Exam II Flashcards

1
Q

Eras of Policing:

Vigilantism

Slave Patrols

English Model

Political Era

Professional Era

Community Policing Era

A

Vigilantism (Mid 1700’s-1900):

  • Policing by self-appointed committees
  • Resident organized too punish people deemed outlaws

Slave Patrols (1740-1840):

  • Residents organized to enforce laws meant to control slaves
  • First publicly funded police departments

English Model (1700-1800):

  • Local patrol force had limited authority and quasi-military organizational structure. Police departments in U.S. cities developed similarly
  • Initially, Watch system and Frankpledge system

Political Era (1840-1920):

  • Police received jobs because of political affiliation and enforced the priorities of the political party in power (party loyalty)
  • Role was to control undesirable immigrants, maintain order, and provide a variety of social servies
  • Officers received little if any training

Professional Era (1920-1970):

  • Focus was on enforcing the law (police as law enforcers), hiring qualified officers, using technology, and improving police training
  • Direct attempts to end corruption
  • Formal hierarchical gov’t agencies created
  • Positive outcomes: pay increase, systematic training, merit-based hiring, political control over hiring/firing PO’s was eliminated
  • Negative outcomes: Officers more distant from communities, changes in technology separated police from people, decrease in hiring of minority officers

Community Policing Era (1970-Current):

  • Focus is on crime prevention w the assistance of improved relations w community members
  • Officers expected to cultivate positive relationships w community
  • Shift from Reactive–>Proactive police work
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2
Q

Preventive Patrol

A
  • Officers must randomly patrol a neighborhood
  • Assumption is that visible presence of officers serves as deterrent to street-level crimes
  • Focused on reducing street crimes
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3
Q

Local Law Enforcement Agencies:
-Sheriff Offices

State Law Enforcement Agencies:

Federal Agencies/officers

A

Local:
-Sheriff’s Offices: Tend to serve larger areas and fewer people, typically police counties in which no city provides law enforcement services

-Police Departments: Serve smaller, urban areas and more people, outnumber sheriffs by 1:4, Respond to violations of state penal code and local ordinances and generally provide only temporary housing of arrested persons

State:
-Roles and missions of state law enforcement agencies are defined by state law

Federal Agencies/officers:
-Deal w violations of federal statues

  • The Department of Justice (DOJ): The chief federal law enforcement department, provides federal leadership in preventing and controlling crime, Mission to enforce the nation’s law and regulations governing controlled substances
  • FBI: mission to protect and defend the US against terrorism and foreign intelligence threats and to uphold and enforce the nation’s criminal laws
  • Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF)
  • US Marshal’s service
  • Department of Homeland Security
  • Federal Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA)
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4
Q

Occupational subculture

A
  • A set of norms and beliefs held by most officers in a given country
  • Particular to an individual department
  • At the core is the belief that officers must support one another (“Blue code of silence”, places loyalty to fellow officers above all other values)
  • The need to maintain authority is major component of police occupational subculture
  • Can create beneficial high levels of group solidarity
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5
Q

Discretion

A

-Officers have a high level of discretion that allows them to act in the manner they judge most appropriate in a given situation

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6
Q

Who determines the training requirements for local LEAS?

A

Each state has its own special training academies and requirements

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7
Q

Private security

A
  • Consists of any individuals, organization, or service-other than public law enforcement and regulatory agencies engaged engaged primarily in the prevention and investigation of crime, loss, or harm to specific individuals, organizations, or facilities
  • Growth: Twice as many private security officers in the US as public law enforcement officers
  • Quality concerns: Industry is slowly professionalizing, in part due to liability concerns
  • Private Security/Law enforcement cooperation: Liaisons w private security a useful way to increase the effectiveness of investigating and preventing crime
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8
Q

Corruption

A
  • Generally defined as misconduct motivated by personal gain
  • Organizational explanations for police corruption: Corruption attributed to the police occupational subculture, especially the “code of silence”

-Individual explanation for police corruption:
There are many individual factors that might contribute to an officer engaging in corrupt activities

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9
Q

Influences on arrest decision

A
  • The greatest influence on the decision to arrest is the victim’s or complainant’s preference for arrest
  • The degree of relationship between the victim and perpetrator influences arrest decisions
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10
Q

Abuse of authority

A

-Very harmful to law enforcement agencies

  • Occurs when police disregard policies, rules. laws in the performance of their duties
  • Generally those who commit misuse believe in a noble cause, or that “the end justifies the means”
  • The use of violence against perpetrators often stems from police officer’s concern for the victims

Consequences:

  • Officers who misuse their authority may face criminal prosecution
  • Police departments and cities can also be civilly liable for failures to act

Attaining Integrity:

  • Moral principles and professional standards that help officers resist the temptation to abuse their rights and privileges
  • Can be attributed to individuals and organzations
  • Management is responsible for reducing vulnerability in the police force and setting a tone by condemning abuse
  • Early warning systems are data-driven identify police officers whose behavior is beginning to suggest problems
  • Targeted integrity testing: Investigators create controlled opportunities to test for unlawful/unethical behavior
  • All large law enforcement agencies have units to handle real and reported misconduct
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11
Q

Principal roles of policing

3 Major roles

A

1) Maintaining order:
-Keeping the peace
-Goal is to reinforce informal control mechanisms already operating in community
-(May involve enforcement of local laws, or activities to maintain civility of life in the community)
Ex: Manage a crowd

2) Enforcing the law:
-When arrest is needed
-Primary function of law enforcement is application of criminal code to specific, developing situations
-Based on police departments priorities
-Based on the seriousness of crime and department resources
-Apprehending suspects lies at heart of law enforcement function
Ex: Make an arrest

3) Providing service:
-Nonemergency police work
-Service activities are non-law enforcement duties performed by police officers on an as-needed basis
-Meaning of service in US has changed from early politically-based form to new community service orientation
Ex: give someone directions

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12
Q

Kansas City preventative patrol project

A

-Kansas City study showed that level of patrol had no effect on the measured crime level

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13
Q

Fourth Amendment

A

-Protects residents from “unreasonable searches and seizures”

Search and Seizures

  • Limitations apply only to actions taken by a gov’t agent
  • Target of the act must have a reasonable expectation of privacy
  • Technological advances, such as computerized databases, make it difficult to determine the scope of the 4th amendment

Reasonableness

  • Ordinarily the gov’t must obtain a warrant before its agents can conduct a search or seizure
  • Agent must collect enough evidence to lead a reasonable person to believe there is a good likelihood-probable cause-a crime was committed
  • If judge determines probable cause is met, a warrant is issued
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14
Q

Exceptions to search warrant requirement

A
  • The good faith exception applies when police officers act in good faith on a warrant or law that is later declared invalid
  • Inevitable discovery: Going to find it no matter what
  • If consent is given
  • Stop and frisk
  • Automobile Exceptions
  • Emergencies/hot pursuits
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15
Q

Broken Windows Theory

A
  • Argument that there is a relationship between the deterioration of a neighborhood and higher crime rates
  • Idea that disorder leads to more serious crimes has had a big effect on police departments and public
  • Theory is politically popular, but relationship between crime and disorder is more complicated
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16
Q

Zero-Tolerance policing

A
  • Police focus on minor public order offenses that affect residents quality of life
  • Increases arrests for minor offenses
17
Q

Chain of command

A
  • The line of authority that extends throughout the organization
  • Unity of command requires that each individual within the organization report directly to a single individual higher in the chain of command

Span of control:

  • The extent of an individual’s authority, the number of individuals that one person is responsible for overseeing
  • Move toward community policing has brought a more decentralized approach to some police organizations
18
Q

Public opinion of the police

A

-Overall the US public very supportive of police
-CJ system as a whole garners less support
-Media often highlights police brutality and racial profiling
(Few polled citizens believe police brutality occurs in their area, and statistics seems to support this view)
(Public believes racial profiling is more common than brutality)

-African American have lower levels of confidence in police
-African Americans have different relationships with the police than Whites do
(Higher reports of victimization/profiling)
(African American view of police varies by class and education)

19
Q

Half of agencies have fewer than ____ sworn officers

A

10

20
Q

Who performs the bulk of police work?

A

Patrol Officers

21
Q

Voluntariness of confessions

A

-Voluntariness test: Rule that confessions are inadmissible unless obtained voluntary

22
Q

Miranda Warnings

A

Miranda vs. Arizona
-Arose from cases in which suspects were taken into custody and interrogated without being informed of their constitutional rights, after which they confessed

-Supreme Court ruled that before people in police custody may be questioned, they must be informed of their constitutional rights (Miranda warnings)

Miranda Warnings:

1) You have the right to remain silent.
2) Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law.
3) You have the right to an attorney.
4) If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be appointed for you.

23
Q

Use of Force issues

A

Regulating Use of Force:
-No aspect of law enforcement poses greater potential for harm than the misuse of force

Community Response to Police use of Force:
-Excessive use of force by police probably infrequent

-Use of force more closely related to the dynamics of the situation than to a citizen’s personal characteristics
(Officers more likely to use force against individuals of the same ethnic background)

-Public and media perception is that police use excessive force mostly against African Americans
(African Americans may be less likely to call police because of public perception)

24
Q

Mapp vs. Ohio

A

-Police officers sought a bombing suspect and evidence of the bombing at Mapp’s house. After failing to gain entry on an initial visit, the officers returned with what purported to be a search warrant, forcibly entered the residence, and conducted a search in which obscene materials were discovered. The petitioner was tried and convicted for these materials.

  • She brought her case to the Supreme court
  • Evidence found in the search and seizure violated her 4th amendment right which protects against “unreasonable searches and seizures
  • First to call upon this law
25
Q

Probable Cause

A

Probable cause is a requirement found in the Fourth Amendment that must usually be met before police make an arrest, conduct a search, or receive a warrant. Courts usually find probable cause when there is a reasonable basis for believing that a crime may have been committed (for an arrest) or when evidence of the crime is present in the place to be searched (for a search).

26
Q

Fragmentation

A

The lack of coordination among law enforcement agencies in the same geographic region due to the existence of many small departments

-Lack of communication, duplication of efforts, criminals may move to the less aggressive approach

Solutions to fragmentation:

  • Consolidation
  • Smaller agencies can contract w larger ones for services
27
Q

Recruitment Steps

A

Recruitment:

  • Agencies must find qualified applicants, but face significant challenges, such as.. better-paying jobs, unusually high attribution as older generations retire, negative publicity over matters like alleged discrimination in arrests and excessive use of foce
  • There is a very high demand for officers
  • Agencies use a wide range of recruitment avenues

Selection:

  • More professional after the input of major studies
  • Some departments still advertise the adventure aspect over community service, contributing to a siege mentality
  • Background checks are vital
  • Demographic of candidates: Greatest disparity is in gender, some departments reluctant to hire women, there is a long history of discrimination against African Americans, improvement in both areas over time, but disparities remain

Training:

  • States have special training academies
  • Each state has its own training requirements
  • Training curricula: Rookies receive basic recruit training, then training in the field under a senior officer, adult learning is rapidly replacing the traditional the traditional lecture form of academy instruction, simulation-based training uses technology to stimulate conditons
  • Helps in legal issues
28
Q

Exclusionary Rule

A
  • Only applies to criminal trials
  • Derivative evidence rule: any evidence derived from something that is illegally seized is itself inadmissible
  • Exceptions (good faith, etc)
29
Q

Fifth Amendment

A
  • No person “shall be compelled in any criminal case to e a witness against himself”
  • Voluntariness test: tule that confessions are inadmissible unless obtained voluntarily
30
Q

Warrant

A

-a document issued by a legal or government official authorizing the police or some other body to make an arrest, search premises, or carry out some other action relating to the administration of justice

31
Q

Officer Stress

A

-Legal/procedural issues combined w danger of the job can cause high levels of stress for officers

Experiencing stress:

  • Affects life at home
  • Female officers/officers of color experience more stress (partly bc of discrimination)
  • Officers witness/deal w extreme social problems that are difficult to forget

Strategies for deal w stress:

  • Many types of stress prevention and treatment programs
  • Organizational strategies for addressing stress include..
    • Training for supervisors
    • Constructive feedback
    • Open communication for channels
    • Opportunities for input into organizational decisions
    • Active support of stress management programs