CSS Solved Criminology Past Paper CSS 2025 | Difficulties for Police Officers in Preventing Crime
Question Breakdown
The question is about the problems faced by police officers in preventing crime as well as upholding social order and law. The aspirants need to answer this question while explaining the two main parts: challenges faced by police personnel in prevention of crime and difficulties in strengthening social order. To make the answer outstanding, one can add scholarly definitions, examples from Pakistan and various other countries as well as different criminological theories that are linked with it. Despite this, one ought to explain how police officers across the world encounter problems in maintaining law and order. Moreover, the quality of the answer can be accentuated by adding diagrams, relevant quotations and flow charts.
Outline
1-Introduction
2-Understanding the Role of Police Officers
3-Difficulties Faced by Police Officers in Preventing Crime as well as Upholding Social Order and Law
- ✓Acute Paucity of Financial Resources
- ✓Acute Shortage of Man Power
- ✓Outdated Legal Framework
- ✓Political Interference
- ✓Rampant Corruption in Police Departments
- ✓Lack of Public Confidence
- ✓Socio-Economic Disparities
- ✓Technological Advancement and Evolving Nature of Crimes
- ✓Mental Health Problems of Offenders
4-Critical Analysis
5-Conclusion
Answer to the Question
Introduction
The term ‘police’ is derived from a Greek word ‘polis’ which means administration of state. The role of police includes protection of life and property, enforcing laws, preservation of peace and order, prevention of crime, serving the public and arresting the accused. Police is one of the major pillars of the criminal justice system and every province has its own force. According to the Black’s Law Dictionary, crime is a social harm that makes it punishable by law. Discrimination and economic deprivation contribute to stress and strain among people, particularly youth, which forces them to achieve their goals through illegitimate means. As a result, people engage in criminal activities, thus disrupting the social order. Apprehension of criminals, collecting facts of the case, maintaining internal security and law and order are the primary duties of police officers. However, they face several challenges due to a lack of sufficient resources, massive corruption, issues with the legal and judicial system, political interference, public mistrust and a lack of training of police personnel. In 1829, in the Principles of Law Enforcement, Sir Robert Peel said,
“The police are the public and the public are the police; the police being only members of the public who are paid to give full-time attention to duties which are incumbent on every citizen in the interests of community welfare and existence.”
Understanding the Role of Police Officers
Before the British Police System in the Subcontinent, there was the lambardari system in villages, the kotwali system in towns and the chowkidari system in cities. In Pakistan, the Police Order 2002 delineates the roles and responsibilities of the police force. Furthermore, through Section 156 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, police officers have the power to investigate cognizable offences, and according to Section 157(1) of the code, powers of arrest are also given to police. The foremost responsibilities of the police department are to protect life, property and liberty of people, promote and preserve peace, provide due rights to the accused, collect evidence, maintain social order, bring offenders to justice and enforce laws.
Figure 1: Responsibilities of Police Officers
In addition, the attitude of police officers towards the public should be such that it promotes amity as it will help not only in preventing crimes but maintaining social order and law. It is the responsibility of police officers to behave with due decorum and courtesy as well as guide and help the public, especially the poor, children and women, etc.
Difficulties Faced by Police Officers in Preventing Crime as well as Upholding Social Order and Law
Several socio-economic issues such as high rates of poverty, unemployment, economic inequality and limited access to high-quality education, as well as healthcare services, in developing countries like Pakistan, cause stress, thus leading to deviant behavior and social unrest. Besides, in such countries, police officers faced various challenges in preventing criminal activities because of insufficient resources, corruption and mistrust of the public in law enforcement agencies, etc.
Figure 2: Challenges Faced by the Police Officers
Acute Paucity of Financial Resources
Lack of sufficient financial resources serves as a considerable challenge police officers face in preventing crimes and upholding social order. According to a 2023 Dawn article, the budget allocated to police departments is only 0.9% of the total budget, resulting in obsolete equipment in Pakistan. Due to acute paucity of financial resources, criminals are more likely to exploit the gaps in police departments as the quality of investigation and response times are compromised.
Acute Shortage of Man Power
Another challenge encountered by police officers while preventing crime and maintaining law is a shortage of manpower. Due to the decrease in budget of several police departments in the United States during the coronavirus pandemic, fewer police officers were available for patrol, which resulted in a 30% increase in violent crimes in some areas, as reported by the FBI in 2022. India has one police officer for more than five hundred, and the police force of Pakistan is also understaffed (1:450), which is substantially lower than the police-to-population ratio (1:220) recommended by the United Nations, as a result, crime prevention in the country becomes a challenge.
Outdated Legal Framework
When criminals are arrested by the police officers, weak prosecution and unfair trial processes make it easier for criminals to escape punishment. Despite this, outdated laws such as the Code of Criminal Procedure 1898 and the Pakistan Penal Code 1860, etc., in Pakistan also minimize the effectiveness of efforts related to the prevention of crime. According to a report by Human Rights Commission Pakistan in 2023, a number of suspects get bail quickly and only 2% of criminals who commit rape are arrested because of lack of proper evidence and fair trials.
Political Interference
Due to political interference, impartiality in police operations is compromised, which results in impunity of offenders who belong to powerful family backgrounds. According to The News, more than 300 police officers were transferred in Punjab in 2023 as they refused to comply with orders of political elite. In Mexico, the drug trafficking syndicates bribe the police officers, due to which the conviction rate of criminals committing violent crime is substantially low.
Rampant Corruption in Police Departments
Massive corruption and lack of internal accountability are considerable challenges for police departments while preventing crime and maintaining social order. Police officers often do not register FIR without bribery, which results in an increased crime rate in countries like Pakistan. According to Transparency International, in 2023, Pakistan was ranked at 140th position in Corruption Perception Index and police is considered the country’s most corrupt department. In Nigeria, End SARS protests started in 2020 because of human rights violations and corruption by police departments.
Lack of Public Confidence
In order to prevent crimes, the trust of the public in law enforcement agencies is paramount. When people trust their police departments, they report crimes, and through modern models of policing, such as community policing, cooperation and surveillance are enhanced, which mitigate criminal activities. According to a survey by Gallup Pakistan in 2022, only 35% of the natives trust police and victims are reluctant to report crimes because of fear of being harassed as well as prevalence of corruption and bribery in police departments. J. Edgar Hoover, the first director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, said,
“No police force can ever be effective unless it wins the respect and confidence of the people.”
Socio-Economic Disparities
According to Strain Theory by Robert K. Merton, society has certain established goals and means, however, people in unprivileged strata cannot achieve those objectives through legitimate means. As a result, they engage in criminal activities. According to an article by PubMed Central titled “Disparities in Policing From Theory to Practice”, colored people of colour in America are under increased scrutiny of law enforcement agencies and the community’s mistrust in police departments has also aggravated.
Technological Advancement and Evolving Nature of Crimes
The nature of crimes has evolved in the contemporary era due to the rapid advancement of technology. Cybercrime and digital terrorism are the type of crimes in this digital age that are resulting in ineffectiveness of traditional methods of policing. In 2023, the Cybercrime Wing of the Federal Investigative Agency reported that there has been a 30% increase in online scams and hacking, while the police departments of Pakistan mostly follow the traditional policing methods due to insufficient resources. Moreover, the FBI reported in 2022 that around $10.3 billion in losses is faced by the United States due to cybercrime.
Mental Health Problems of Offenders
The psychological perspective of criminology highlights that individuals with psychological disorders often indulge in criminal behavior. It is crucial for police officers to understand the mental health issues of offenders so that they can be managed accordingly. For this purpose, proper training of police personnel is paramount so that crimes can be prevented.
Critical Analysis
The Relative Deprivation Theory by Robert Tedd Gurr explains that when an unprivileged group or an individual perceives injustice and feels deprived as compared to a relatively privileged group, then it can cause conflict or violence. Furthermore, according to Strain Theory by Robert K. Merton, culturally defined goals and institutionalized means to achieve those objectives can cause stress among individuals, thus, leading to crimes. Prevention of crime that prevails due to these factors is the foremost responsibility of police officers. However, the police departments are facing multiple challenges worldwide due to resource constraints, lack of accountability and transparency, evolving nature of crimes, and inefficiencies of judicial systems. While the developed countries such as the United Kingdom and the United States ensure technological advancements in their law enforcement agencies, developing countries like Pakistan and Nigeria are facing challenges of political interference and corruption in police departments. In order to address these challenges, holistic reforms and increasing resources of law enforcement agencies are paramount. In addition, proper training of police personnel and advanced technology for investigating and mitigating criminal activities is crucial in order to uphold social order and law.
Conclusion
To cap it all, preventing crime and enforcing law are the prime duties of police officers. However, their abilities to prevent and mitigate crimes are hindered due to numerous challenges. These challenges are caused by resource constraints, lack of training of police officials, community mistrust, evolving tactics of criminals, massive corruption, outdated legal framework as well as political interference. In order to deal with these challenges, providing sufficient resources to law enforcement agencies and adequate training to police officers regarding contemporary crimes and forensic science are essential. Moreover, improving the relationship between police and the public through modern policing models is also necessary for the prevention of criminal activities and the maintenance of law and order within society. William J. Bratton, former Commissioner of New York City Police Department, said,
“The relationship between the public and the police must be founded on mutual trust. Without that trust, crime cannot be controlled, and social order cannot be maintained.”
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