Chapter 1: Origins and Evolution of American Policing

Question 1

What does is it mean to police?

Answer 1

Regulating Peoples Behavior

Question 2

How can one define “policing”?

Answer 2

Things that police do/ police organizations

Question 3

“The police by the very nature of their function, are an anomaly in a free society”

Answer 3

Herman Goldstein (1977)

Question 4

“The tension between freedom and constraint is one of the central problems in American policing”

Answer 4

Jerome Skolnick (1966)

Question 5

Police Functions

Answer 5

• order maintenance
• crime prevention
• crime investigation
• provide other micellaneous services

Question 6

*only a small portion of police activities involve____________

Answer 6

crime fighting

Question 7

Factors that shape the police

Answer 7

• Work 24/7
• Use of force
• Social Control

Question 8

Robert Peel’s Influence

Answer 8

professionalism of policing
Emphasized public approval as well as cooperation
appropriate application of force
impartial service to law

Question 9

The English Model

Answer 9

• Sir Robert Peel and the Metropolitan Police Act (1829)
• “Introduced a centralized and unified system of police in
England

Question 10

The emergence of policing in America

Answer 10

Chaos in the cities
• As America came of age, more immigrants arrived and settled in urban areas.
• First publicly funded, organized police
• Boston in 1838
• New York in 1844
• Policing in the American South
• Slave patrol

Question 11

US vs. English

Answer 11

Police forces in the US vs English police
•Involvement in politics
•Use of force
•Decentralized policing model

Question 12

Policing Eras

Answer 12

• The political era (1840s-1930s)
• The reform era (1930s-1970s)
• The community era (1970s-2001)

Question 13

Political Era

Answer 13

• Close ties between the police and political officials.
• Police were organized in paramilitary style, focused on
serving the political powerful.
• Politicians appointed/hired the police

Question 14

Reform Era

Answer 14

• Reverend Charles Parkhurst spearheaded the reform
(responsible for the appointment of Theodore Roosevelt
as commissioner of THE NYPD)
• The years of reform effort failed until August Vollmer
changed their focus
- organizational reforms in police agencies
- elevated standards of recruitment and retention
- the adoption of modern management techniques
Reformers had faith in centralization, crime fighting,
scientific investigations, and, above all, police work
that followed the letter of the law
-The impact of the Great Depression

Question 15

August Vollmer

Answer 15

• Put officers on bicycle and motorcycle patrol
• Adoption of fingerprinting technology
• Hiring officers with college degrees
• Creation of the Berkeley Police School in 1908

Question 16

Community Era

Answer 16

• Serving the needs of communities
• Focus on quality-of-life offenses
• “Broken windows” model of policing
• Partnership between the police and the community

Question 17

New Era

Answer 17

The New Era
•The impact of the 9-11 terrorist attacks
•Evidence-based policing
• Ex) Situational Crime Prevention (SCP)