Zusammenfassung der Ressource
Policing Changes in the 20th Century
- Weapons
- Ordinary policemen are
not armed; police can be
issued with firearms when
necessary
- Police now have access to
extensive riot gear
- New style of truncheon introduced in
1990s and police have access to
portable CS gas canisters
- Transport
- 1930s - access to cars and
motorbikes improve pace and
effectiveness of the police
- 1970s - cars become more
important; development of
rapid response police teams
- Reintroduction of foot
and some horse patrols in
order to reassure the
public of security in the
streets
- 1909 - police obtained
bicycles to pursue
criminal offenders
more swiftly
- Crime
Detection
- 1901 - first national register
of fingerprints helped in
identifying suspects
- 1901 - discovery of blood types
allowed chemical analysis of blood
samples to be carried out
- Most recent, DNA has been utilised as
evidence, alongside modern methods of
video recording
- 1988 - the first murder conviction on the basis
of DNA samples occurred
- 1995 - National Automatic
Fingerprint Identification System (NAFIS)
and National DNA Database set up
- Training and
Recruitment
- Women first joined the force in 1920, they
have taken on a similar role to their male
counterparts
- National Police Training
College opens in 1947
- High-quality candidates needed,
the force offers good pay
- Officers train for 14 weeks
before starting work; local
forces have specialists and
provide more training
- Communication
- Morse code transmitters installed in
police telephone boxes
- Radio: allowed for quicker
reporting of crimes and
calling for reinforcement.
Radios were first used in
1910 and still are today.
- 1920s - Morse Code transmitters
were installed in police vehicles
- First murderer caught due
to radio communication
was in 1910, Dr Crippen
- Development in
technologies
altered police
methodology
- 1930s - the 999 telephone number is introduced
- Organisation
- March 1988 - number of police
officers was 126,856
- 1998 - number of
separate forces was
cut from 200 to 41
- Single, national police force regularly opposed
- Single police force seen as too great a
power in the hands of the government
that might enforce unpopular measures
- Labour
- Public still view the
police as a force to catch
thieves
- 1933 - one survey illustrated 18%
of calls to the police were crime
related
- Mainly responsible for
maintaining public order
during disputes
- Computers and
Surveillance
- 1980 - Police National Computer is introduced;
contains records on 25 million people
- Alerts police to people who have been
previously convicted of criminal offences
- Police can foil terrorist plots through
monitoring emails and websites
- Police can view behaviour of
people in the streets with CCTV
- CCTV cameras were utilised
for the first time in the
Irish Republican Army
bombings in the 1970s
- CCTV records information
at the time and can enable
the capturing of criminals
in the future
- Specialisation
- Police work is so
varied it is difficult
for them to cope
with changing
circumstances
- 1945 - special squads were
established to deal with
specific crime prevention
- 1947 - Fraud
Squad
- 1971 - Anti-Terrorist Squad
- 1965 - Special Patrol Group, later named
Metropolitan Patrol Group (1987) - deals
with inner city riots and public disorder
- Police
Agency
- Powers of the police changed little
during the 20th century
- Questioning - a police official can
ask a suspect to come to the police
station for questioning. Cannot
force this without making an
arrest.
- Arrest - can arrest if they
believe the suspect is
committing a criminal offence
- Report - cannot arrest for minor
offences e.g. speeding - but can
choose to fine someone for them
- Search - need the warrant of a
magistrate to search private
property