Transcript Department of Criminal Justice California State University - Bakersfield CRJU 100 Introduction to Criminal Justice Dr.

Department of Criminal Justice
California State University - Bakersfield
CRJU 100
Introduction to Criminal Justice
Dr. Abu-Lughod, Reem Ali
Issues In Policing
Intro:
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Police use of FORCE:
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Egon Bittner argues civilized soc has been
developing mechanisms to eliminate legitimacy of
all forms of force
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Today physical force considered legitimate under
some conditions:
1.
Self defense
2.
Specifically deputized persons against some
specifically named persons (e.g. mental
hospital…dealing with dangerous people)
3.
Police force: kill fleeing felons, perform official
duties, not malicious
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1.
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Controversy: each situation is different
Calling on police to use force on our behalf
Because we try to avoid law suits
Using force depends on several factors:
Size/gender of suspect
Working alone or with another officer
Time of day incident occurs
Police as soldiers: police and military have things in
common……uniform, status/rank, use of weapons, chain of
command
BUT sometimes military model becomes problematic??? At war,
stereotypes created animosity because people are guilty of being at
the wrong place/wrong time
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Fundamental difference between military and police is
DECISION MAKING PROCESS
In military: top down approach in chain of command
In policing: more discretionary powers among officers,
making an arrest/not
Police use of force and SWAT team:
Protect police from sniper attacks
Rescue hostages
Neutralize guerilla/terrorist operations against gov’t
 Proactive
policing and force:
 Do police officers sometimes go looking for trouble?
 Example: when posing as sex workers in a
prostitution sting and then arrest those who
proposition them
 Because police cannot predict level of risk they
must be prepared by:
 Bullet proof vests, helmets with masks, special
camouflage uniforms, automatic weapons
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What about police targeting the “wrong suspect” or
breaking into wrong house
The Dirty Harry Problem by criminologist Carl
Klockers
Challenges to traditional policing:
Community policing
Problem-oriented policing
Zero-tolerance policing
COMMUNITY POLICING:
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Integration between police and community
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Trust
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Order and citizen cooperation
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Policing reform
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Walker and Katz: focuses on neighborhood decay, order,
conflict resolution and social/physical order
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Quality of life
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Eyes on the street
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PROBLEMS: communities are different, covers many activities
at once
PROBLEM ORIENTED POLICING:
 Aspect of CP
 Causal factors to crime
 Crime-mapping
 “Broken Windows Theory”
ZERO-TOLERANCE POLICING:
 Wilson and Kelling “Broken Windows”
 Rudy Giuliani’s example
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3 reasons to be cautious about adopting the
Broken Window Theory
How communities were policed in the past
Concern for rights of citizens
Problem of crime displacement
POLICE STRESS AND BURNOUT:
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Threat imposed on their lives
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Deal with it in different ways…..
POLICE AND ALCOHOL
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Stress coping
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Socialization to their own subculture
FAMILY PROBLEMS AND POLICE
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Change in personality as husband/wife
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With children
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High expectations
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Perception of different words
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Skolnick’s “policeman’s working personality” on how to cope
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Wanting to integrate with people, and people’s perception
POLICE AND SUICIDE
 High suicidal levels
 WHY
SUGGESTIONS FOR DEALING WITH STRESS:
 Stress management/reduction
 Group “rap” peer support
 Police mentoring