Policing

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Policing

• Chapters 5 6 In Your Textbook
• John Massey
• Criminal Justice

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History of Policing

• Early days very little crime control
• Directed towards specific groups of people
• Delivering goods
• Regulating activities, maintaining
  health/sanitation
• Managing animals
• Usually performed by volunteers
• As populations grew, so did the need for public
  order

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11th Century England

• The Tithing System
• 1 male per group of 10 families tithing
• 10 tithings (100 families) formed larger
  community group top law official reeve
• The hundreds were put into established counties
  known as shires top law enforcement official
  shire reeve (sheriff)
• 1326 office of the justice of the peace
  established
• Oversaw various law enforcement activities
• Remained in place for a number of centuries

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Mid 1700s

• London did not have an organized system of law
  enforcement
• Military would deal with crime
• Disorder and public unrest
• Great hostility between citizens and soldiers
• 1829 Sir Robert Peel Metropolitan Police Act
• Act formed the London Metropolitan Police
• 1000 members
• Uniforms with blue coats and top hats
• bobbies
• Goals reduce tension and conflict between law
  enforcement and public, use non-violent means,
  relieve the military, and be judged on the
  absence of crime.

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More Early Policing

• The London Police very successful
• Eventually spread to the U.S.
• 1801 Boston first formal night watch in the
  U.S.
• Watchmen were paid 50 cents each night
• 1833 Philadelphia first city with both day
  and night watchman
• 1838 Boston first organized police dept 6
  officers
• By Civil War in the U.S., many large cities had
  fully developed departments modeled after the
  London Police
• Early forms of corruption

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Political Era of Policing

• 1840-1930
• Spoils System
• Low salaries for police officers
• Officers could make extra money through a variety
  of illegal activities
• Political victors hired the men they wanted to
  run the towns
• Modernizing Policing
• 1929 Herbert Hoover Wickersham Commission
• -focused on police brutality and corrupting
  influence of politics
• -called for higher standards for personnel,
  increased technology and centralized police
  administrations led to a Reform Era

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Reform Era/Professional Model

• Administrative reforms
• New positions (middle men)
• Police chiefs brought large areas under their
  control
• Special units and squads
• Technology innovations
• Some negative impacts (police officers seen as
  intruders)
• This led to turmoil in the 1960s.

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1960s 1980s

• 1960s
• Civil rights movement, civil unrest, race riots
• Police brutality, anti-war demonstrations
• Riots were in response to social conditions of
  the time
• 1968
• Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act
• Federal government provided state and local PDs
  with funds to create police/community programs
• 1970s
• Crime wave began
• Agencies forced to improve community relations
• Move from reactive patrol to proactive

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Law Enforcement Agencies

• Sometimes agencies work together
• 13500 agencies in the U.S., 1 million people
  employed
• 3,088 sheriff departments
• 1332 special policing agencies
• 49 state police departments (all but Hawaii)
• 50 federal law enforcement agencies
• 2.5 state/local police officers for every 1,000
  Americans

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Types of Agencies

• Municipal/Local
• -the broadest authority
• Sheriff and County
• -sheriff is the primary law enforcement officer
  in a county
• -elected by vote
• -vary in size, primary responsibility is to
  investigate violent crimes
• -the coroner medical examiner
• State/Highway Patrols
• -formed to assist local agencies
• -23 state police agencies, 26 highway patrols
• -state police have statewide jurisdiction,
  perform variety of tasks
• -highway patrols have limited authority, primary
  focus is regulating traffic

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Types of Agencies

• Limited Purpose Agencies
• -deal with areas needing specific attention
• -ex ABC Commission
• Federal Agencies
• -authorized to enforce specific laws
• Department of Justice (1870)
• -primary federal law enforcement agency in the
  country
• -headed by attorney general
• FBI (1908)
• -primary investigative agency of the fed. Govt.
• Combats worldwide criminal activity

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Federal Agencies

• DEA (1973)
• -4000 special agents, enforce domestic drug
  laws/regulations
• US Marshalls (1789 the oldest)
• -provide security at federal courts, control
  property that has been seized by fed. Govt,
  protect government witnesses, transport federal
  prisoners, etc.
• Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS)
• -monitor and police flow of immigrants into the
  country
• -border patrol
• -7000 border agents
• -4.2 billion budget annually
• -arrest 1.2-2 million illegal aliens each year

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Federal Agencies

• Department of Treasury (1789)
• -responsible for financial matters of the fed.
  Govt.
• ATF (Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms)
• -concerned w/ illegal sale, possession and use of
  firearms and control of untaxed tobacco and
  liquor products
• US Secret Service (1865)
• -investigates counterfeiters and forgers of govt.
  bonds, protects President, politicians and
  candidates
• IRS (Internal Revenue Service)
• -concerned with violations of tax laws and
  regulations
• US Customs Service
• -policies the flow of people and goods into and
  out of country
• -prevents smuggling of contraband

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Federal Agencies

• Department of Homeland Security
• -created post-9/11
• -combines 22 federal agencies
• -40 billion annual budget
• Private Security
• -emerged recently
• -60,000 private security firms in the U.S.
• -90 billion a year industry
• -due to a number of reasons
• Increase in fear on part of public
• Crime in workplace
• Budget cuts in states
• Rising awareness of private security as
  cost-effective
• Jurisdiction and authority varies from state to
  state

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Police Responsibilities

• A lot of police work paperwork
• Community Work
• Four primary responsibilities
• Enforce Laws
• Seek out and apprehend those who have violated
  the law
• Provide Services
• Direct traffic, help people, answer questions
  (public servant role)
• Prevent Crime
• Presence alone can be a deterrent
• Preserve Peace
• Handle situations, use discretion, calm down
  disputes, deal with small crimes to prevent
  larger crimes

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How are departments organized?

• 4 criteria
• 1) environment, 2) size of area, 3) types of
  crimes dealt with, 4) demographics of population
• Departments vary in size, face different
  challenges
• Goal of any department Maximum efficiency using
  limited resources
• How can departments be efficient?
• 1) response time and 2) arrest rates
• Response time time elapsed between the instant a
  call for service is received and the moment the
  police arrest on the scene
• Arrest rates idea is that the more arrests made,
  the less criminals are on the street

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Police Strategies

• Incident Driven Policing
• Helps officers get to the scene of a crime
  quickly w/out any problems
• Differential Response Strategy
• Distinguishing between calls for service
• Clearance Rate
• Percentage of crimes solved over any given time
• Citizen Satisfaction
• Treat the community like customers who pay for a
  service
• Ask for their feedback
• Patrol officers
• The heart of any police force
• Most officers are not making arrests all the time
• Deal with paperwork, breaks, patrolling to
  prevent crime

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Patrol Officers

• Three purposes of patrol
• 1) deterrence of crime by maintaining visible
  police presence
• 2) maintenance of public order and a sense of
  security in the community
• 3) 24 hour provision of services that are not
  crime related
• Categories of Patrol Activities
• -preventive patrol
• -calls for service
• -administrative duties
• -officer-initiated activities

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Common Patrol Officer Duties

• Four basic duties
• 1) control traffic
• 2) preliminary investigations
• 3) make arrests
• 4) patrol public events/community services
• Types of Patrol
• directed, general, foot, auto, motorcycle,
  mounted, bike, boat, K-9

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The Kansas City Experiment

• Conducted in 1972-1973
• One of the most influential studies in CJ history
• Control beats, proactive beats, reactive beats
• Results increasing or decreasing preventive
  patrol had little or no impact on crime rates,
  fear of crime, public opinion on the
  effectiveness of the police, reports of crime to
  the police, traffic accidents and police response
  time.
• Study showed nothing about other types of patrol
  such as bike or foot patrol.
• Why influential?
• Departments can assign officers to random
  preventive patrols when needed
• Departments can experiment with other strategies

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Police Investigations

• Investigation is the 2nd main function of the
  police
• Reactive rather than proactive
• Led by the detective
• Myths
• Preliminary Investigation
• Begins as soon as police are notified
• First officer on the scene
• Secure the crime scene, interview victims and
  witnesses, gather evidence, follow-up
  investigation

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Aggressive Investigative Strategies

• Undercover operations
• Confidential informant
• Community Policing
• Community Oriented Policing (COP)
• Less centralized, more proactive police role
• Promotes relations between community and the
  police
• Working together
• You are out there talking to and meeting people
• Problem Oriented Policing (POP)
• Identify potential criminal activity and develop
  strategies to prevent or respond to it
• Look at patterns of arrests, interview people,
  etc. get to the root of the problem

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Police Surveillance
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Hotspots and Crackdowns

• Hot spots
• Areas of high criminal activity that draw a
  directed police response
• Officers and resources
• Murder problem?
• Crack downs
• Focus on a particular crime or set of crimes
• -aggressive form of patrol
• -arrest every single person engaging in that
  particular behavior for a set period of time

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Broken Windows Theory

• Another influential study
• Wilson and Kelling
• The idea is that a neighborhood in trouble
  signals that criminal activity is tolerated in
  the area
• Crackdown on quality of life crimes
• Reclaim the neighborhood
• Encourage law abiding citizens to live and work
  there
• Order maintenance
• Ex building, car
• Crime Mapping
• Emerging
• Geographically pinpoints hot spots where large
  numbers of crimes are occurring

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Challenges to Effective Policing

• How to be a police officer?
• U.S. citizen
• No felony conviction
• Eligible drivers license
• 21 years of age -some places (residency
  requirement)
• Extensive background checks, drug tests,
  interviews, physical tests, written test,
  polygraph, the academy
• Education
• More and more agencies want associate or
  bachelors degree
• Smarter cops on the street
• Training
• Ran by state or other police agency
• Trains officers for street as well as the rule of
  law

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Police Subculture

• Us versus Them mentality
• 4 elements danger, stress, boredom, violence
• Officer works with senior officer when rookie
• -the first time
• no one understands our job
• police officer is the only real true crime
  fighter
• courts have tied down our hands too many
  restrictions
• Police cynicism
• -officer rejects values, behaves in ways learned
  through subculture
• -this can increase police misconduct, corruption
  and brutality

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Dangers of Police Work/Force

• Dangers of Police Work
• No such thing as a routine traffic stop
• Face dangers every day
• Stress question oneself
• Alcoholism, social isolation
• Question everything
• Use of Force
• Non-deadly and deadly force
• Most officer action is non-deadly
• Deadly force force that an officer realizes will
  place the subject in a direct threat of serious
  injury or death
• discretion

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Police Corruption

• Grass Eaters v. Meat Eaters
• Types of Corruption
• -bribery
• -shakedowns
• -mooching
• Police Ethics
• Rules and standards of behavior governing
  policing
• Aimed to ensure fairness of actions
• The police code of conduct the dos and donts

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Police Brutality
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Ethical Situations Holding Officers Accountable

• Ethical dilemmas
• Do not know what to do, difficulty doing what
  they consider to be right, find wrong choices
  tempting
• How do you deal with this?
• Discretion, duty, honesty and loyalty (four
  aspects)
• Holding Officers Accountable
• Internal affairs division
• Citizen oversight