These articles feature a comparative look at policing across the globe. 

Around the World 12.1:  Introducing a Human Approach in Policing

Source: Adapted from an editorial. “Introducing human approach in policing,” October 22, 2010. The New Nation (Dhaka, Bangladesh). Retrieved June 11, 2012, from http://infoweb.newsbank.com.ezproxy.wiu.edu/iw-search/we/InfoWeb?p_produ....

A newspaper editorial in The New Nation (Dhaka, Bangladesh) points out that the responsibility of ensuring justice and security of the citizens in every country is vested with the police. In Bangladesh, while the government has taken some initiative to modernize police services, a colonial legacy remains in some areas of police activities. There are both internal and external pressures on the police to develop a more human approach to justice and security.

The article goes on to state that the more democratic a country, the more the police are respectful in dealing with citizens. In any country, the police face the challenge of building good relations with the citizens they serve. In Bangladesh, the police are ready to help citizens, and citizens definitely want more services from police. The author asks, “Then what is the problem?” and concludes that the problem is communication. Many people have a traditional fear of the police.

In recent years, some organizations and alliances have been working for good governance in policing by bringing the police and the public closer to ensure justice and security. In April 2004, six established nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and academic centers joined together to form an alliance called Altus.

Altus works across continents to minimize the gap between the police and the public by forming a multicultural perspective to improve public safety and maintain justice. Altus helps public officials identify or develop empirically tested models of respectful policing, quality legal services for the poor, and other good practices.

Police Station Visitors Week (PSVW) is a global event organized by Altus to assess the quality of services delivered in the participating police departments, to identify some of the best practices in use by police, to strengthen the accountability of police to the local citizens whom they serve, and to promote human rights standards.

Bangladesh police cooperate in this event in an attempt to build closer ties between people and police. The five core categories of the police assessment are “community orientation, physical conditions, and equal treatment of the Public without bias based on age, gender, ethnicity, nationality, minority status, age or sexual orientation, transparency and accountability, and detention conditions.”

1. What role does a “more human approach to justice” play in U.S. law enforcement?
2. How important is “communication” between U.S. law enforcement and its citizenry? Explain.
3. What steps can a police agency take to improve communication and cooperation with law enforcement?