up and many more schemes followed
  • Some estimates say 3.8m households are involved
• aims of neighbourhood watch include

   Helping the police prevent crime, by encouraging local vigilance

   Reducing fear of crime, by increasing community involvement

   Reporting crime trends to the police
• 1980s – the prime minister, Margaret Thatcher, led a Conservative government that wanted to increase the role and responsibility of the individual and reduce the role of the state

  • In crime prevention the idea of active citizenship was promoted as part of this government policy
  • Unlike community law enforcement from earlier periods, like the ‘hue and cry’, this system was entirely voluntary
• Britain in the early 1980s saw a dramatic increase in crimes and society was keen to see the implementation of new ways to reduce it
• • Some people believed the neighbourhood watch scheme made a significant and positive change
  • Others claimed that the system was ineffective and did not prevent crime
• common views on neighbourhood watch

   It encourages local people to take an active part in making their local community safer

   The police rely on local co-operation – they can’t police effectively without community support

   It’s very effective at making people feel safer and less vulnerable

   It works well for tackling issues like anti-social behaviour

   Most groups are in wealthier areas that don’t suffer from a lot of crime. Neighbourhood Watch schemes don’t exist in the areas with high crime rates where they’re really needed

   Neighbourhood Watch members tend to be mostly older people. They just want an opportunity to interfere and don’t represent the whole community. The scheme is an excuse to underfund the police service. It relies on unpaid volunteers doing jobs the police should be doing