Problems with Team Policing

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The Problems of Team Policing CRMJ 305 The Problems of Team Policing There are many different styles of policing. Police departments have throughout the years adapted and changed their policing styles. Team policing has been one of those styles that have been tried by police departments. Team policing is full of problems and that is why it is not really a good style of policing for police departments to adopt. This paper will cover the early beginnings of team policing, the cons, and some city case studies. Team policing has its roots in Aberdeen, Scotland. It, however, failed in the end. Upper level officers were mad at the fact that the teams would disregard their orders and go about doing whatever the team wanted. This power struggle led to the downfall of team policing in Aberdeen. The definition of team policing “meant something different in each city, but generally it has been an attempt to strike a new balance between the presumed efficiency needs of police centralization and community needs for police decentralization in order to be more responsive to citizens” (Sherman, Milton and Kelly 1973:13). It means that there should be lots of communication between team members, as well as communication between the team to the community. “In Aberdeen, it began as an effort to counteract the low morale and boredom of single officers patrolling quiet streets” (Sherman, Milton and Kelly 1973:13). Aberdeen wanted to get rid of the loneliness on the job for officers. They thought team policing would help get the police to be more effective. In 1963, the Aberdeen team policing was changed to a new style of policing. However, in America in the next few years, some police departments tried the team policing style. It was plagued with problems from the start. The biggest problem that is associated with team policing is information sharing. Team members have a high

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