ACR102 Week 2: Police and Policing

Lecture Overview and Roadmap

• Foundational Historical Inquiries: The lecture examines the origins of policing, the reasons for its creation, and the importance of this history in contextualizing modern policing practices.

• Conceptual Analysis: Discussion of what police actually do, focusing on the form and function of policing, the concept of "pluralisation," and an evaluation of police effectiveness.

• Contemporary Snapshot: A review of the current size of police forces, diversity metrics, and the various organizations involved in policing today.

• Critical Issues (Problematising the Police): An exploration of police culture, accountability mechanisms, discretionary power, and the challenges of reform.

A Brief History of Policing: The Peelian Model and Australian Adoption

• The London Metropolitan Police Act 1829: Established by Home Secretary Sir Robert Peel, this act created the London Metropolitan Police, known as "Bobbies" or "Peelers."

• Peelian Principles: These principles were designed to establish a centralized and ethical police power under State authority. The central guiding tenet was "policing by consent."

• Australian Contextual Complexity: While Australia is often said to have adopted the Peelian model, the reality is more layered:

  • It was not a simple policy transfer from the United Kingdom.

  • Early policing was performed by diverse groups, including the military, convict night-watchmen, and Indigenous "native police."

  • Palmer (1999) suggests Australian policing was a mix of the Peelian model and the Irish Royal Constabulary model, characterized by less community-oriented policing and more paramilitarisation.

• Migration and Early Misconduct: Many British and Irish police migrated to Australia for roles. Early history was marked by significant misbehaviour and localized control before eventual centralization.

The Centralization of Australian Policing

• Sydney Police Act 1833: Created the first professional city police force in Australia, only four years after London's force was established.

• State Centralization Timeline:

  • South Australia (SA): $1844$ (noted as a "free State").

  • Victoria (Vic): $1853$ (influenced significantly by the Gold Rush).

  • Western Australia (WA): $1861$.

  • New South Wales (NSW): $1862$.

  • Queensland (Qld): $1863$.

  • Tasmania (Tas): $1898$.

  • Northern Territory (NT): $1931$ (remained under SA legislation until this time).

• Control Models: Centralization versus decentralization remains a foundational issue linked to power and influence. Centralization affects consistency, authority, and training levels, whereas the United States maintains a largely decentralized model aligned with constitutional rights (e.g., #BLM movement implications).

The Reality of Colonial Policing and Social Control

• Motive Beyond Crime Fighting: Peel's model was preferred over informal "watchmen" and the militia, but the core motive was social control. Peel, having managed the colonial occupation of Ireland, sought to protect the propertied class against insurrections, riots, and political uprisings (Vitale 2017).

• Connections to Colonisation: Policing was fundamentally linked to colonisation, immediately targeting Indigenous populations (Finnane 1994; Cunneen 2001).

• Native Police: These units represent colonial violence on two levels. Comprised of Indigenous officers (recruited for "civilisation" purposes) led by European officers, they were mounted military units that committed numerous atrocities (Bland 2025).

• Frontier Massacre Statistics:

  • Massacres involving "agents of the state" (Border Police, Soldiers, Native Police, etc.): $225$ or $51\%$.

  • Victims killed in massacres involving agents of the state: $5300$ or $50\%$.

Policing History in the United States

• Drivers for Creation: Policing emerged as a response to industrialisation, mass immigration, and moral panics.

• Regional Examples:

  • Boston (1838): Adopted the London model to respond to working-class riots and social disorder caused by rapid industrialisation.

  • New York (1844): Created a larger force to manage racial/ethnic strife, crime, and labor unrest.

  • Chicago (1855): Focused on enforcing "morality laws" regarding drinking, gambling, public kissing, and women's appearance (hair and bathing suit length).

• Suppressing Specialized Groups:

  • Pennsylvania: State authorized "Coal and Iron Police" (private) to break strikes, leading to workers' massacres (e.g., Latimer Massacre 1897).

  • Texas: The "Texas Rangers" conducted domestic colonial policing, hunting Mexican populations. In the 1960s/70s, they suppressed the political rights of Mexican Americans.

  • Charleston (1783): Formed professional police $50$ years before Peel, derived from "slave patrols" intended to prevent escapes and forbid literacy among slaves.

Conceptualizing "Police" and "Policing"

• Bittner's Definitions:

  • (1970): "A mechanism for the distribution of nonnegotiably coercive force employed in accordance with the dictates of an intuitive grasp of situational exigencies."

  • (1990): The core principle of policework is: "something-that-ought-not-to-be-happening-and-about-which-someone-had-better-do-something-now!"

• Varied Operational Tasks: Police work includes patrol, road safety (alcohol/drug buses), community engagement (liaison officers), paperwork, crime prevention, public order, victim liaison, and youth initiatives (e.g., Blue Light Discos).

• Key Characteristics:

  1. A monopolisation on the use of legitimate (including lethal) force (Weber 1946).

  2. Official state-sanctioned powers (arrest, trespass, etc.).

  3. Executive agents delegated to restore public order (Miller 2023).

Pluralisation: The Evolving Landscape of Policing

• Definition: Pluralisation signifies that the responsibility for enforcement is increasingly shared between the state and non-state personnel. This involves "plural policing" (Loader 2000) and the "rebirth of private policing" (Johnston 1992).

• The Private Sector: Security personnel outnumber state police at a ratio of $2:1$. Examples include shop security, Metro ticket inspectors, debt collectors, and CCTV monitors.

• Loader's (2000) Typology of Plural Policing:

  • Policing Above Government: e.g., Europol, Interpol, UNPOL.

  • Policing Beyond Government: e.g., Private Security Industry.

  • Policing Below Government: e.g., Neighbourhood Watch.

  • Policing By Government: e.g., State Police Forces, Auxiliary roles.

  • Policing Through Government: e.g., Quality contracted security (CCTV, PMCs).

• Issues with Privatisation: Concerns include training consistency, accountability (shareholders vs. public interest), and the quality of democratic oversight.

Effectiveness and Legitimacy in Policing

• Measuring Success: Research on increasing police numbers is inconclusive. Random "drive-by" patrolling is ineffective, but targeting "hot-spots" can be successful.

• Clearance Rates: Cases are considered "solved" if an offender is processed, no offence occurred, the complaint is withdrawn, or the perpetrator is known but not charged (deceased/underage).

• Police Legitimacy: Defined by Tyler (2006) as the "psychological property of an authority… that leads those connected to it to believe that it is appropriate, proper and just." High legitimacy ensures public compliance and cooperation.

• Crisis of Trust: Legitimacy is falling in Australia; currently, less than half of survey respondents agree that police are "honest" or "treat people fairly and equally" (Report on Government Services 2026).

• Police Force vs. Service: The semantic shift (e.g., NSW changing from "Force" to "Service" in 1990 and back to "Force" in 2006) reflects tensions in occupational culture and a shift toward paramilitarisation (McCulloch 1997).

A Snapshot of Policing Today

• Organizational Structure:

  • National: Australian Federal Police (AFP), Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission (ACIC), Australian Border Force.

  • State/Local: State police, Council rangers, Public transport enforcement officers.

  • International: Interpol, Europol.

• Numerical Data (2024-25):

  • Cost of state-based services: approximately $\$18.4 \text{ billion}$.

  • Operational staff: just under $72000$ (up from $64000$ in 2015-16).

  • Non-operational staff: approximately $10000$ (up from $65000$ in 2015-16).

  • Rate: $264$ operational staff per $100000$ people nationally ($767$ per $100000$ in the Northern Territory).

• Diversity and Gender:

  • $27.8\%$ of sworn staff were female in 2022-23 (declined from $32.5\%$ in 2015-16).

  • Implications include better representation for gender-based victimization but potential negative effects like sexual harassment and delegation of female officers to "emotional" work.

Problematising the Police: Discretion and Culture

• Discretion: The "freedom to choose amongst alternatives" regarding arrests, investigations, or use of force.

• Use of Force: Evaluating excessive force is difficult; the "use of force continuum" is used for assessment. Impactful incidents recorded by cameras include Rodney King (1991) and Roberto Curti (2012).

• Police Culture: Often described through the "Thin Blue Line" or "Blue Wall of Silence." It involves informal norms like a "siege mentality" and action-orientation.

• Negatives of Culture: Linked to racism, corruption, and brutality. A 2026 Workplace Culture Review of the NSW Police Force found systemic bullying, harassment, and a "boys club" environment.

Accountability and Reform

• Accountability Models:

  1. Internal Affairs: Complaints handled entirely by police (e.g., Professional Standards Command). Risks include conflict of interest and lack of rigor.

  2. Civilian Review: Independent oversight bodies that audit or monitor. Often considered "toothless" (e.g., IBAC investigates only $0.8\%$ of complaints).

  3. Civilian Control: External and independent investigation of all complaints. The "gold standard" is the Police Ombudsman of Northern Ireland (PONI).

• Reform Challenges: Changes occur via internal policy or legislative reform. Police are effective at resisting reform through unions ("political muscle").

• Cain and Ryan (2025): Argue that police complaint reform is a cyclic process where states use inquiries to quell public concern without fixing underlying issues (The Police Complaint Reform Cycle, Smith 2005).