Transcript Section II: Law Enforcement

Section II: Law
Enforcement
Chapter 4: Contemporary Policing
Chapter 5: Community Policing,
Problem Solving Policing & Service
Introduction
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Why Do We have Police?
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Police have the power and authority to do
something in a situation. They are necessary
when coercion is required.
Stereotyped image role of Crime Fighter!!
90% of police work is social service
 Are police crime fighters or preservers of the
peace?
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Police and the People
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Police authority come from the people.
Police are a part of their communities,
state and federal government.
Success of policing depends heavily of
public support.
The people largely determine the goals of
policing and give law enforcement
agencies their authority to meet these
goals. Citizens support is vital.
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Traditional Goals of Policing:
Historically, the basic goals of most police
agencies are to:
Enforce laws
Preserve the peace
Prevent Crimes
Protect Civil Rights and Civil Liberties
Provide services
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These goals often overlap.
Enforcing the Law:
They must decide what laws to enforce
They assist in prosecution
They are often blamed for failure (they are
in the public eye)
Public support may be the single most
important factor in the total law
enforcement effort
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Preserving the Peace:
Police are often called to intervene in noncriminal conduct such as: crowd control,
domestic disputes, parking, pedestrians.
Some of the above could result in crimes if
not resolved.
Police presence at this level could be
enough to reduce threat of crime.
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Preventing Crime:
This is very closely related to Law Enforcement
and peace preservation.
It differs from the above in that it attempts to
eliminate potentially dangerous or criminal
situations.
It is proactive
Crime Prevention may include education of the
public, working with juveniles, working with P&P,
providing police presence.
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Protecting Constitutional Rights:
Concerns for crime control must be
balanced by concern for due process.
Providing Services:
They may refer service out to other
agencies if necessary. What type of
service do police provide?
Contemporary Goals Resulting
from Community Policing
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Goals resulting from implementing community
policing usually include forming partnerships
with the community and a proactive, problemsolving approach to crime, fear of crime, and
crime prevention.
Organization of the Department:
The specific organization of a police Department
is influenced by the department’s size, location,
and extent and type of crime with which it must
deal
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Whatever the agency size, police organization
seeks “strict accountability through a clear rank
structure, military symbols and procedures, a
rigid communicational hierarchy, and close
supervision”
Most police departments are organized into two
basic units: administrative services and field
services. Tasks and personnel are assigned to
one or the other.
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Administrative services include
communications and records, recruitment
and training and provision of special
facilities and service.
Communications:
Police must be keep current and informed.
Current information is usually provided at
roll call, radio, phone and computer.
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Communication is the Life Line of any
police Department!
Records: Police records may be
categorized as (1) administrative records,
(2) arrest records, (3) identification
records and (4) complaint records.
Identification Records contain fingerprints,
photographs and other descriptive data
obtained from arrested persons.
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Centralized, integrated, accurate systems
of communication and records increase
the effectiveness and efficiency of field
services.
A data Privacy act regulates the use of
confidential and private information on
individuals in the records, files and
processes of a state and its political
subdivision.
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Field Services include patrol, traffic,
investigations, and community service.
Traditionally police departments have been
generalists. That is, most of their
personnel is assigned to patrol, and each
officer is responsible for providing basic
law enforcement services of all types to a
specified geographic area.
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Larger departments tend to be more
specialist oriented. (task forces,
detectives, sex crimes)
Usually 60 to 70 percent of a department’s
police officers are assigned to patrol
operations, providing continuous police
service and high visibility of law
enforcement.
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Rural Policing:
Some rural areas have only a small police
force or may only have one officer. Backup
can be miles away.
Police subculture:
A subculture is any group demonstrating
specific patterns of behavior that
distinguish it from others within a society.
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Policing has been identified as a
subculture commonly referred to as “The
Blue Brotherhood.”
Police officer will commonly lose their nonpolice friends within a few years.
Some times they are isolated from the rest
of society.
“us vs. them” which may foster the “blue
wall of silence.”
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Styles of policing:
Typologies are as follows:
Enforcer: most likely to use excessive force.
Crime fighter/zealot: new, inexperienced or
unable to see the gray areas associated with
policing.
Social service/agent: more attuned to due
process. Often young, well educated, and
idealistic. More flexible but also interested in
protecting society.
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Stereotypes: Suspicious, Cynical,
Indifferent, Authoritarian, Bigoted, Brutal.
Police Image results from the media
portrayal of police officers and from
everyday contacts between individual
police officers and citizens.
What influences Police Image?
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Watchdog: Opposite end of spectrum from
the enforcer. The watchdog wants to
maintain the status quo, in not making
waves. May ignore common violations,
such as traffic offenses, and tolerate a
certain amount of vice and gambling.
No officer is purely one type or another.
An officer may change style depending on
the situation.