Watchman, Legalistic & Service Policing Styles

The legalistic style is popular in state police and state highway patrol agencies, too. In all legalistic departments, officers are expected to make a lot of arrests and write a lot of citations. These officers initiate more contact with the public than those in other types of departments.

Legalistic departments are also different from watchman departments in that the officers have little discretion. Legalistic departments use a single community standard for conduct.

But this method can also cause problems. Because all groups are treated the same, it might seem that some groups are treated too harshly. Let's go back to our profiling concern. Police departments in some cities have used what is called 'stop and frisk,' which involves randomly stopping a person who fits their profile of a possible criminal and frisking them to search for weapons or drugs. These stop and frisk scenarios are based on appearance and target certain racial groups. Many profiling scenarios involve an officer claiming the person they shot had a gun or was reaching for a gun, which fits the concept of legalistic style but also contradicts it in that not everyone is treated equally and in the realm of professionalism.

Service style communities typically have low crime rates. Because the make-up of the community is limited, suspicious people and happenings are easier to spot. However, this is again a concern as the community itself takes on the role of policing anyone who they deem 'doesn't belong,' which has caused false reporting and citizens acting in what they deem to be self-defense. The deaths of Trayvon Martin and Ahmaud Arbery are tragic examples of these occurrences in service style communities. Since officers tend to engage with the public and perform service duties, like providing general security at local events or serving as crossing guards near parks or schools, they may get too comfortable with community members to the point where their unlawful behavior is not routinely corrected (to the detriment of other citizens) and attention and suspicion is disproportionately placed on those from outside the community when a crime is committed (or even when it is not).

The main difference between service style departments and other departments is how they handle offenses. Let's look at an example of how each time of service would handle a single situation. Let's say it's late on a Friday night, after a high school football game, and a carload of loud teenagers speeds through the intersection going about 10 miles per hour over the speed limit. In a watchman department, an officer might not get involved at all, as long as the car doesn't seem to be endangering others. In a legalistic department, the officer would pull the car over and this driver would receive a citation. In a service style department, this car would probably be pulled over but might not receive a citation. Instead, the teenagers might be warned to slow down and told to head home. Now, picture the occupants of the car as people of color not speeding but just driving through a community on their way to an event. The circumstances can and often do drastically change to one of profiling or false reports that lead to innocent people being treated as suspicious. So, regardless of what service style exists, profiling and personal bias exists that plagues minority ethnic groups in all communities.

The legalistic style places an emphasis on violations of law and relies on threats of arrest or actual arrests. It strictly enforces the criminal laws and is focused on resolving disputes through formal methods. Think of it as 'paramilitary' or as the 'enforcer'. It's mostly used in larger cities with ethnically diverse populations.

The service style places an emphasis on serving the public and helping the community. It's focused on interacting with and aiding the public through informal methods, rather than on enforcing the law. Think of it as 'public service'. It's mostly used in suburban, middle-class communities with largely homogenous populations.

The main difference between the policing styles is how they handle offenses.

• Describe the three main policing styles
• Summarize the relationship between each style and its community characteristics
• Identify where each type of policing style is likely to occur