Describe recruitment and selection process among U.S police Essay

Describe recruitment and selection process among U.S police departments during the last half of the nineteenth centry (i.e., the first fifty years of policing) - Essay Example Police departments were organised as per political affiliations. Police in these early days was organised under police chiefs. These police chiefs were appointed by political bosses. These political bosses ensured that the police chiefs and the subsequent police mechanisms remained subservient to them. Corruption was the order of the day in order to satisfy the political bosses’ aims and objectives. The common man was harassed by utilising the police framework so as to secure political domination. The presence of political machines meant that political bosses were on the lookout for ways to offset the balance of power in their favour. Cops were recruited by political machines in an effort to encourage citizens to vote for the â€Å"right† political candidate. Often police brutality ensured that the wishes of the political bosses were carried out in letter and spirit. Police was used to exert political influence by intimidating, intruding and pressurising ordinary people and businesses. Corruption was reduced to a complete system. Payoffs on massive scales ensured that the policemen remained loyal to a political side. Crime was organised as robberies, extortions, gambling and other illegal activities were carried out systematically. Another tendency of this era was earmarking police personnel as per their political affiliations. Often as political machines waned, so did the police framework supporting them. Each political machine ensured that â€Å"their cops† were placed in active duty to protect their interests. These early tendencies for police brutality and corruption were in line with the sociological facets of the time. People were not politically organised in coherent regimes to ensure that police corruption could be settled through political resolve. Moreover, the presence of corrupt politicians backed by clandestine businesses ensured that the police framework remained in line with their demands and