Transcript Police Role

Police Role
Pollock, Chp. 7
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Power and authority
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Police are the only public servants who legitimately and
routinely use force and coercion
Have wide latitude and discretion
Academics claim two “orientations” (not mutually exclusive)
– Crime fighting
 Police role to enforce the law
 Distinction between “good” and “bad” people
 Means/ends dilemma
– Public service
 Broader role
 More modest view on ability to affect crime
 Concern with other values (e.g., due process)
Social contract
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Citizens give up some freedom in exchange for
protection from harm
Grant of power not absolute
Police required to:
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Provide the service they promised
Display integrity
Be fair and objective
Obey laws and regulations
Subject themselves to supervision and control
Law enforcement code of ethics
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Fairness
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Service to the community
Subservient to the law
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Everyone treated the same
Must not use authority to take advantage
Avoid gratuities
Obey all rules and court decisions
Personal conduct
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Set an example
Herbert Packer’s model of law
enforcement
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Crime control emphasis
– #1 job to repress crime
– Enforcement protects citizens’
liberty interests
– Presumption of guilt
– Efficiency, speed and finality
Due process emphasis
– #1 job to protect rights
– Enforcement can threaten citizens’
liberty interests
– Coercive authority of State is always
subject to abuse
– No shortcuts; possibility of error
makes the process important
Development of
American police
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Patronage for selection and
advancement
– Chiefs had little authority
– Political corruption infused decisionmaking
Local control, no mobility
Training mostly OJT
Heavily decentralized, autonomous precincts
Intimate with community – worked soup lines, helped
immigrants
– Closeness a double-edge sword, as it promoted corruption
and interfered with the chain-of-command
Professionalization –
began 1800’s
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Remove police from politics
Police executives in charge
Distance officers from citizens
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Improve equity, reduce corruption
Focus policing on law enforcement
Scientific administration (Taylor’s management principles)
– Develop standard procedures: “routinize” police work
– Reduce discretion where possible
– Task specialization: special assignments and units
– Measure output: quantifiable results (arrests and crime rate)
William H. Parker
and the LAPD
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Hired as a patrol officer in 1927
In the 1930’s L.A. was beset by municipal
corruption under the regime of Mayor
Frank L. Shaw, who was recalled in 1938
Became Chief in 1950, revamped the
department into the epitome of the “professional model”
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Dismissed numerous abusive and incompetent officers
Implemented modern organizational principles
Imposed rigorous civil-service driven officer selection process
Greatly improved training
Instilled discipline and esprit de corps
Urban disorder of
the 1960’s – 1970’s
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Urban unrest, including the Watts riot of
August 1965 led many to question the
assumptions of the professional model.
A series of Government studies
suggested that poor police
practices contributed to
disorder and recommended
changes:
– More minority officers
– Higher educational standards
– Enhance officer training
– Improve oversight and discipline
– Focus on community relations
L.A. – 1992 riot
(Rodney King)
In April 1992, within hours
of a jury verdict
acquitting four LAPD
officers of assaulting
Rodney King during a
1991 traffic stop,
violence and looting erupted
in South-Central Los Angeles.
In the next seven days 55
persons died, 2,000 were
injured and 12,000 were
arrested. Two of the officers
were later convicted of Federal
civil rights violations and
served prison terms.
Community policing
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Broader approach than crime-fighting
– Community defines problems
– Community participates in solutions
– Success measured by citizen satisfaction
– May call for more intrusion, not less
To do community policing need:
– Decentralized authority
– Changes in recruitment and training
– Move away from incident-driven (response) policing
– Different measures of output (results)
But,
on the other hand...
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If police are still expected to fight
crime, community policing requires
more officers, perhaps many more
– Citizens are most concerned with
crimes of violence
Agency resources differ
– L.A.: 7673 officers
(1/498 citizens)
– Chicago: 11,567 officers
(1/248 citizens)
– New York: 32,100 officers
(1/252 citizens)
Ultimately, police may not be the ones who determine their style
– Threat of violence is present in everyday policing
– Demographics (age, social class) influence prevalence of crime
– Poor, disorganized communities may have no “community” to speak of.
With whom will the police interface?