Toward a New Professionalism in Policing

While community policing represented a great change in how police officers did their jobs, it is now time for a new model for the 21st century - a "New Professionalism". The authors propose a framework for police executives, officers and the community to shape and understand the work of police departments. This frame relies on increased accountability for police in both effectiveness and conduct; greater legitimacy in the eyes of the citizenry; continuous innovation in tactics and strategies for interacting with offenders, victims, and the general public; and national coherence through the development of national norms and protocols for policing. The authors argue that much can be gained from a truer police professionalism. For the public policing promises to become more effective, more responsive to residents, and less forceful, less brusque. For police the work promises to become more stimulating with a greater emphasis on learning, innovation, ethics, and professional mobility.