The Theory of Positive Policing

Introduction

The police functioned in the past as an instrument of the government of the day and were used to control the masses, quell any disturbances, and strictly implement the will of the government without caring much for citizens’ rights. With democracy and citizen rights gaining ground, the police must ensure due process while implementing laws fairly. It needs to reach out to the community at large and be a partner in solving crime and disorder issues.

Serving citizens is not new for police, yet in emerging societies, it is increasingly important to understand citizen expectations and how far the mandate police can go towards fulfilling them. Interaction with citizens has unequivocally increased due to the service mandate and this brings in new challenges. The interaction with citizens has plenty of scope for the use ( and misuse) of discretion. In their daily work police officers often deal with unstructured and mostly unsupervised citizen interactions. They could let off an offender, impose a fine or even arrest her. In these situations, police officers have a wide latitude along with almost no supervision.). This has led to apprehensions that the officers may abuse the large discretion available to them.

Many studies initially cataloged the abuse of discretion and viewed it as a serious issue. There was not much emphasis on the positive aspects of discretion. The complete picture was, however, revealed only after many more studies were published. These studies revealed that most police officers use discretion to achieve legitimate objectives of police work. Discretion is more often used to improve the police response to difficult situations. The theory of positive policing attempts to analyse these good behaviours and actions which improve the functioning of police officers and ultimately police organizations.

Discretion

Discretion may be thought of as the extent of freedom that an employee may have in a particular situation (Evans, 2010). Employees have several courses of action, and they may choose one of them. Many times, there are no guidelines for each small situation they face, and they must take an independent decision in each such situation

Studies have been conducted on delivery agencies where frontline staff has been labeled as street-level bureaucrats (Michael Lipsky, 1980). These frontline employees have direct interaction with customers and have the discretion to choose their way of interaction. There may be many such professions, for instance, teachers, medical attendants, or police officers. Police officers, in particular, face citizens in many different situations on the ground where there may not be any specific rules, and officers must take independent and quick decisions. Police organisations may ask their officers to focus on different areas at different times, thus all laws may not be enforced fully. For instance, some police departments may focus on drunk driving while others may focus on driving without helmets. Therefore, police officers may also be thought of as being street-level bureaucrats who enjoy large discretion, while they are interacting with citizens (Maynard–Moody, Musheno, and Palumbo, 1990).

The existence of discretion may be used for better or worse performance. Officers may indulge in pro-social behaviours or do extra efforts but may also exhibit corrupt, unethical, or impolite behaviour. This has raised concerns that discretion is frequently abused by police officers (Walker and Katz, 2008). Several studies have tried to analyse the use and misuse of discretion. At times, discretion is misused by police officers and this may lead to unethical or corrupt practices and may also lead to violation of human rights. Concerns have been raised that the mere existence of discretion leads to its abuse. The American Bar Foundation (ABF) in the late 1950s conducted several studies on this aspect. As expected, some studies revealed incompetence and corruption prevalent in the many police agencies in the US (Remington, 1990). A large amount of discretion available to police officers was pointed out as one of the causes for it. However, an unexpected finding of the studies was that discretion was used by police officers sometimes to achieve more effective solutions to situations at hand. These practices were not in the books but were not illegal or unethical, rather they were innovative solutions created by police officers for specific situations. Bernard and Engel (2001) emphasize that the new ways to handle unexpected situations such as in crowd control or traffic management made the citizens view police in a positive light. The positive use of discretion to achieve organizational objectives has obviously been an under-explored area in criminal justice agencies.

The study of discretion is certainly, vital. Many such studies have revealed significant gaps between the law on books and the law in practice and have led to the improved functioning of police departments. However, it must be understood that it is only a small section of officers who misuse discretion; most police officers use the discretion available to them to solve everyday situations they face. In the United States, 3,104 out of 600,000 (0.52 %) were found guilty of unscrupulous or wrong behaviour (Trautman, 1997). According to Crime in India (2016), complaints were received against 9,665 out of 1,223,319 (0.79 %) officers for improper or questionable behaviour. These data reveal that only a few officers misuse discretion while most officers do not fall in this category. A very similar concept is that of Organizational Citizenship Behaviours (OCB), where an employee exhibits prosocial behaviours, that are beyond the call of duty but benefit the organization.

What is OCB?

OCBs are the extra efforts made by employees which may not be role prescribed but contribute to the effectiveness of an organization. They can be thought of as acts of a good Samaritan. OCBs are voluntary acts and are undertaken by an employee of his or her own will. Since they fulfill one or more organizational objectives, they are usually encouraged by organizations., Helping a co-worker, helping a citizen in distress even when off duty, learning new knowledge on their own initiative, or finding out new ways to make customers satisfied are all examples of OCB. These behaviours can be found in all kinds of organizations; from manufacturing to service-based and have been studied in a variety of contexts (Barnard, 1938; Katz, 1964).

The term ’Organizational citizenship behaviour’ (OCB) has been used to refer to the behaviours that are not included in the job description but that improve the efficacy of organisations (Bateman & Organ, 1983; Smith, Organ, & Near, 1983). Many studies have been conducted in various kinds of organizations since the concept was developed by Organ (1983) and others. Not many studies of OCB have been conducted in criminal justice agencies, especially, the police. The study of OCBs may be even more important in police as it has the potential to improve police functioning as police is a manpower-intensive job and improving the efficiency and efficacy of decision-making may lead to better performance.

???????????There is considerable debate over what exactly are the specific behaviours which may be referred to as OCB. Two constructs of Altruism and Compliance were identified as OCB by Smith et al. (1983).?Podsakoff, Mackenzie, Payne, and Bachrach (2000) have zeroed in on 30 behaviours and classified them into seven broad groups. These groups are as follows:

?(1) Helping Behaviour, (2) Sportsmanship, (3) Organizational Loyalty, (4) Organizational Compliance, (5) Individual Initiative, (6) Civic Virtue, and (7) Self Development.

The positive revolution in psychology

In the early part of the 20th century psychology was a holistic study where both positive and negative aspects of psychology were studied. After world war I when soldiers returned with various kinds of mental disorders, there was a need to treat them. Psychologists evolved several methodologies which included mental exercises and certain medications which successfully handled such issues to a large extent. There is no doubt that these efforts were fruitful. For instance, a cure for more than 14 disorders was found (Seligman, 1994).

However, there was still not much work on the positive aspects of psychology. Questions such as what life satisfaction or happiness is and how it may be achieved were still not in focus. Though some work had been done earlier on these positive aspects of psychology like Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (1988) who had voiced a need for identifying hope and inspiration in people. this positive psychology. He wanted to identify what was it about those individuals who were not only themselves optimistic and inspired but also spread these positive emotions to others. Other work at the time considered these individuals as actively taking control of their lives by making conscious decisions. These choices which people made were related to their self-efficacy, a term coined by Albert Bandura (1996). He accepted that self-efficacy not only depended on the individual alone but also on his social environment. Those who had better self-efficacy could navigate more easily in the troubled waters of life than others.

The focus of psychology started shifting to what is now known as positive psychology, which focuses on what makes people happy and content. Martin Seligman, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (2002), and others wrote extensively about what makes life worth living and what could be effective interventions to achieve thriving individuals and families. This is certainly a welcome step as it expands the focus of psychology from treating mental illnesses to enhancing happiness and joy in ordinary people’s lives.

Police and positive psychology

There is a similar need in the studying of police agencies around the world. Instead of focusing on what ails the police and what to do about it, there is a need to examine what is admirable about police officers and police agencies. Gottfredson and Gottfredson (1988) studied decision-making in the criminal justice system and analyzed the role of discretion in it. They found decision-making can be improved with appropriate use of discretion. The antecedents and extent of polite behaviour in Indian police have been examined by Nalla and Madan (2012). There may be interventions on the lines of positive psychology interventions (PPIs) which may enhance the quality of police-citizen interaction and other police work.

Positive Policing

The ideal police will not only be free from corruption, bias, and vice but also must possess certain positive characteristics. The road to a good police officer passes through the goalpost of a good human being. Answers must be sought as to not only how to prevent abuse and misuse of law and systems, but also to develop and enhance the positive aspects of personality. Most police officers are driven by altruism to do their duty which ultimately helps individuals and communities. What are the personality strengths which are responsible for this behaviour? Are there any interventions that can help to enhance such behaviours? Can effective actions be taken at the individual officer level and at the organizational level to help the police better perform its functions? These are some of the core questions that the theory of positive policing seeks to answer.

The need for Positive Policing

The concept of positive policing can be helpful in many ways for police departments. Though not limited to the following, some of the potential areas where a positive difference can be made are listed here.

1.?????Improved performance: Police officers often work in the field with little supervision, where the need for individual performance is enhanced. Employees with higher well-being learn more effectively and perform better (Chida and Steptoe, 2008).

2.?????Better engagement: The citizens are the customers of the security services which the police provide. Engagement with the community is of paramount importance for most police functions. Well-being helps employees have overall positive experiences at work and increases engagement (New Economic Foundation, 2014)

3.?????Enhanced productivity: The duty hours of police are often long and unpredictable. Well-being increases resilience and leads to effectiveness at work for long hours (Medibank Private, 2005)

4.?????Lower depression and anxiety: Working alone and often in high-pressure situations, police officers face tough bosses, inquisitive media, close monitoring by courts, and dealing with political authorities. This can lead to feelings of depression when adequate outlets for emotions are not available. Positive psychology can help alleviate these symptoms (Sin and Lyubomirsky, 2009).

5.?????Positive emotions and creativity: The need for balanced emotions and creative solutions for unique issues faced by police officers is an everyday affair. People can be more creative with positive psychology tools. Einstein described the time of his creation of the general theory of relativity as the happiest moments of his life. ?(Kaufman, 2015).

6.?????Integrity and Courage: It takes courage to have high levels of integrity especially when situations are adverse. Cultivating positive emotions such as courage, empathy and honesty was predictive of integrity in a study conducted by Staats (2008).

Character traits of a good police officer

???????????The number of qualities that a police officer must possess is a highly variable number, depending on whom you ask. Considering the variety in a police officer’s jobs he or she may be called upon to do counseling, data analysis, investigation, hostage negotiation, managing a terrorist situation, controlling traffic, and so on. We might first consider the qualities which make for a good human being and an effective employee. Police officers need these qualities and skills and then some more.

Peterson & Seligman (2006) have identified certain character strengths and virtues by brainstorming with a group of noted positive psychology scholars. They also examined ancient cultures to know how people in the past construed human virtue. They found six core virtues that were valued across cultures and time. They found people always respected the individuals who had these timeless virtues. They are courage, justice, humanity, temperance, transcendence and wisdom; these are further divided into 24-character strengths.

Wisdom and knowledge consist of creativity,?curiosity,?judgment,?love of learning,?and perspective. Courage comprises bravery, perseverance, honesty, and zest. Humanity has love, kindness, and social intelligence in its ambit. Justice has teamwork, fairness, and leadership. Temperance deals with forgiveness, humility, prudence, and self-regulation. Finally, transcendence is made up of appreciation of beauty and excellence, gratitude, hope, humour and spirituality.

These strengths help us to navigate the world and do better for us and everyone else. The strengths can be used to improve performance on a given task, or relationship, or just improve well-being. Too much use of strength may have some downsides to it. Let us consider bravery, for instance.

Bravery denotes the willingness to face a difficult or dangerous situation. With bravery, a person can face a physical threat or confront psychological and moral challenges. Even admitting one’s mistake needs bravery. So being brave is good. Now consider this. A brave person likes to face challenges and may therefore struggle in situations where he perceives no freedom to stand up and act in a courageous way. Too much bravery can lead to recklessness. This means taking unnecessary risks in circumstances where a safer option exists. This suggests that the strength of bravery must be used judiciously, considering the situation which is at hand. An individual needs not only to be aware of his or her strengths but also be cognizant of how, when, and where to use them.

A police officer who can successfully face the challenges of a rapidly changing world needs to be equipped with the right kinds of positive psychology tools. She should have enough emotional intelligence to understand her own as well as others' emotions and how to make the best use of them. The amount of interaction that police have with people every day is too much to ignore this important aspect. In this wonderful journey of helping self and others, a police officer paves the way for a safe, happy, and thriving society. Positive psychology can help towards this goal. Martin Seligman (2018),?one of the founders of?positive psychology, believes that five elements can help people work towards a life of fulfillment, happiness, and meaning. Proposing the ‘PERMA’ model, he mentioned these elements as Positive emotions, Engagement, Relationships, Meaning, and Accomplishments. These constructs can be modified and used to develop programs and tools for individual officers as well as police departments. Optimism and health are the other elements that can be utilized effectively for building a professional, effective, and humane police.

Accomplishments?are the pursuit of success and mastery.?Police have become a specialized work and involve expert knowledge of several domains. Accomplishment has twin benefits of achieving professionalism and developing feelings of pride and joy. Accomplishments can be at the individual officer level or at the community level. They could also be personal or work-related.

Relationships?are vital in living a healthy social life. Humans have an innate desire to connect with others and share experiences and emotions. In the words of Christopher Peterson (1999), “Other people matter.?Humans receive, share, and spread positivity to others through relationships”. The concept of community policing requires police departments to have strong ties with the communities they serve. Relationships are strengthened by reacting positively to other people. Having deep and lasting relationships can help police officers personally as well as the department and society at large.

Meaning, or purpose,?seeks to find the reasons for the things we do. Discovering and figuring out a clear "why" puts everything into context from work to home.?Finding meaning is learning that there is something greater than one's self. Despite potential challenges, working with meaning drives people to continue striving for a desirable goal. Police work not only provides safety for citizens but is a key driver of economic growth. Establishing the rule of law is a sine qua non for any civilization. Police officers need to realize this.

Health in positive psychology is looked at as an asset. A “health asset” produces better health, over and above risk factors for disease. Positive Health seeks to discover which specific health assets produce longer, healthy life, and which health assets lower disease risk and healthcare costs.?Apart from physical health, psychological health assets (e.g., positive emotions, life satisfaction, optimism, life purpose, and social support) are prospectively associated with good health. Research is now showing connections between life satisfaction and heart disease, optimism and DNA sequence length, psychological strengths and immunity, and many others. The increasing variety and complexity of police work require officers to be in good physical and mental health in order to thrive and not only survive.

Optimism is a state of mind where there is an?anticipation?of positive results for self or others. Charles R. Snyder (1994)?said hope implies a plan to reach a goal. Police investigations often involve seeking answers which leads to solving crimes. Optimism would not only keep up the drive for consistent police work but also will help to alleviate any symptoms of depression or feeling low.?Optimism has also been linked to mental willpower, as well as the need for a realistic perception of goals.

Positive Emotions?include a wide range of feelings, not just happiness and joy.?Though any feeling with no negativity, or discomfort is felt can be a positive emotion, there are some positive emotions that have been identified. The ten emotions which are often found are joy, gratitude, serenity, interest, hope, pride, amusement, inspiration, awe, and love (Frederickson, 2000). There are others like excitement, satisfaction, pride, and awe, amongst others. These emotions are frequently seen as connected to positive outcomes, such as job satisfaction, healthier life, and better social relationships.

Engagement?refers to involvement in activities that a person enjoys.?Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi?explains true engagement as?flow, a state of deep effortless involvement,?a feeling of intensity that leads to a sense of ecstasy and clarity.?It involves a difficult but possible task that needs skills. Engagement involves passion for and concentration on the task at hand and when an individual is completely absorbed in it, almost loses self-consciousness. Time seems to stop when a person is truly engaged, and it is almost like a spiritual experience. When employees in a workplace are engaged that leads to higher performance and job satisfaction. Police work is a learned skill, difficult, yet possible and the more engaged officers are the higher the levels of performance will be achieved.

This ARM of HOPE (Accomplishment, Relationships, Meaning, Health, Optimism, Positive Emotions, and Engagement) can be used to develop strategies and interventions for effective police functioning. The good news is that there are proven methodologies to effectively implement and enhance these elements. Several positive psychology interventions have been designed and implemented to test their effectiveness.

Positive Psychology Interventions adapted to the police

Positive psychology interventions, or PPIs, are techniques or methods which may be used by individuals to improve positive life outcomes like happiness, well-being, and positive cognitions and?emotions (Keyes, 2002). Several PPIs have already been designed and are available to be used. More PPIs have been evolved, developed, and tested by researchers that are aimed at improving positive feelings, thoughts, and behaviour.

???????????Similar interventions can be designed specifically for police agencies, or other components of the criminal justice system. The rigorous testing of these interventions may focus on various aspects of police work and test whether there is an improvement in functioning and work efficiency by adopting them.

Conclusion

???????????Science has progressed by the cross-fertilization of ideas and by the method of experiment. For a long time society and the police itself have focussed on the abuse and misuse of discretion. While that was important, it is the right time to consider the ways and means to focus on the benefits of discretion and on the myriad ways in which police makes the world a better place. The rapid strides in positive psychology in the last few decades show a promising area from which criminal justice agencies can learn. Human resources are the most valuable resource for the police and other criminal justice agencies. Paying adequate attention to this resource can help make the best use of the technology and tools which police officers are increasingly being asked to use. There is a human behind every machine and each step we take toward making him an effective person makes the man-machine combination closer to the level of synergy that is expected. With this Arm of Hope we can envision tomorrow’s police to be closer to the twin objectives of happy employees and an effective, yet humane police organization.