What are the basic purposes of policing in democratic societies how are they consistent with one another in what ways might they be inconsistent?

Answer 1

1. enforce and support the laws of the society of which the police are a part

2. investigate crimes and apprehend offenders

3. prevent crime

4. help ensure domestic peace and tranquility

5. provide the community with needed enforcement-related services

Answer 2

The basic purpose of policing in democratic societies are to :

enforce the laws od society

apprehend offenders who participate in crime

prevent crime, preserve peace

provide community needed enforcement-related services.

Answer 3

The belief that people left to their own devices would self destruct is the core justification of force.

The function of all enforcement is to defend the government from attacks by force be they direct or indirect.

The function of law is to make attacks, again indirect or direct, on the government illegal.

The function of police is to defend the state from it's people primarily by enforcing property rights and regulating behaviors that influence property.

This is why police are seems to be quick to respond to the needs of the rich and powerful but slow to respond to the needs of the homeless.

The different forms of police are only separated by task and scope of operation.

We invented government to solve specific problems so naturally many government interests coincide with individual interests. For example, property law is of interest to all holders of property, including the government. Another example is that random violence and destruction precludes orderly work schedules and maintenance of infrastructure, thus overt wanton violence is often violently opposed by the police, but systemically speaking, areas of overlap are in a way coincidental.

This is why law enforcement are so obtuse about policy at times, because of the common misconception that police exist to serve the people above all else. A myth which they find useful to foster as it attracts employees, encourages devotion, and discourages criminal behavior. The more baffling behaviors of the police start to make a lot more sense when viewed form the perspective of police as state/property (not people) defenders.

Most individual rank and file police officers probably believe they are there to help people, but each one that has ever been forced to hurt someone because of the rules when they felt another course of action would have better served that end, know on some level the real nature of their function. This is partly why corruption happens because many police are forced by their conscience to break their own rules, and then lose faith in them altogether.

The police protect citizens because a government is made of citizens, to understand the difference between a citizen and a person simply examine people whom the justice system intentionally kill or place in harm's way. You will find a threat to the state in most every instance. Now examine the incidents often overlooked by police that harm people, many of those incidents will be harmless or even helpful to the state. Also examine instances where no one is harmed but the state or the wealthy, you will find police there.

This is by design. And there is an argument for why this is acceptable. In order for a government to have the power to help people, it must first exist, and have power.

A citizen by definition is never a threat to the state. Citizens need not always be people, as with corporations, and people need not always be citizens, as with criminals and illegals.