The police are a constituted body of persons empowered by a state, with the aim to enforce the law, protect public order, and the public itself. This commonly includes ensuring the safety, health, and possessions of citizens, and to prevent crime and civil disorder. Their lawful powers encompass arrest and the use of force legitimized by the state via the monopoly on violence. The term is most commonly associated with the police forces of a sovereign state that are authorized to exercise the police power of that state within a defined legal or territorial area of responsibility. Police forces are often defined as being separate from the military and other organizations involved in the defense of the state against foreign aggressors; however, gendarmerie are military units charged with civil policing. Police forces are usually public sector services, funded through taxes.
In criminology, the broken windows theory states that visible signs of crime, antisocial behavior, and civil disorder create an urban environment that encourages further crime and disorder, including serious crimes. The theory suggests that policing methods, which target minor crimes, such as vandalism, loitering, public drinking; and fare evasion, help to create an atmosphere of order and lawfulness.
The National Policing Institute, formerly known as the Police Foundation, is an American non-profit organization dedicated to advancing policing through innovation and independent scientific research. It is headquartered in Arlington, Virginia.
A traffic stop, colloquially referred to as being pulled over, is a temporary detention of a driver of a vehicle and its occupants by police to investigate a possible crime or minor violation of law.
The Tampa Police Department (TPD) is the primary law enforcement agency for the city of Tampa, Florida. The Tampa Police Department has 985 authorized sworn law enforcement personnel positions and more than 350 civilian and support staff personnel positions. The current police chief is Lee Bercaw.
As of 2020, more than 800,000 sworn law enforcement officers have been serving in the United States. About 137,000 of those officers work for federal law enforcement agencies.
The Polícia de Segurança PúblicaMHTE is the national civil police force of Portugal. Part of the Portuguese security forces, the mission of the PSP is to defend Republican democracy, safeguarding internal security and the rights of its citizens. Despite many other functions, the force is generally known for policing urban areas with uniformed police officers, while rural areas are normally policed by National Republican Guard (GNR), the country's national gendarmerie force. PSP is focused in preventive policing, only investigating minor crimes. Investigation of serious crimes falls under the Judicial Police responsibility, which is a separate agency.
The Minneapolis Domestic Violence Experiment (MDVE) evaluated the effectiveness of various police responses to domestic violence calls in Minneapolis, Minnesota. This experiment was implemented during 1981-82 by Lawrence W. Sherman, Director of Research at the Police Foundation, and by the Minneapolis Police Department with funding support from the National Institute of Justice. Among a pool of domestic violence offenders for whom there was probable cause to make an arrest, the study design called for officers to randomly select one third of the offenders for arrest, one third would be counseled and one third would be separated from their domestic partner.
The Milton S. Eisenhower Foundation is a non-governmental organization in the United States, established in 1981 to continue the work of two Presidential Commissions. These commissions were the bipartisan National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders, and the bipartisan National Commission on the Causes and Prevention of Violence. The Eisenhower Foundation carries forward the objectives and initiatives of these commissions in the private sector.
The Bellevue Police Department is located in Bellevue, Washington. As of 2021, there were 186 commissioned officers and 47 civilian employees. The department's annual operating budget is about $51 million. It services 145,000 people. The main Bellevue Police Station is located in Bellevue City Hall, at 450 110th Avenue Northeast. There are also two other substations throughout the city in Factoria and Crossroads. BPD patrols six districts. The current Chief of Police is Wendell Shirley.
Law enforcement in Mexico is divided between federal, state, and municipal agencies. There are two federal police forces, 31 state police forces including two for Mexico City, and 1,807 municipal police forces. There are 366 officers per 100,000 people, which equals approximately 500,000 in total.
Lawrence W. Sherman is an American experimental criminologist and police educator who is the founder of evidence-based policing.
The Kansas City Police Department (KCPD) is the principal law enforcement agency serving Kansas City, Missouri. Jackson County 16th Circuit Court Circuit Court Judge Jen Phillips swore in Stacey Graves as the 46th chief of police of the KCPD on December 15, 2022. Graves, who served as head of the KCPD's Deputy Chief of the Patrol Bureau, became the city's 46th police chief on December 15, 2022.
The Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPR&D), was set up on 28 August 1970 in furtherance of the objective of the Government of India for the modernisation of police forces. It has evolved as a multifaceted, consultancy organisation. At present it has 4 divisions – Research, Development, Training and Correctional Administration.
Community policing or community-oriented policing (COP) is a strategy of policing that focuses on developing relationships with community members. It is a philosophy of full-service policing that is highly personal, where an officer patrols the same area for an extended time and develops a partnership with citizens to collaboratively identify and solve problems.
Patrick Vincent Murphy served as the top law enforcement executive in New York City, Detroit, Washington, DC, and Syracuse, NY. He created the Police Executive Research Forum, an organization of police executives from the nation's largest city, county, and state law enforcement agencies, and led the Police Foundation in a period when it published pivotal reports on issues ranging from the police use of deadly force to the efficient use of patrol resources. Murphy's "long-range impact on American policing nationally probably will be judged by students of police history as significant as that of August Vollmer or J. Edgar Hoover," the FBI's Law Enforcement Bulletin commented in a 1986 cover story on the Police Foundation.
Evidence-based policing (EBP) is an approach to policy making and tactical decision-making for police departments. It has its roots in the larger movement towards evidence-based practices.
The Crime and Criminal Tracking Networks and Systems, abbreviated to CCTNS, is a project under the Indian government for creating a comprehensive and integrated system for effective policing through e-Governance. The system includes a nationwide online tracking system by integrating more than 14,000 police stations across the country. The project is implemented by National Crime Records Bureau.
Police brutality is defined as the use of excessive force by law enforcement personnel while performing their official duties in an abusive and unjustified manner. Police brutality can also include psychological harm through the use of intimidation tactics beyond the scope of officially sanctioned police procedure.
In policing equipment, a police body camera or 'wearable camera', also known as body worn video (BWV), 'body-worn camera' (BWC), or body camera, is a wearable audio, video, or photographic recording system used by police to record events in which law enforcement officers are involved, from the perspective of the officer wearing it. They are typically worn on the torso of the body, pinned on the officer's uniform. Police body cameras are often similar to body cameras used by civilians, firefighters, or the military, but are designed to address specific requirements related to law enforcement. Body cameras were first worn by police in the United Kingdom in 2005, and have since been adopted by numerous police departments and forces worldwide.
