Andoh B
Law Faculty, Southampton Institute.
Med Sci Law. 1998 Oct;38(4):347-53. doi: 10.1177/002580249803800412.
The role of the police at their formation centred around law enforcement (crime detection and apprehension of criminals) and crime prevention in order to maintain the peace. That role has been changing to keep pace with socio-economic developments. Thus, it has expanded to include the provision of social support. However, law enforcement, crime prevention and provision of social support often overlap. Also, though some studies have shown that much police time is spent on non-crime-fighting activities, other studies have found that lower-rank officers in general see their main role as fighting crime. That apart, the police have always had a role to play under the various mental health statutes: referring mentally disordered people to hospital, retaking absconders from mental hospitals, escorting patients from hospital or prison to court and vice versa, which are all tasks classifiable as provision of social support. Because of the complexity of his work today, the policeman may be described as an 'all-purpose public servant'.
警察在组建之初的职责主要围绕执法（犯罪侦查和罪犯抓捕）以及预防犯罪以维护治安。随着社会经济的发展，这一角色也在不断变化。如今，其职责已扩展至提供社会支持。然而，执法、预防犯罪和提供社会支持这三项职责往往相互重叠。此外，尽管一些研究表明警察将大量时间用于非打击犯罪的活动，但其他研究发现，一般而言，低级别警官认为他们的主要职责是打击犯罪。除此之外，警察在各项精神健康法规下一直都发挥着作用：将精神错乱者送往医院、重新抓捕从精神病院潜逃的人员、护送患者往返于医院或监狱与法庭之间，这些任务都可归类为提供社会支持。鉴于如今警察工作的复杂性，警察可被描述为一名“万能公务员”。
