Why is the Golden Age of Policing’ such a potent myth in British society?

The well-disposed historic period of policing refers to a beat when things were probablely better. We pass water all heard elders in our troupe talk of the good old days when none of like a shots atrocities happened when the constabulary did a better job, when thither werent as some criminals. However how avowedly is the legend of the Golden Age? In tack together to examine this myth it is crucial to look at the legal philosophy and their habits back in the mid-forties and 50s and compargon it to their roles instantly and also look at union and their wad of the police persuasiveness.There is lots of historical evidence available to us or so the police and how it has formed since, in particular the 18th Century. This evidence is found on original documentation from the time and gives us an accurate account, merely we tidy sum only interpret and construct the history, as there is null alive to tell us former(a)wise. The so-called Golden Age is deep down living memory and we only shake up to use the evidence, to tell us of the time, but we can also ask plurality who were there. These people can compare current policing to the Golden Age and in contrast an season of better times is created.This works with other issues not only policing. police roles in Britain remained fairly static from the early 19th Century to the 1960s. The police had four main go aways, the first being Crime Prevention, to prevent umbrage before it began. Policing was visible and unmilitary. Crime Detection was a function that touch on the apprehension and prosecution of criminals. It did not really involve detection, as this was a low priority function because there was paranoia about spies. Detection gnarled invisible policing in contrast to the visible policing of crime prevention.The third function was that of globe Order, which dealt with rioting. This was a variable function as prevalent order was stable within society. The last function was the do rol e. The service role was an important part of policing at the time as the police did many other jobs including tax collection, auxiliary firemen and licensee inspections. The police provided cheap labour for society and were a huge part of friendship life. The role of the police changed with the invention of The Police Act 1964. The structure of the police also changed and the tripartite kindred was put in place, which is still seen today.The main roles of the police prolong changed slightly and without delay include crime prevention, crime detection, the service role and a range of special units that have become to a greater extent important than the populace order role. Special units within the police include units such as the Drugs Squad, Fraud Squads and public order squads like riot control and build up police. It is said that these specialist units have had an influence in the decline of the service role. Officers do not spend as much time dealings with low level crim e, as they are unable to solve this sign of crime and so instead concentrate on high collision crime.The police moved away from the service role as professionalism was introduced and a move was made from the amateur unskilled labourer to a professional employee who in turn was paid well. To join the police became a travel. Policing today in comparison to the Golden Age is seen as distant and remote. Policing in modern times has become technological. The use of mobile phones and walkie-talkies has increased faculty within the police. The police drive round in cars and are scarce seen in some areas. Other areas do have a police presence but it is not always welcome.The police are now more(prenominal) readily armed and use deadly effect if needed. In recent years even this year innocent people have been shot and killed by the police. Policing has become bureaucratic and this has cause limited results. Policing has become govern by administration and paperwork and sees police of ficers spending most of their time in police stations. In the 1940s and 50s policing was seen as truly benevolent. They were members of a community who were well natured and well mannered, they lived within the topical anestheticity and were seen as non-confrontational.There was an apparent use of minimal force. They didnt carry arms and the local bobby was seen with nothing other than his truncheon. Society at the time was in a state of stableness and the public order role of police was very minimal. Policing was seen as un-technological. They didnt have the use of cars or mobiles and the local bobby was visible walking or on a bike. Policing was something that was good. To examine this view we must first analyse peoples attitudes at the time. During the Second World War people were used to figures of authority and they were used to discipline.There was social cohesion, as people seemed to know their place in society. People didnt move about the country as they do today and it wa s usual to be born and die in the same area. Britain was in a state of economic stability, there was full employment and people seemed happy. The police as figures of authority were respected and put on a pedestal. A survey called Exploring the English Character, conducted by Geoffrey Gorer in 1955 found the public to think, The police represent an ideal model of behaviour and character. (Reiner 1989) The policing of the time seems somewhat idyllic.What is not mentioned is that for the police this era was not necessarily a good one. The job of policeman was not seen as a career at the time. It was a semi skilled job that had a very low wage and this did not get better until the 1970s. Police malpractice in the form of corruption was wide spread through out the force and there were a number of police scandals involving Chief constables. (Emsley). The Chief Constable of Worcester was imprisoned for fraud and the Chief Constable for Cardigan was disciplined for not administering his f orce correctly.The Chief Constable for Nottingham was suspended and later acquitted but modify had been done to the police already. (Wall) Recorded crime was on the increase and there were race riots in Nottingham. British society was becoming a consumer society and there was a huge increase in car ownership. This in turn gave the police new duties in traffic control. The police began to have anxieties about the public. (Reiner 2000) In 1960 this malpractice led to the Royal Commission on policing. It is outlay noting that to have a Royal commission something must have been aggrieve in the first place.The media have their own part to play in the representation of the police at the time. There was minimal media coverage and Dixon Of bobsled Green was the fictional policeman that covered the television screens. He was the utter(a) friendly local policeman that helped the community and was even kind to the local villains. Unlike today where our screens are inundated with police pr ogrammes from The Bill to the go away on the wall police documentaries where the police are portrayed in both good and bad lights. Today the police are seen more as Robocop than Dixon who would wade in with guns and bombs rather than a truncheon.Todays police are constantly in the public eye and because of this the public are more aware of what actually goes on within the police. In conclusion the Golden Age is a myth in British society as there is little evidence that it was better. (Wilson) Policing in the 1950s was different from what it is today but that is expected of anything in life, it cannot stay the same. The Golden age was base on blind faith and ignorance of what policing involved at a symphonic time. In todays age we are confronted with growing concerns of crime from terrorism to drug trafficking which have not been seen in such large scales in this century. earthly concern attitudes to the police have changed and so have the attitudes of those that work in the poli ce. Public confidence has declined collectable to the rising crime rates that have soared due to cultural, social and economic factors and the increase in reporting and scandals within the police, heretofore the police are in a better state today than before. (Downes and Morgan in Maguire 2002). The Golden Age myth will continue and in fifty years time the Golden Age will be replaced with a new one that is constructed by law-abiding citizens of the police of today.