Transcript Historical Development





Who carries the authority – the officer or the agency?
Can superiors order officers to make an arrest?
 Can an officer refuse?
 What can happen if they do?
Are officers civilly liable for their actions?
 If so, in what courts?
Are their employers required to defend them?





On January 29, 2005 a 21-year old passenger was
shot by a SBSO deputy after the vehicle he was
in crashed during a pursuit.
Witnesses say that a deputy ordered Elio Carrion,
21, an Air Force security officer, to the ground
and that Carrion complied. There is confusion
about what happened later, but a grainy videotape
made by an onlooker suggests that Carrion was
told to get up. When he did so, the deputy fired,
striking Carrion three times.
Carrion will recover. The videotape recorded Carrion’s pre-shooting comments that
he was “on the deputy’s side,” expletives shouted by the deputy, and Carrion’s
protests after he was shot that he was complying with the deputies.
Deputies were trying to stop the Corvette for speeding. Its driver has an extensive
driving record. Neither he nor Carrion were armed or wanted.
The officer, Deputy Ivory Webb, was tried for attempted voluntary manslaughter.
He was acquitted. During trial an expert defense witness gave examples of officers
behaving oddly during a crisis: “Their analytical process began to collapse. They had
so much to do that, literally, they were overloaded.”
On January 1, 2009 BART officer
Johannes Mehserle, 27, shot and killed a
22-year old man who was being held
down by officers following a brawl on a
BART train. Although the man was
reportedly resisting being handcuffed,
the shooting, which was captured by
bystanders on cell phone cameras,
seemed clearly unnecessary.
The shooting stirred strong emotions in
Oakland and led to demonstrations and
several nights of disturbances. According to
the Alameda County D.A., murder charges
were filed because the killing was unlawful
and done purposefully.
Mehserle quickly resigned from the force.
He was later arrested and charged with
second-degree murder. At his trial, which
was held in Los Angeles, he testified that he
had meant to draw the Taser but
accidentally fired his pistol instead. Jurors
convicted him of involuntary
manslaughter. [Police Issues 1 2]



Social contract  legitimacy
 Exchange relationship
 Democratic constraints & accountability
▪ Are police tools of the dominant/ruling class?
Unique role
 Authority to coerce compliance
 Use of force
 Discretion – can’t arrest everyone
Public attitudes
 Whites and older persons look favorably on police
 Minorities, especially African-Americans tend to
have less favorable attitudes
 2008 Gallup poll on American institutions
 Other polling on police







Shire-reeves supervised rural military, police and tax
collection
Constables had similar duties in urban areas
 Rotating, unpaid position; well-off paid others to serve
Justices of the Peace carried out local judicial functions
 Issued warrants to be served by Constables and set bail
 Criticized for being corrupt
Social change brought on by urbanization and the Industrial Revolution
greatly increased crime but there was opposition to a professional police
 Harsh sanctions for those caught (223 crimes carried the death penalty)
In late 1700’s the Fielding brothers, London magistrates, established the “Bow
Street Runners” to fight widespread thievery and prostitution
 Volunteers, paid rewards by victims
In the early 1800’s Colquhoun refined the Fielding’s theories
 Recommended a paid, professional police force
Concept: Police were to be role models for British society






London, 1829: First professional, paid police force
London divided into 17 precincts, each with a boss,
4 inspectors, 16 sergeants and 165 constables
Constables wore a uniform and carried a truncheon
Rules of the founder, Sir Robert Peel included:
 Military organization and Government control
 Hiring officers on a probationary basis
 Careful selection and training
 Good appearance, moderate temper
 Keeping records of crime and deploying
accordingly
Bobbies faced hostility and organized opposition
Public support increased as officer behavior improved
 Principle that poor quality policing could make disorder worse




Political framework
 Republicanism – govt. accountable to all, not just the privileged
 Preference for local control, power flows up, not just down
Imported Sheriff and constable/watchman models from England
 Like in England, the better citizens resisted service, hired others who
proved unreliable
During the 1800’s urbanization and industrialization greatly increased urban
crime and unrest. Economic depressions struck in the mid and late 1700’s,
leading to waves of crime and forcing governments to act
 1751: Philadelphia organizes first paid police force
 January 8, 1828: Watchman Steve Heimer is the first PPD officer killed on
duty
Major issues
 Should police wear uniforms? Carry arms? Use force?


July 1841, New York City: Mary Rogers, an
employee of a cigar store, disappears. Mary’s
body is found floating in a river. Her death was
unsolved but is attributed to a botched abortion.
In 1844 her death spurred the establishment of a
paid, full-time police force in New York City
 Patronage positions – selections made by
Aldermen in each Ward
 Chief without real authority over officers
 Decade before officers uniformed; only ID was copper badge
(“coppers”)
 Major departure from British model: officers carried side arms
because criminals were often armed






Patronage for selection and advancement
 Chiefs had little authority
 Political corruption infused decisions
Training mostly on the job “war stories”
Local control: heavily decentralized, autonomous
precincts
Rampant police corruption
 Chiefs and precinct commanders established
payment systems to allow vice and prostitution
 Individual officers shook down peddlers and thieves
Heavily involved in strikebreaking
Community roles – officers worked soup lines,
helped immigrants
 Closeness a double-edge sword
 Promoted corruption, interfered with supervision




During 1890-1920 the “Progressives”
tried to reform the police & remove it
from political control
 Centralized command
 Better quality officers
 Narrower mission
 Civil service
Sought to distance officers from citizens to 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)








Bicycle, then motorized patrol
Records system
Scientific investigation
 1920: lie detector
 1924: fingerprint system
Modus Operandi system (track criminals by their methods)
Formal police training
 1916: Established UC Berkeley School of Criminology
Applicant psychological and aptitude testing
Recruit college graduates
Against the tide: encouraged police to do social work



Society beset by crime, gang wars
Policing suffers from abuses, excessive
force (“third degree”) and corruption
Recommendations
 Get politics out of law enforcement
 Select Chiefs and officers on merit
 Physical standards
 Improve salaries and working conditions
 Good training
 Professionalize, specialize
▪ Hire women
▪ Crime prevention and crime investigation bureaus



Hired as a patrol officer in 1927
1930’s L.A. was beset by municipal
corruption under the regime of Mayor
Frank L. Shaw, who was recalled in 1938
Parker became Chief in 1950, revamped the
Department into the epitome of the
“professional model”
 Dismissed many 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 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
Recommended changes
 More minority officers
 Higher educational standards
 Enhance officer training
 Improve oversight and discipline
 Focus on community relations






Criticism of the professional model
 Police agencies are isolated and unresponsive
 Police have overlooked other obligations to the community
 Officers have become detached from the citizens they serve
 Officers stereotype persons and are careless about using force
To-do list
 Defuse tensions in inner cities
 Narrow the distance between police and the public to improve relations and build trust
 Share information to learn more about local problems
1970’s – Team policing
 Officers as generalists, provide all services in a fixed area
1980’s – Community policing
 Community meetings – give citizens a role in police decisions and deployment
 Neighborhood police stations, foot and bicycle patrols
1990’s – Problem-oriented policing
 Fight crime with a problem-solving approach
COPS – combine community-oriented and problem-solving policing
U.S. pop. 309 million
1995.
1996.
1997.
1998.
1999.
2000.
2001.
2002.
2003.
2004.
2005.
2006.
2007.
2008.
2009.
2010.
Guns Other Total
62 12
74
57
4
61
68
2
70
58
3
61
41
1
42
47
4
51
61
9
70
51
5
56
45
7
52
54
3
57
50
5
55
46
2
48
55
2
57
35
6
41
45
3
48
55
1
56
830 69 899
5X
U.K. pop. 62 million
1995.
1996.
1997.
1998.
1999.
2000.
2001.
2002.
2003.
2004.
2005.
2006.
2007.
2008.
2009.
2010.
Guns
Total
92 X
36 X
Guns Other
2
0
0
0
3
2
0
1
0
2
0
2
0
2
0
1
1
2
0
1
1
0
0
0
1
2
0
0
1
1
0
0
9 16
Total
2
0
5
1
2
2
2
1
3
1
1
0
3
0
2
0
25