Police officers

Police services are composed of police officers. The term “officer” is not used by the police to denote those in the higher ranks as contrasted with those in the other ranks; it includes all policemen and women. There are different kinds of police officers. The great majority are regular police officers, that is they usually serve for 25 years or more and retire on pension. The hierarchy of ranks is fashioned on a military model with regular grades of subordination – chief constables, superintendents, inspectors, sergeants and constables. Intermediate ranks such as assistant chief constable, chief superintendent, chief inspector may be adopted with the Home Secretary’s approval.

The structure of a police service generally depends upon its type, responsibilities and size. Each service has a senior chief officer usually called the Chief Constable though in the two London services – the Metropolitan Police and the City of London Police – the most senior officer is the Commissioner. Women make up 10% of the police service. The police are helped by a number of special constables – members of the public who work for the police voluntarily for a few hours a week.

1. Prepare an annotation of the text.

2. Restore a hierarchical order of police ranks.

3. Fill the gaps with the words from the box; read and translate the text.

rate duties firearms control uniformed riot Investigation violence detectives truncheons wardens authorities

Police … cover a wide range of activities, from traffic … to more specialized departments such as river police. Each independent service has a … branch and a Criminal … Department with … in plain clothes. In addition, the police … in England and Wales employ 40,000 civilians and nearly 5,000 traffic … .

Britain has relatively few police – approximately one policeman for every 400 people – and traditionally they are armed only with … except in special circumstances. However, recent years have seen some major changes in police policy in response to industrial disputes and inner city¹ … in Great Britain. In general, there has been an increase in the number of special units trained in crowd and … control and in the use of …, a controversial area for the British police. The number of police has risen along with the crime … .

¹inner city – старая часть города (часто перенаселенная, застроенная старыми домами)

PROJECT WORK

Compare the structure of the British police forces and the Russian ones. Find similarities and differences.

Recommended recourses: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Law_enforcement_in_the_United_Kingdom

http://content.met.police.uk/Home

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Police_of_Russia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Law_enforcement_in_Russia

Review What You Learned

1. Who is a policeman? A detective? A private detective?

2. What do you know about the history of police forces?

3. Do you know some facts about British Police?

4. What are the main functions of a police officer?

5. What is the structure of police force organization?

6. What can you say about the hierarchy of ranks?

7. Could you compare the police service in Britain and Russia?