解放军文职招聘考试Police and Communities

 Police and Communities

Few institutions are more important to an urban community than its police,

yet there are few subjects historians   know so little about. Most of the

early academic interests developed among political scientists and

sociologists, who usually examined their own contemporary problems with

only a nod toward the past. Even the public seemed    concerned only during

crime waves, periods of blatant corruption, or after a particularly grisly

episode. Party     regulars and reformers generally viewed the  institution

from a  political perspective; newspapers and magazines -       the nineteenth

century's media - emphasized the vivid and spectacular.

Yet urban society has always vested a wide, indeed awesome, responsibility

in its police. Not only were they to      maintain order, prevent crime, and

protect life and property, but historically they were also to fight fires,   

suppress vice, assist in health services, supervise elections, direct

traffic, inspect buildings, and locate    truants and runaways. In addition,

it was assumed that the police were the special guardians of the citizens'   

liberties and the community's tranquillity. Of course, the performance

never matched expectations. The record   contains some success,  but mostly

failure; some effective leadership, but largely official  incompetence and   

betrayal.  The notion of a professional police force in America is a

creation of the twentieth century; not until our own time have cities begun

to take the steps necessary to produce modern departments.

警察与社区对城市社区来说，很少有比它的警察更为重要的机构了，但少有课题像历史 学家们对此了解得那样少。 

早期的学术兴趣是在政治科学家和社会学家中发展起来的，他 们一般只研究他们自己当代的问题而对过去的问题只是偶尔带过。  甚至公众似乎也仅仅在

犯罪浪潮、明目张胆的贪污或特别的恐怖事件发生时才关心。  政党的忠诚支持者和改革家 们通常是从政治的前途来看待警察这个机构；而报纸和杂志-19

世纪的传播媒介-则着重活泼 生动和惊人的事件。可是城市社会总是把广泛得可怕的责任交给警察。他们不仅维持秩序、

防止犯罪、保护生命财产，而且在过去还要救火、镇压罪恶、协助医疗服务、监督选举、指 挥交通、检查建筑物、寻找逃学学生和搜捕逃犯。 

除此以外，警察还被认为是公民自由和

社会稳定的特别保护者。  自然，警察的表现并不尽如人意。  他们的记录中有成功者，但多 数是失败的；有高效率的领导，但多半的人在职务上无能和不讲信用。

 专业警察部队的概 念在美国还是 20 世纪的产物；直到我们这个时代，一些城市才开始采取设立现代化部门的 必要步骤。