Transcript Police Subculture

Police Subculture
Peak, Chapter 3
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Background characteristics
of police applicants
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Working class and lower-middle class
Conservative political views
Looking for steady work with good
benefits
Idealistic, want to help others
Prefer outside work – not be “cooped up”
Taste for risk and excitement
Lifetime interest (friends and relatives in law enforcement)
Assertiveness and physicality
Desirable characteristics
of police applicants
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Incorruptible
Tolerates stress
Logical skills and intelligence
People oriented
Free of bias
Self-insight, emotional stability
Not impulsive
Not overly aggressive
Physical courage
Command presence
Works well as a team member
Accepts leadership and direction
Recruitment
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In strong economies recruitment suffers
Although Peak cites pay as an issue, LAPD
(not the highest-paid) starts officers in the $50,000 range (h.s. education)
A few agencies require two-year degrees
– Thirty years ago some (e.g. Ventura) required a four-year degree
– Requiring 2 years has been validated against performance, specifically,
written and verbal performance on the job
– Constricts applicant pool, disproportionately affects minority hiring
Corruption and violence discourages applicants to urban departments
– That, in turn, drives down hiring standards
– Hiring officers who admit to prior drug use or have minor records has
been linked to police misconduct; for example, the Rampart scandal
LAPD hiring process
Entry examination process –
written exam and oral interview
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California P.O.S.T. standards
– Peace officers are certified by the State
– California law enforcement agencies must meet or surpass
Written exam
– Reading, writing, general intellectual development
– LAPD
 Multiple choice for reading comprehension and English usage
 Essay for writing skills
Oral interview
– Evaluates what cannot be measured
– Ability to communicate and reason, general poise and bearing
– LAPD
 Job motivation, personal accomplishments, role adaptability, community
service orientation, respect for diversity, problem solving
Physical agility
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Police work occasionally requires:
– Chasing people over obstacles
(speed, endurance and agility)
– Overcoming physical resistance
(strength and flexibility)
– Accurately deploying weapons under stress (strength and coordination)
LAPD
– SIDE STEP (Agility): Ten seconds to move from one side of a center
line to the other side as many times as possible
– CABLE PULL (Strength): Five seconds to pull a pair of handles apart as
hard as possible in a horizontal motion
– STATIONARY BICYCLE (Endurance): Two minutes to pedal as many
revolutions as possible against a pre-set resistance
Background (character) investigation
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LAPD
By far the most important and expensive part of the process
More complicated for out-of-State candidates
Key components
– Criminal, traffic and driver license history
– Credit history and civil litigation
– School and work
– Family and friends, neighbors
Shortcuts
– Sketchy coverage of teachers, friends and acquaintances
– Not checking prior addresses
– Not inspecting juvenile records
Psychological, polygraph and medical
examinations
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Psychological
– Pencil and paper
– Interviews with psychologists
– Intended to exclude persons who are emotionally
unstable overly aggressive or suffer from a
personality disorder
Polygraph
– For confirming information developed during background investigation
– Ferrets out information that might not otherwise be obtained
Medical
– For conditions that could limit someone’s performance as a police officer
– Disqualifying conditions include hypertension, poor vision and hearing,
excessively over or underweight, uncorrected hernias, respiratory problems
– California P.O.S.T medical screening standards
Academy training
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Conflicting orientations
– Most academies emphasize technical,
task-oriented job skills
 Law
 Report writing
 Physical, defensive and arrest skills
 Using weapons
– Peak bemoans lack of attention to cognitive and decision-making
skills
 Interpersonal skills
 Using discretion
 Decision-making
Constraints on curricula
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Academy length: 30 years ago most academies were
two months long – now they are five or more
months in length
– LAPD Five months just for the basics
– California POST Four months Statewide
minimum
Criticality of basic skills
– Officer safety
– Liability issues
– Report writing
Student ability to absorb instruction
– Many have limited verbal and writing skills
– Most all are young and lack maturity
Continued 
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Practical exercises – role playing and decision-making
– Time-consuming
– Realism is difficult to achieve
– Students lack work experience (context) to internalize instruction
Classroom instruction – personal skills, defusing incidents
– Producing changes in behavior can take months of intense instruction
– Health care professionals learn this hands-on, during internships
– Students have little life or work experience
Unrealistic expectations
– By the time police arrive situations have often resolved or escalated
beyond what talking can accomplish
– Time may be better spent on weaponless defense and use of less-thanlethal weapons
Field training officer
(FTO)
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A new officer’s first step after the academy
A form of OJT (on-the-job training)
– Recruit learns laws and procedures
 Through modeling, application and repetition
 In more depth and greater complexity than possible at the academy
– Recruit learns how to deal with citizens and offenders
 Command presence
 Evaluate situations for risks and opportunities
 When and how to apply force and coercion
– Recruit’s suitability is evaluated by experienced officers
 Is recruit trainable? Does s/he follow directions?
 Does recruit have the necessary physical and mental acumen?
 Can the recruit be trusted to exercise appropriate judgment?
Police personality
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Hard lesson: black-and-white car +
badge + gun compliance
Recruits learn caution at the academy
– Police work can be dangerous
– Stories of officers hurt and killed
– Persons identified by habit or attire as “symbolic assailants”
– Almost anyone can prove dangerous
Cynicism and morbidity
– Intersection of personality and environment
– Justice is not always possible
– Clashes with the altruistic, “helping” orientation of new officers
Cynicism may peak right after the academy and decrease mid-career,
as officers become more experienced
18 SFPD Officers suspended
(then quickly reinstated) 12/05
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Eighteen police officers from an inner-city precinct
were suspended over gag video clips they intended
to play at their Captain’s retirement party
The mayor and police chief called the clips, shot
over a 2-year period, racist and sexist. They included:
– A Black officer eating from a dog dish. (The officer had complained of
being treated “like a dog” by his Sergeant)
– A vain officer is so self-absorbed with his appearance that he unwittingly
runs over a homeless Black woman.
– Officers are too busy practicing Tai-Chi to respond to emergency calls.
The officers, including whites, blacks, Asians and females, protested that the
City overreacted. Some citizens and reporters felt likewise.
The Mayor moved to reinstate everyone except the officer who shot the video.
This officer, who posted the clips on his personal website, said they were only
meant to be viewed by other officers. He apologized to his colleagues.
The president of the police union called the videos “gallows humor” that
expressed “the futility of [police work].”
Typology of police personality
(John Broderick)
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Enforcers: Keep beat clean, arrest evil-doers,
help good people
– Distinction between “good” and “bad” persons
– Frustrated by legalities and the CJ process
Idealists: Duty to keep the peace and protect citizens
from criminals.
– High value on individual rights
– Many college graduates (?)
Realists: Focus on the process – reports, procedures
– Not concerned with greater issues (e.g. social order)
– Narrow definition of the job leaves them less frustrated than others
Optimists: See their job as people rather than crime-oriented
– Enjoy service aspects of policing and solving problems
– Lowest amount of job resentment and conflict
What personality type do you think...
Would make a good detective?
 Would make a good patrol officer?
 Would make a good motorcycle cop?
 Would make a good Chief?
Why?
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