final Flashcards
11-13
law enforcement agencies numbers
18,000 total
largest police department
new york city w/ 34,000
how many police departments have 10 or fewer officers
55%
duties of the sheriff department
respond to calls for service outside of city limits
- maintain county jail
- keeping order in the courthouse
which is the most visible state law enforcement agency
state police and highway patrols
Historically why were state police agencies created
- to assist local police agencies
- to investigate criminal activities that crossed jurisdictional boundaries
- to provide law enforcement in rural and other areas that did not have local or county police agencies
T/F? every county in the US has a sheriff (except Alaska)
true
how are county law enforcement elected
usually by voters
who runs the municipal law enforcement
police chief or commissioner hired by a city council or mayor
how many sheriff departments
3,067
how many police departments
13,000
how many special police agencies
1,481
how many state police departments
49 (Hawaii is the exception)
how many federal law enforcement agencies
70
what was the first state police
texas rangers
federal LE agencies
authorized to enforce specific laws or attend to specific situations
-small percentage of nations LE in numbers but have substantial influence
DHS - department of homeland security
-was the most far reaching reorganization of the federal government since world war II
FBI -federal bureau of investigation
- one of the primary investigative agencies in the United States
- has jurisdiction over nearly 200 federal crimes including kidnapping, extortion, numerous white collar crimes, and bank robbery
- the FBI has the largest crime lab in the world
ethics
the application of a set of moral thoughts and ideas to determine the right thing to do
T/F? An action can be legal, but unethical
true
corruption by the police
involves an act that misuses authority, often for personal gain (that personal gain doesn’t always have to be financial)
gratuity (corruption)
- a benefit the officer receives simply because he is a police officer
- usually involves some type of financial discount or something tangible which would not be given to the general public
- examples include free meals, reduced cost for services
professional courtesy (corruption)
- occurs when an officer provides a courtesy or special treatment to another law enforcement officer
- this may sometimes extends to friends and family of the officer and others
- example is not writing a speeding ticket for another officer when stopped while off duty
misses of authority (corruption)
- occurs when an officer uses his position for some sort of personal gain
- distinguished from just passively accepting a gratuity or bribe
- the officer actively solicits a personal gain due to his position
the Dirty Harry problem (corruption)
- this occurs when unethical or illegal means are used by police in dealing with criminals or suspects
- example: using corrective means to extract a confession
- the end result is good, but the means to achieve that end are unethical or illegal
- officers may justify their unethical behavior because the criminal was caught
adjudication
the formal process for resolving legal disputes in courts of law
-involves disposing of the case in some manner, be it trial dismissal, plea bargain, etc
jurisdiction
refers to the authority given to a court to hear and adducted a particular dispute
- not all courts can hear every type of case
- in order to properly adpjucate a case , the court must have jurisdiction
geographic jurisdiction
the incident must have taken place within the geographic boundaries of the court
-usually county lines, state lines, or federal district lines
subject matter jurisdiction
some courts may have limited subject matter jurisdiction
-example: they may only have authority to hear misdemeanor cases, or only civil cases
dual court system
means there are both federal and state courts
-both federal and state courts have limited jurisdiction
federal courts enforce
federal statutes
state courts enforce
state statutes
can crimes be both a violation of federal and state law
yes
lower courts or courts of limited jurisdiction
- magistrate court
- specialty courts
three tiered model
US district court - the primary courts in the federal court system (95 of them across the US)
US court of appeals- intermediate level appellate courts (13 US circuit courts of appeals)
US Supreme Court
what are the primary courts in the federal court system
us district court
what is the highest court in the US
United States supreme court
in the us Supreme Court how many judges are there and who are the led by
9 justices led by the Chief Justice
cases are selected through writ of certiorari, issued by the rule of four
- this means that at least 4 of the 9 justices must agree to hear the case
- Supreme Court hears less than 10% of the cases seeking to be heard
- no absolute right to have the Supreme Court hear a case
how does the Supreme Court make a decision
- does not normally hear any evidence
- based on the written record, written arguments, and occasionally oral arguments
- justices decide each case in conference, and then the senior justice on the majority side decides which justice will write the opinion (concurring or dissenting opinions)
federal judges (selection)
nominated by the president, confirmed by the senate
-appointed to judgeship for life but can be impeached for treason, bribers or other high crimes and misdemeanors
state court judges (selection)
usually a term of years, appointment, election (partisan and nonpartisan elections), merit selections (the Missouri plan which is appointment and retention election)
primary actors in the courtroom
judges, prosecutors, defense attorneys
prosecutors
- usually elected
- chief prosecutors often have numerous assistant prosecutors
- great deal of discretion in deciding which cases to prosecute
- priority should be making sure justice is done, NOT necessarily gaining a conviction
defense attorneys
- provides legal representation to criminal defendants during the court process
- priority should be making sure the rights of the defendants are protected
- represent defendant to the best of ability within the bounds of law
private attorneys
hired and paid for by the defendant
public defenders
provided by state, county, etc to represent indigent defendants, various systems for appointing attorneys for indigents
attorney-client privilege
- communication between defense attorneys and their clients must be kept confidential unless the client consent to disclosure
- this privilege extends to criminal confessions
exceptions to attorney-client privilege
defendant threatens someone and has capability of carrying out threat
jury selection (criminal trial)
- goal is to select fair and impartial jurors
- group of potential jurors called the venire is assembled in courtroom
voir dire (criminal trial jury selection)
“to speak the truth”
-jurors are questioned by the attorneys about their backgrounds, knowledge of persons involved in case, attitudes about certain issues
challenges to jurors (criminal trial jury selection)
each side has an opportunity to attempt to remove a juror through a challenge
-challenge for cause or peremptory challenge
challenge for cause(criminal trial jury selection)
through questioning the juror has revealed that he/she cannot be a fair and impartial juror
-judge decides if juror ssjpuld be removed
peremptory challenge (criminal trial jury selection)
each side has a set number of challenges that can be used to exclude a juror for any reason
- cannot be based on race or sex
- important strategy tool for attorneys
purpose of opening statements
to advise the jury of what the attorney intends to prove
- a road map to guide jurors through the case
- prosecutor goes first, then defense attorney
- not an argument of the facts of the case but rather states the themes of the case
prosecutor Case-in-chief
the part of the trial in which the prosecutor tries to prove the defendant’s guilt by presenting evidence
-prosecutor has burden of proof
who are the most visible mechanism of formal social control in our society
the police - they are required to maintain order under the rule of the law
metropolitan police act of 1829
- established first modern police force
- London, England
- created by Sir Robert ‘Bobbie’ Peel
- before this no police force, military was called in when lawbreaking got out of hand
colonial time police
- mirrored the English system
- led by citizens-constables and night watchmen
- the governor of each colony hired a sheriff of each county to oversee the formal aspects of law enforcement
19th century police departments
in 1838, Boston becomes the first city with a police department
in 1844, New York sets the foundation for the modern police department
police departments (1830-1900)
dominated by the patronage system
patronage system
- also known as the spoils system
- political party in power hired and promoted police officers and received job-related favors in return
- widespread bribery and other corruption
- police loyalty was to politicians, not the law or citizens
policing in the 1930s-1970s
direct response to corruption of earlier era
- august vollmer and O. Willson
- vollmer was known as the father of modern police administration
- they developed the professional model
professional model of policing
centralized use of technology
- increased use of technology
- limitation of police discretion through regulations and guidelines
- crime control, prevention and offender apprehension
watchmen style
passive and reactive
- keep the peace and not make any waves
- often use informal intervention to resolve problems instead of formal legal authority
- likely to ignore many infractions, especially minor ones
legalistic style
enforcement of the law with full force in every case
-success is measured by the number of arrests, traffic citations, etc
-very little discretion excised
enforce the law without consideration of individual circumstances
-opposite of watchman style
service style
- the middle ground between watchman and legalistic
- consistent with community era of policing
- like watchman, view arrest as last resort and try to use informal methods to solve problems
- unlike watchman are actively engaged in building social bonds and are involved In community service projects to make the community a safe and pleasant place
defense case-in-chief
- the part of the trial where the defense may call witness and present evidence
- defendant testifies
rebuttal
after the defendant rests, state may present rebuttal evidence
- purpose is to discredit the testimony of defense witness
- this is the last evidence presented
closing arguments
allows each side to sum up the facts in its favor and argue to the jury why a verdict in their favor is warranted
- done after both sides have rested
- prosecutor goes first, then defense, then prosecutor has the final argument
jury deliberations
jurors retire to the jury room to consider the evidence and decide a verdict
-usually reach a verdict
the verdict
is a formal decision made by the jury
- guilty or not guilty
- most states require a unanimous verdict
appeals
- an appeal is the process of seeking a higher court’s review of a lower courts decision
- defendant has one automatic right to appeal an unfavorable verdict
common points of appeal
judge wrongfully included/excluded evidence
judge applied the wring law
