Final

Question 1

Primary findings and methods of yoakam study in DC

Answer 1

Research question: Are body cams effective?
Design: Randomized control study- over 2,00 0 cops assigned to two groups
IV: Body cam yes or no
DVS: use of force(they would use self reports),
Police activities (citations/arrests and injuries),
Complaints,
judicial outcomes (court dispositions or prosecution)

Findings: There was no effect on any of these variables. The null hypothesis was correct.

Question 2

What are three reasons that it’s difficult to control police misconduct

Answer 2

1. There is a wide scale of discretion of patrol officer.
2. police subculture of secrecy and violence to maintain respect
3. the coercive nature of police work.

Question 3

What are four reason that limit the state criminal codes and laws in control officers use of force?

Answer 3

1. Prosecutorial discretion- the prosecutor needs the cops testimony, they are on the same team. A conflict of interest
2. Should criminal law be used?- especially in shootings that involved split second decisions. There are also external factors that go into shootings that make it hard to put a cop in prison for.
3. Lack of info from IAU- internal affairs unties don’t want to work with the protection because they don’t want to snitch on their own.
4. jury- Can a jury find a copy guilty. typically jury’s don’t want to convict a cop.

Question 4

Identify three reasons why militarization is problematic

Answer 4

1. It’s un-American to look like military units- posse-comitatus act 1979. The police want to be the military. There is a tradition of separating civil police and military.
2. this may give rise to rift between street level cops and administrators- A danger that the police as a profession will adopt into the military.
3. Militarism and the war on the street- In a war anything can happen. police aren’t soldiers fighting a war. A war is a war and it’s not what’s happening on the street.