High policing is a form of
intelligence-led policingIntelligence-led policing is a policing model that has emerged in recent years which is “built around risk assessment and risk management.”...
that serves to protect the national
governmentA government is the body within a community, political entity or organization which has the authority to make and enforce rules, laws and regulations.....
or a conglomerate of national governments from internal threats; that is, any
policingA police service is a public force empowered to enforce the law and provide security through the legitimized use of force.The term is most commonly associated with police services of a state that are authorized to exercise the police power of that state within a defined legal or territorial area of...
operations integrated into domestic intelligence gathering,
national securityNational security is the requirement to maintain the survival of the nation-state through the use of economic, military and political power and the exercise of diplomacy.Measures taken to ensure national security include:...
, or
international securityInternational security consists of the measures taken by nations and international organizations, such as the United Nations, to ensure mutual survival and safety. These measures include military action and diplomatic agreements such as treaties and conventions...
operations for the purpose of protecting government.
The term "high policing" was introduced into English language police studies by Canadian criminologist Jean-Paul Brodeur in a 1983 article entitled "
High Policing and Low Policing: Remarks about the Policing of Political Activities" and derives from the
FrenchFrench is a Romance language globally spoken by about 65 million people as a first language , by 50 million as a second language, and by about another 200 million people as an acquired foreign language, with significant speakers in 57 countries. Most native speakers of the language live in France,...
haute police, the political police force established in
FranceFrance , officially the French Republic , is a country located in Western Europe, with several overseas islands and territories located on other continents. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean...
under
Louis XIVLouis XIV , popularly known as the Sun King , was King of France and of Navarre His reign, from 1643 to his death in 1715, lasted seventy-two years, three months, and eighteen days, and is the longest documented reign of any European monarch.Louis began personally governing France after the death...
.
The term "high policing" refers to the fact that such policing benefits the "higher" interests of the government rather than individual citizens or the mass population.
High policing is a form of
intelligence-led policingIntelligence-led policing is a policing model that has emerged in recent years which is “built around risk assessment and risk management.”...
that serves to protect the national
governmentA government is the body within a community, political entity or organization which has the authority to make and enforce rules, laws and regulations.....
or a conglomerate of national governments from internal threats; that is, any
policingA police service is a public force empowered to enforce the law and provide security through the legitimized use of force.The term is most commonly associated with police services of a state that are authorized to exercise the police power of that state within a defined legal or territorial area of...
operations integrated into domestic intelligence gathering,
national securityNational security is the requirement to maintain the survival of the nation-state through the use of economic, military and political power and the exercise of diplomacy.Measures taken to ensure national security include:...
, or
international securityInternational security consists of the measures taken by nations and international organizations, such as the United Nations, to ensure mutual survival and safety. These measures include military action and diplomatic agreements such as treaties and conventions...
operations for the purpose of protecting government.
The term "high policing" was introduced into English language police studies by Canadian criminologist Jean-Paul Brodeur in a 1983 article entitled "
High Policing and Low Policing: Remarks about the Policing of Political Activities" and derives from the
FrenchFrench is a Romance language globally spoken by about 65 million people as a first language , by 50 million as a second language, and by about another 200 million people as an acquired foreign language, with significant speakers in 57 countries. Most native speakers of the language live in France,...
haute police, the political police force established in
FranceFrance , officially the French Republic , is a country located in Western Europe, with several overseas islands and territories located on other continents. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean...
under
Louis XIVLouis XIV , popularly known as the Sun King , was King of France and of Navarre His reign, from 1643 to his death in 1715, lasted seventy-two years, three months, and eighteen days, and is the longest documented reign of any European monarch.Louis began personally governing France after the death...
.
Aims
The term "high policing" refers to the fact that such policing benefits the "higher" interests of the government rather than individual citizens or the mass population. It also refers to the fact that high-policing organizations are endowed with authority and legal powers superior to that of other types of police organizations.
There is no conventional designation for this category of policing in
liberal democraciesLiberal democracy is the dominant form of democracy in the 21st century. During the Cold War, liberal democracies were contrasted with the Communist People's Republics or "Popular Democracies", which claimed an alternative conception of democracy...
, however, and it should not be conflated with
secret policeSecret police are a police agency which operates in secrecy to maintain national security against internal threats to the state....
, although secret police organizations do use high policing methods. Calling it "secret" or "political" policing is too vague since all police work is somewhat both secret (police generally do not reveal their methods until a case is completed) and political (police enforce laws determined by the political system in power).
The primary tool of high policing is
intelligenceIntelligence refers to discrete information with currency and relevance, and the abstraction, evaluation, and understanding of such information for its accuracy and value...
, which is derived from both human ("
HumintHUMINT, a syllabic abbreviation of the words HUMan INTelligence, refers to intelligence gathering by means of interpersonal contact, as opposed to the more technical intelligence gathering disciplines such as SIGINT, IMINT and MASINT...
") and technological sources. The former includes the use of secret informants to gather information on the activities of citizens, while the latter includes electronic surveillance and
eavesdroppingEavesdropping is the act of secretly listening to the private conversation of others without their consent, as defined by Black's Law Dictionary...
, such as
closed-circuitClosed-circuit television is the use of video cameras to transmit a signal to a specific place, on a limited set of monitors.It differs from broadcast television in that the signal is not openly transmitted, though it may employ point to point wireless links...
camera monitoring,
telephone tappingTelephone tapping is the monitoring of telephone and Internet conversations by a third party, often by covert means. The telephone or wire tap received its name because, historically, the monitoring connection was an actual electrical tap on the telephone line...
, and Internet tapping. Human intelligence and technological intelligence are undoubtedly the most powerful tools in the high policing profession.
Agencies
High policing in western
democraticDemocracy is a system of government in which either the actual governing is carried out by the people governed , or the power to do so is granted by them...
countries is performed by both national police forces and specialized
intelligence agenciesAn intelligence agency is a governmental agency that is devoted to information gathering for purposes of national security and defense. Means of information gathering may include espionage, communication interception, cryptanalysis, cooperation with other institutions, and evaluation of public...
, such as the
FBIThe Federal Bureau of Investigation is an agency of the United States Department of Justice that serves as both a federal criminal investigative body and an internal intelligence agency. The FBI has investigative jurisdiction over violations of more than 200 categories of federal crime...
and the
Secret ServiceThe United States Secret Service is a United States federal law enforcement agency that falls under the United States Department of Homeland Security. The sworn members are divided among the Special Agents and the Uniformed Division. Until March 1, 2003, the Service was part of the United States...
in the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
,
MI5The Security Service commonly known as MI5 , is the United Kingdom's counter-intelligence and security agency and is part of the intelligence machinery alongside the Secret Intelligence Service , Government Communications Headquarters and the Defence Intelligence Staff...
in the
United KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands...
, the
Australian Security Intelligence OrganisationThe Australian Security Intelligence Organisation is the domestic counter-intelligence and security agency of Australia which is responsible for the protection of the country and its citizens from espionage, sabotage, politically-motivated violence, attacks on the Australian defence system,...
, the
Canadian Security Intelligence ServiceThe Canadian Security Intelligence Service is the primary intelligence agency of the Canadian government. It is responsible for collecting, analyzing and reporting intelligence on threats to Canada's national security, and conducting operations, covert and overt, within Canada and abroad.Its...
, and the
New Zealand Security Intelligence ServiceThe New Zealand Security Intelligence Service is an intelligence agency of the New Zealand government.-Purpose:The Security Intelligence Service is a civilian organisation, and takes no part in the enforcement of security...
.
These organizations usually confront domestic or internal threats to national security, whereas the
militaryA military is an organization authorized by its nation to use force, usually including use of weapons, in defending its country by combating actual or perceived threats. As an adjective the term "military" is also used to refer to any property or aspect of a military...
or
military intelligenceMilitary intelligence is a military service that uses intelligence gathering disciplines to collect informations that informs commanders decision making process....
agencies generally handle foreign or external threats. However, this distinction can become blurred, especially in cases involving
terrorismTerrorism is the systematic use of terror especially as a means of coercion.At present, there is no internationally agreed definition of terrorism...
.
Human rights concerns
High policing has an extremely high potential for abuse. There is a tendency, even in democratic countries, for high policing organizations to abuse their powers or even to operate outside the law because many organizations involved in high policing are granted extensive legal powers, including immunity from prosecution for acts that are criminal under normal circumstances. In some countries, for example, high-policing organizations regularly engage in actions of dubious legality, such as
arbitrarily arresting and detainingArbitrary arrest and arbitrary detention are the arrest and/or detention of an individual in a case in which there is no likelihood or evidence that they committed a crime against legal statute, or in which there has been no proper due process of law....
people without charge, without
legal representationRight to counsel is currently generally regarded as a constituent of the right to a fair trial, allowing for the defendant to be assisted by counsel , and if he cannot afford his own lawyer, requiring that the government should appoint one for him, or pay his legal expenses...
, and without means of communication; some high-policing forces also engage in
tortureTorture, according to the United Nations Convention Against Torture, is:In addition to state-sponsored torture, individuals or groups may be motivated to inflict torture on others for similar reasons to those of a state; however, the motive for torture can also be for the sadistic gratification of...
. In the worst cases, high policing becomes a substitute for the whole criminal justice system:
suspectIn the parlance of criminal justice, a suspect is a known person suspected of committing a crime.Police and reporters often incorrectly use the word the suspect when referring to the actor, or perpetrator of the offense . The perpetrator is the robber, assailant, counterfeiter, etc. -the person who...
s are
arrestAn arrest is the act of depriving a person of his or her liberty usually in relation to the investigation and prevention of crime. The term is Anglo-Norman in origin and is related to the French word arrêt, meaning "stop".-United States:...
ed,
triedA trial is, in the most general sense, a test, usually a test to see whether something does or does not meet a given standard.It may refer to:*Trial , the presentation of information in a formal setting, usually a court...
,
convictedIn law, a conviction is the verdict that results when a court of law finds a defendant guilty of a crime.The opposite of a conviction is an acquittal...
, and
sentencedIn law, a sentence forms the final act of a judge-ruled process, and also the symbolic principal act connected to his function. The sentence generally involves a decree of imprisonment, a fine and/or other punishments against a defendant convicted of a crime...
entirely by a national security agency, usually very expeditiously and in complete
secrecySecrecy or furtiveness is the practice of hiding information from certain individuals or groups, perhaps while sharing it with other individuals. That which is kept hidden is known as the secret....
, as is the case in
police stateThe term police state describes a state in which the government exercises rigid and repressive controls over the social, economic and political life of the population...
s.
See also
- Anti-terrorism legislation
Anti-terrorism legislation designs all types of laws passed in the purported aim of fighting terrorism. They usually, if not always, follow specific bombings or assassinations. Anti-terrorism legislation usually includes specific amendments allowing the state to bypass its own legislation when...
- Good governance
Good governance is a indeterminate term used in development literature to describe how public institutions conduct public affairs and manage public resources in order to guarantee the realization of human rights. Governance describes the process of decision-making and the process by which decisions...
- Homeland security
Homeland security is an umbrella term for security efforts to protect the United States against perceived internal and external threats. The term arose following a reorganization of many U.S. government agencies in 2003 to form the United States Department of Homeland Security after the September...
- Intelligence agency
An intelligence agency is a governmental agency that is devoted to information gathering for purposes of national security and defense. Means of information gathering may include espionage, communication interception, cryptanalysis, cooperation with other institutions, and evaluation of public...
- Intelligence-led policing
Intelligence-led policing is a policing model that has emerged in recent years which is “built around risk assessment and risk management.”...
- International security
International security consists of the measures taken by nations and international organizations, such as the United Nations, to ensure mutual survival and safety. These measures include military action and diplomatic agreements such as treaties and conventions...
- Rule of law
The rule of law, also called supremacy of law, means that the law is above everyone and it applies to everyone. Whether governor or governed, rulers or ruled, no one is above the law, no one is exempted from the law, and no one can grant exemption to the application of the law.Rule of law is a...
- Security
Security is the degree of protection against danger, loss, and criminals.Security has to be compared and contrasted with other related concepts: Safety, continuity, reliability...
- State of emergency
A state of emergency is a governmental declaration that may suspend certain normal functions of government, alert citizens to alter their normal behaviors, or order government agencies to implement emergency preparedness plans. It can also be used as a rationale for suspending civil liberties...
- Terrorism
Terrorism is the systematic use of terror especially as a means of coercion.At present, there is no internationally agreed definition of terrorism...