PROACTIVE POLICING
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Compare and contrast 'reactive' and 'proactive' approaches to police investigation? Are there any potential ethical or legal problems in adopting a proactive approach?
Reactive policing is often referred to as 'fire brigade policing', under this method the police react to a reported crime which has already occurred. Reactive policing is often associated with the use of cars and two way radios, foot patrol assumes a low status and often a conviction does not even occur. During the 1960's reactive policing was replacing preventive policing.
The police consider the classification of the crime, continue with their enquiries and gather evidence or interview witnesses and suspects. Reactive policing has the benefit of allowing efficiency to be judged effectively, such as response times and arrest figures. However by using this system the police were criticised for not having any sort of relationship with the people in the communities which they were policing. This problem had its own repercussions in the way that the police would then come to stereotype people in the community and many complaints were made about the way in which the police would stop and search black youths implying they were all criminals.
The community in turn would co-operate less with the police which eroded the legitimacy of police functioning in communities...