Question

Should law enforcement agencies move towards more mental and social services for citizens? Please explain.  
Please give a detailed and comprehensive answer with multiple valid arguments

Answer 1

ANS. Social work as a discipline has made progress in many areas, including school social work, military social work, and mental health, to name a few. Conversely, police social work has seen a reduction in advancement within the last three decades. Police departments and social workers have traditionally worked together to deal with community problems. In fact effective prevention, intervention, and stabilization require more than police action and goes beyond the capability of any single agency. Studies show that social services provision has always been a key part of policing, operating alongside service to victims of crimes and the enforcement of the law against offenders.

Two premises underlie the approaches to policing discussed in this publication. One is that the police, by virtue of the authority that society vests in them, have overarching responsibility for the outcome of encounters with citizens. This in no way ignores the fact that the police must deal with such groups as criminals, persons under the influence of alcohol and drugs, law-abiding citizens, and persons with mental impairment. The second and main premise is that good policing must take into consideration two equally important factors: the values on which a police department operates, as well as the practices it follows.

In addition to adopting a set of values, it is equally important that police departments clearly and publicly state those values. This sets forth a department's philosophy of policing and its commitment to high standards for all to know and understand. To be significant, these values must be known to all members of the community as well as all members of the police department. In addition, a department's values must incorporate citizens' expectations, desires, and preferences. A department's policies and practices flow from its values. Without clear values, it is unlikely that practices will be as well focused as they should.

Law enforcement practices constitute the second major focus of Principles of Good Policing, taking into account major areas of police responsibility that can produce incidents that escalate into violence. In isolating these situations, the publication suggests how procedures, tactics, and techniques might be modified--or new approaches implemented--to reduce the number of instances in which potentially problematic police-citizen encounters become problems in reality. This publication contains principles, practices, and philosophy that are applicable for law enforcement of all jurisdictions. While the terms "police officer," "officer," "law enforcement," and "department," are used throughout this publication, they are not intended to exclude the many other kinds of law enforcement agencies and their personnel, such as sheriffs, deputy sheriffs, marshals, deputy marshals, rangers, agents, special agents, and investigators who make up the larger law enforcement family that can benefit from this publication.