Critical evaluation of the Auxiliary Police and its impact on the society members.
How did the idea of the creation of the Auxiliary Police come to live? Did Auxiliary Police have an impact of the crime level in general? What is the attitude of formal police officers to the Auxiliary Police formation? Should auxiliary police have full enforcement powers alongside with the “standard” police units?
Auxiliary Police is a volunteer service and its aim in the first place is to provide uniform vehicle, bicycle and foot patrols.
Auxiliary Police Essay
Introduction: Life around us has changed a lot and the streets are not as safe anymore. At least not as safe as they used to be before. Some people prefer staying at home to going somewhere where they can possibly feel under threat. Our police forces are called to provide safety and to keep the situation under control. It is their duty to provide the security for the citizens and to prevent any possible criminal actions. Police officers have a lot of job to do and that is why there are districts that still remain dangerous. This happens due to a lack of forces. Police needs more people, but how can we possibly raise the amount of people working in the police quickly and qualitatively. The idea of the Auxiliary Police came as an answer. It was founded according to the Civil Defense act of 1951. Auxiliary Police is a volunteer service and its aim in the first place is to provide uniform vehicle, bicycle and foot patrols. These uniform patrols are made to prevent crimes and they do it in an indirect way. People in this uniform patrol watch everything around them, notice suspicious events, mark them, and report to the police station.
This form of observation of the situation in the streets has one primary goal – to reduce the crime level of a given district. One other very important thing is that the auxiliary police is a uniting section for both: police and civil people. It intensifies and perfects their intercoupling. Auxiliary police is a special country’s reserve for any types of emergency situations. People that are included in the auxiliary police are civil people, who volunteer to become auxiliary police members. Without any doubt we may say that auxiliary police is a subsidiary civil addition to the main police department. And it is obvious that people in it do not have the same official right as standard policeman. Should auxiliary police have full enforcement powers alongside with the “standard” police units? Many people think that as far as they provide safety control and prevent crimes they should also have the same legal rights as the ordinary police member do. To answer this question it is very important to investigate the compound of the auxiliary police and to define whether people in it can be put on the same level with the “standard” policemen. As it was already mentioned Auxiliary police consists of private citizens, who volunteer for it and provide a really good service to their communities through making their life safer. Their primary functions lay in crime prevention through uniform patrols in all the possible areas. They can also be in charge of controlling the traffic movement in exceeding situations, during community evens they help the police to provide quality service and report all the incidents. A person doing this job is definitely very devoted to his community and ready to take measures to make the situation better. It is reflected in the aspect that this service is not obligatory but it does requires certain quality descriptions. People volunteering for it are civic-minded and this is a very legitimate reason to decide to enter the Auxiliary police. In civic life these people may have different professions that have nothing in common with what they do in the Auxiliary Police. Another positive thing is that these people can be of any ethnical background. What they do is they define situations that need police interference. Auxiliary police members may assist in non-enforcement and non-hazardous duties, but only sometimes and no more than that. In order to consider them equal to “standard” policemen we have to see what level of preparation they obtain before they start service. In the first place it is very important to point out that they are recruited by the Police Department. Police makes the best picks form people older than 17 and younger than 60 that are fit, live in the given area, have never been convicted and are American citizens. After their applications are examined, they are invited to pass the training. After they pass it they are eligible for this volunteer service. There are certain requirements that compulsory for the trained volunteers such a minimum amount oh hours they serve, the special events they have to participate in, etc. Though the activity of the Auxiliary police has proved to be effective and it showed the reduction of crime in the patrol areas, it still is an “auxiliary” force. Its destination is to help the Police Department, which is way more experienced. Police Department officers are very professional in the service they carry. They spend a lot of time studying and training before they finish the Police Academy.
Conclusion: The level of knowledge of the Auxiliary Police in the field of law, etc is rather low and insufficient. They certainly obtain definite skills for they have a basic training course in a Police Academy but this is still not enough to have enforcement power alongside with the Police Department. They get basic defense tactics skills, basic first aid skills and so on. Serving the Auxiliary Police is obviously worth of deep respect and admiration because these people want to change the life of their community for better. Auxiliary volunteers are ”peace” officers. They lack knowledge, experience and skills and sometimes are not completely psychological ready for the work of a real police officer to have full enforcement power. Of course, they do posses a deep desire to work for the better of their community to fight with the crime through preventing it but this is still not enough. They may be called “informers” and their part in reducing the crime-line is important. But they can make mistakes and this mistakes if they have a full enforcement power may cost a lot for people. We have no right to risk when it goes about the lives of human beings. Therefore everything should remain on its place. Auxiliary police should patrol and inform about suspicious actions and help at different mass events and the Police Department should analyze the information from Auxiliary Police and take measures. This kind of help from the side of the Auxiliary Police is immeasurable. They do not only help the Police Department they give the community the sense of safety but this should remain “help” and not the unqualified fulfillment of the duties of the Police Department.