Transcript Policing - Radford University

Policing
Chapters 5 & 6 In Your Textbook
John Massey
Criminal Justice
History of Policing
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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
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
Mid 1700’s
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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
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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.
More Early Policing
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The London Police – very successful
Eventually spread to the U.S.
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1801 – Boston – first formal night watch in the U.S.
Watchmen were paid 50 cents each night
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1833 – Philadelphia – first city with both day and night
watchman
1838 – Boston – first organized police dept – 6 officers
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By Civil War in the U.S., many large cities had fully
developed departments modeled after the London Police
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Early forms of corruption
Political Era of Policing
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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
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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
Reform Era/Professional Model
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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 1960’s.
1960’s – 1980’s
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1960’s
Civil rights movement, civil unrest, race riots
Police brutality, anti-war demonstrations
Riots were in response to social conditions of the time
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1968
Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act
Federal government provided state and local PDs with funds to create
police/community programs
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1970’s
Crime wave began
Agencies forced to improve community relations
Move from reactive patrol to proactive
Law Enforcement Agencies
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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
Types of Agencies
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Municipal/Local
-the broadest authority
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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
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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
Types of Agencies
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Limited Purpose Agencies
-deal with areas needing specific attention
-ex: ABC Commission
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Federal Agencies
-authorized to enforce specific laws
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Department of Justice (1870)
-primary federal law enforcement agency in the country
-headed by attorney general
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FBI (1908)
-primary investigative agency of the fed. Govt.
Combats worldwide criminal activity
Federal Agencies
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DEA (1973)
-4000 special agents, enforce domestic drug laws/regulations
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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.
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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
Federal Agencies
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Department of Treasury (1789)
-responsible for financial matters of the fed. Govt.
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ATF (Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms)
-concerned w/ illegal sale, possession and use of firearms and control of untaxed
tobacco and liquor products
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US Secret Service (1865)
-investigates counterfeiters and forgers of govt. bonds, protects President, politicians
and candidates
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IRS (Internal Revenue Service)
-concerned with violations of tax laws and regulations
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US Customs Service
-policies the flow of people and goods into and out of country
-prevents smuggling of contraband
Federal Agencies
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Department of Homeland Security
-created post-9/11
-combines 22 federal agencies
-$40 billion annual budget
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Private Security
-emerged recently
-60,000 private security firms in the U.S.
-$90 billion a year industry
-due to a number of reasons:
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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
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
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
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
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
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Categories of Patrol Activities
-preventive patrol
-calls for service
-administrative duties
-officer-initiated activities
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
The Kansas City Experiment
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Conducted in 1972-1973
One of the most influential studies in CJ history
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Control beats, proactive beats, reactive beats
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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.
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Study showed nothing about other types of patrol such as bike or foot
patrol.
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Why influential?
– Departments can assign officers to random preventive patrols when needed
– Departments can experiment with other strategies
Police Investigations
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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
Aggressive Investigative Strategies
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Undercover operations
Confidential informant
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Community Policing:
Community Oriented Policing (COP)
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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
Police Surveillance
Hotspots and Crackdowns
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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
Broken Windows Theory
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Another influential study
Wilson and Kelling
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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
Challenges to Effective Policing
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How to be a police officer?
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U.S. citizen
No felony conviction
Eligible driver’s license
21 years of age
-some places
(residency requirement)
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Extensive background checks, drug tests,
interviews, physical tests, written test, polygraph,
the academy
Education:
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More and more agencies want associate or
bachelor’s degree
Smarter cops on the street
Training:
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Ran by state or other police agency
Trains officers for street as well as the rule of law
Police Subculture
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Us versus Them mentality
4 elements: danger, stress, boredom, violence
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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
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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
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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
Police Corruption
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Grass Eaters v. Meat Eaters
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Types of Corruption
-bribery
-shakedowns
-mooching
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Police Ethics:
Rules and standards of behavior governing
policing
Aimed to ensure fairness of actions
The police “code of conduct” – the do’s and
don’ts
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Police Brutality
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