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Chapter 7
Issues in Policing
The Police Culture: Core Beliefs

Police are the only real crime fighters

Only the police understand police

Loyalty to one another is paramount

The “War on Crime” can only be won by bending a few rules

The public doesn’t support the police

Patrol work is the pits, detective work is glamorous
The Police Subculture: Characteristics

Clannishness

Secrecy

Insulation from others in society

The "blue curtain"
The Police Personality

Dogmatic

Authoritarian

Suspicious

Racist

Cynical
What Accounts for the Police Personality?

The nature of police work attracts candidates who are by nature
cynical, authoritarian and secretive

The process of being socialized into the job of police officer causes
the traits to develop
Cynicism in Policing

Increases with years of service

If college graduates are denied promotions, it increases

Military-type training academies cause self-cynicism
Exhibit 7.1 The Four Basic Styles of Policing
Police Discretion

Discretion is the freedom to act or judge on one's own; latitude of
choice and action

Police discretion is sometimes referred to as low-visibility decision
making

Different factors affect decisions that police make
Concept Summary 7.1 Police Discretion
Some of the Benefits of Higher Education in Policing

Better behavioral and performance characteristics

Fewer on-the-job injuries and assaults

Fewer disciplinary actions from accidents and force allegations

Less sick time use

Promotes higher aspirations

Greater acceptance of minorities

Decreases dogmatism, authoritarianism, rigidity and conservatism

Lessens citizen complaints
Figure 7.1 Local Police Officers in Departments With a
College Education Requirement for New Recruits, 1990 - 2000
Figure 7.2 Female and Minority Local
Police Officers, 1990-2000
Women in Police Work

16% of all sworn police officers in cities with populations greater than
250,000; 11% of all departments combined

Role of women in policing is restricted by:

Social barriers including:

Gender conflict

Jealousy

Stereotyping
Women in Police Work (cont.)


Administrative barriers including:

Under-representation at senior administrative levels

Selective utilization of their skills and training
Lack of peer acceptance in a male dominated occupation
Research Results About Women in Policing

Are less likely to use a firearm in a violent confrontation than male
officers

Are more emotionally stable than male officers

Are less likely to seriously injure a citizen than male officers

Are no more likely to suffer injuries than their male partners

Are more likely to receive more support from the community

Are less likely to engage in improper conduct
Categories of Police Stressors

External stressors

Organizational stressors

Duty stressors

Individual stressors
Table 7.1 Circumstances of Accidental
Deaths, 1996-2000
Police and Stress

Policing is not the only criminal justice job that produces stress

Because of the public nature of policing, citizens sometimes suffer
from the effects of police stress

There are many sources of negative stressors in policing that may
produce a synergism

Not all officers respond similarly to stressors
The Effects of Stress

Poor work performance

Depression/suicide

Alcoholism

Divorce

Violence
How Common is the Use of Force Today?

In 1999, about 422,000 incidents involved the use or threatened use
of force

20% of the total was the threat of use of force only

20% of those reporting use of force against themselves reported
no injury
Police Brutality: What is it?

Abusive language

Unnecessary use of force or coercion

Threats

Harassment
Race and Force

About 2% of African-Americans and Hispanics experience police use
of force or threatened use of force while only 1% of whites
experience the same

Some authorities argue that race is a main factor in the decision to
use force; others contend that individual behavior is the primary
determinant regarding the use of force
Factors Related to Police Shootings

Violence levels

Exposure to violence

Workload of officers

Availability of firearms (gun density)

Social conflict

Administrative policies

Race
Who Are The Problem Cops?

Research by Lersch and Mieczkowski found that 7% of police
accounted for 33% of all citizen complaints

Officers receiving most of police complaints tend to be:

Younger

Less experienced
Controlling Use of Deadly Force

Tennessee v. Garner

Put an end to any local police policy that allowed officers to shoot
unarmed or nondangerous offenders if they resisted or attempted
to flee

Graham v. Conner

Force is excessive when, considering all the circumstances
known to the officer at the time he or she acted, the force used
was unreasonable
Curbing the Use of Force

Different approaches have been used to curb the use of force in
departments. Some of these approaches include:

Detailed “rules of engagement” procedures

Force-Related Integrity Testing

Civil judgments against police officers, their superiors and the
departments
Figure 7.3 The Federal Law Enforcement
Training Center’s Use-of-Force Model
Are There Alternatives to Lethal Weapons?

Pepper Spray

Bean Bag Guns

Tasers
Corrupt Cops and the Knapp Commission

Meat Eaters:

Those who aggressively misuse police power for personal gain by
demanding bribes, threatening legal action or cooperating with
criminals

Grass Eaters:

Those who accept payoffs when their everyday duties place them
in a position to be solicited by the public
Kinds of Police Corruption

Internal corruption

Selective enforcement or nonenforcement

Active criminality

Bribery and extortion
CNN Video – Officers Indicted
Corrupt Police Departments

Rotten apples and rotten pockets:

Departments with a few corrupt officers who use their position for
personal gain

Pervasive unorganized corruption:

Majority of personnel are corrupt but have little relationship to one
another

Pervasive organized corruption:

Almost all members are involved in systematic and organized
corruption
Causes of Police Corruption
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Police personality

Institution and practices

Moral ambivalence

Environmental conditions

Corrupt departments
Social Ambivalence Towards Police
Corruption

Unenforceable laws governing moral standards promote corruption
because they create large groups with an interest in subverting law
enforcement. Interest groups include both consumers and suppliers;
their existence creates a climate that tolerates active corruption by
others
Changing Police Corruption

Change in department tolerances

More willingness to take cases to the courts

More active scrutiny within government

Greater access to police practices for the public

Changing what the public will accept from the police
Changing Police Corruption (cont.)

Policies requiring Internal Affairs investigate all citizen complaints

Development of good computer files containing all types of
complaints against all officers

Policies giving corrupt or excessive force complaints “high priority”
status

Mandatory reporting and recording of all incidents in which an officer
used more than incidental force

Training officers to treat citizens without racial bias; requiring top
echelon officers to monitor all charges of racial bias

Review all policies and practices to eliminate any racial bias