POLICE SUBCULTURE

Police Subculture



Abstract

In this paper, we try to explore the concept of Police Subculture. Police subculture is characterized by secrecy, isolation, the adoption of a code of silence and a macho approach to policing, and cynicism. If these traits are present in a police force, democratic policing cannot be realized. Police officers tend to see themselves not just as upholders of the law, but as participants in the “wider struggle between good and evil”. While many officers welcome the chance to demonstrate their courage and bravery, they also value personal safety and the physical well-being of their comrades. The normative order of competence means pulling your own weight, in other words, doing your fair share of the work without having to rely on the help of others.

Police Subculture

Introduction

When discussing policing in post-communist societies, there is a common tendency to simplify the topic by grouping all Central and Eastern European countries together. An intrinsic notion emerges that post-communist countries in central and eastern European face the same challenges and suffer from the same impediments in relation to policing. Concerns are seen in black and white, with Western Europe on the one side and Eastern Europe on the other. Whilst most people understand that a common denominator cannot be found when looking at policing between different Western European countries such as the Netherlands, France and the UK, there still remains a propensity to classify everything outside the EU border as more or less the same. The differences between individual countries in Central and Eastern Europe are put aside in favor of finding the similarities.

Police Subculture

Police subculture is characterized by secrecy, isolation, the adoption of a code of silence and a macho approach to policing, and cynicism. If these traits are present in a police force, democratic policing cannot be realized. If members of a police force perceive themselves as macho and feel they must prove that they are stronger and faster every time they have an encounter with a citizen, human rights will never come into play. Research conducted has shown that police subculture is very strong not only amongst police officers on the Street but among police managers, as well. Across the globe, policing is a much closed system, and there is an insistence that police officers enter from the lowest level, and work their way up. As police officers work their way up they bring with them the traits and characteristics of the profession that they have learnt, the police subculture being one of them. (Close, 2003, 78)

Discussion

A subculture is a group that holds values, norms, and patterns of behavior in common with the dominant society but also has its own worldview and design for living. Occupation and professions are subcultures in that member of these groups typically do the same work in the same manner often in proximity to one another) and have the same job related advantages and disadvantages. Much has been written about the police subculture, especially the high degree of solidarity and intra-group loyalty demonstrated ...