3. United Kingdom
Origins in feudal constable
1829: London police reformed into world’s
first modern police agency
Today, under Ministry of Home Affairs
Policing is shared responsibility between
federal and local governments
4. France
Strong centralized police force (Roman
model)
Derives from medieval office of provost
Much more militarized than British police
Not completely independent of judiciary
Divided between Police Nationale
(Interior ministry) and Gendarmerie
(Defense ministry)
Unlike UK, public distrust of police
5. Germany
Like UK, police in Germany are relatively
decentralized
Schutzpolizei (Schupo): Municipal police
Kriminalpolizei (Kripo): Investigatory police
Challenges posed by right wing extremists
and by immigration
6. China
Shared responsibility of Ministry of Justice
(courts/prisons) and Ministry of Public Security
(police)
Socialist emphasis on involving citizenry in
policing; volunteer public security groups act
as eyes and ears of police
Emphasis on administrative justice: Police can
levy fines or short periods of detention without
involvement of judicial process for petty
crimes or social deviance
7. Japan
Historically very low crime rate, but
increase in organized crime
Highly centralized police force, under
control of an impartial commission
Police stations divided into “koban,”
neighborhood community police that
mediate disputes and provide counseling
Very strict gun laws, even for police
8. Saudi Arabia
Civic police under Interior ministry and
religious police under Committee for
Protection of Virtue
Religious police are powerful vigilante
force that monitor deviance from Islam
Special judicial review for death penalty,
stoning, and amputation for theft
Civic police governed by Bureau of
Investigation and Public Prosecution
9. International
UN Office of Drugs and Crime – administers treaties
and provides assistance to developing countries
Interpol – shares information about transnational
criminals; liaison between national police forces
Europol – EU law enforcement agency
Frontex – EU border control agency
UN Police – provides police missions for transitional
or postconflict countries
Financial Action Task Force – helps suppress money
laundering/terrorist financing and tracks financial
transfers