INSTITUTE OF POLICE IN FOREIGN COUNTRIES: HISTORICAL FOUNDATIONS AND MODERN CONCEPTS

Abstract

The article presents a retrospective analysis of the establishment of the police institute in foreign countries. To date, several models of police institutions have been formed, the fundamental foundations of which are laid down in historically established legal families: Romano-Germanic, Anglo-Saxon, theological-legal. The unifying position of the modern understanding of the purpose of the institution of police in all countries is to ensure public order and counteract crime. In the process of social development, theoretical concepts, practical forms and methods in the work of the police have evolved. At the present stage in the progressively developing countries of the world, the prevalence of «punitive methods» in police activity gives way to the concept of «police in the service of society». In the opinion of the author in democratically oriented countries, considerable attention is being paid today to the solution of the question of how to maintain a balance of «weights» where in one cup the police fight against crime, and on the other - the rights and freedoms of citizens. He sees the solution of this issue in the choice of the rule of law protection model, connected with the conceptual justification of the police activity, within the framework of the democratic rights of citizens of different states. Adhering to the view that, at the present stage of development, the «power models» of the police struggle against crime give way to the concept of «police in the service of society» (community policing), it is important that cooperation with citizens should be the dominant strategy of police activity in order to jointly prevent crimes and other violations of public order, the creation of favorable professional conditions for the acceptance of remarks and control on his part. This will allow for extensive preventive work with reliance on the public consciousness, reduce the level of commission of offenses.