CLASSIFICATION AND CHARACTERISTICS OF POLICE SERVICES

Abstract

The article examines the classification and characteristics of police services as a component of the activities of the National Police of Ukraine. The author emphasizes that despite the frequent use of the term “police services” in legislation, its content, list and criteria still do not have a clear definition. Which causes legal uncertainty and complicates their systematization, as well as narrows the approaches to assessing the effectiveness of the work of the National Police.The article proposes to classify police services according to several criteria: functional purpose (protection of public order, preventive activities, investigation of crimes, administrative services, etc.), nature of interaction with citizens (direct and indirect), method of provision (proactive and reactive), obligation (obligatory and voluntary, payment (free and paid), urgency (urgent and planned) and level of interaction with other bodies (independent and joint). Specific features that distinguish police services from other types of services, such as administrative or public, are also identified. Such features include: service-law enforcement nature, specific subject of provision, priority of ensuring public safety and law and order, obligation in certain cases, efficiency and immediacy of execution, regulatory and coercive aspect, lack of commercial nature, possibility of state initiation and social orientation. The author emphasizes the importance of developing a normative definition of the concept of “police services”, the formation of a clear list services provided by the police and the creation of mechanisms for assessing their quality. The article also emphasizes the need to harmonize police functions with public expectations in order to strengthen public trust in the police. The proposed conclusions and recommendations can be used to improve the legal regulation of the activities of the National Police of Ukraine, as well as to develop effective standards of police services in the context of democratic reforms of the law enforcement system.