For Introduction to Policing, Law Enforcement, and specialization courses on policing at the freshman/sophomore undergraduate level. Written in a smooth style that promotes conceptual understanding and integration, this intriguing text on policing in America uses a “balance of forces” metaphor throughout to help assimilate discussions- centering material around a recurrent analytical theme that seeks to define police as a product of correlated social, historical, political, legal, individual, and organizational forces. Providing a detailed description of policing with probing analyses of current police and practice problems, it covers the complexity of policing in America, and offers a comprehensive survey of the different police and law enforcement agencies working in the country today.
This third edition of POLICING IN AMERICA: A Balance of Forces, by Robert H. Langworthy and Lawrence E Travis III, provides an updated review of the various police and law enforcement agencies working in the United States today The text continues to provide students with an analytical framework for understanding the police as a balanced product of social, historical, political, legal, individual, and organizational forces. This edition contains updated graphs of the most recent police data and discussions of recently published research that begins to address the "balance of forces" theoretical perspective.
SPECIAL FEATURES - Written in a clear style designed to engage the reader's interest and attention.
- Includes "correlates" sections that examine theoretical propositions about the police in light of current research literature, developing students' analytical and critical thinking about police.
- Describes the contemporary police industry in the United States, including public and private agencies at the federal, state, and local levels.
- Provides figures and graphs presenting recent data on policing in America.
- Presents and analyzes the three major functions of policing in the United States: law enforcement, service provision, and the maintenance of order.
- Covers contemporary issues in policing such as quality of life policing and racial profiling.