Intro to Policing Flashcards
What is Discretion
Individual choices and judgements
What is Police Discretion
The decision-making power afforded to police officers that allows them to decide if they want to pursue police procedure or simply let someone off with a warning
Jerome Skolnick’s Justice without Trial
Decisions on what to do with suspects can be made without Trial at all
Symbolic Assailant
a person a police officer thinks is potentially dangerous
James Wilson Watchman style
-Main concern is achieving “order maintenance” through control of illegal and disruptive behavior
-Use discretion liberally
-Informal police intervention
James Wilson’s Legalistic Style
-Enforce the letter of the law
-Avoid community disputes arising from violations of social norms that for not break the law
-Laissez-faire policing
-Policy or attitude of letting things take their own course, without interfering
James Wilson’s Service Style
-Meet the needs of the community and serve its members
-Officers see themselves as helpers
-Cooperation with other agencies such as social services (counseling) for crime prevention
Broken Windows Theory
-Stanford psychologist Phillip Zimbardo’s experiment
-Focusing on low-level and quality-olf-life offenses
-Prevention of more serious crimes
-Stop and frisk became unconstitutional
Pros of Police discretion
-Promotes job satisfaction
-Promotes autonomy
-Promotes realistic goals
-Promotes humanitarian principles
Cons of police discretion
-Potential for abuse
-Potential for corruption
-Possible citizen complaints
-Lawsuits when things go wrong
Discretion and Seniority
As an officer’s rank increases, he or she is able to make fewer discretionary decisions
Police Decision Making - Neighborhood factors
-Racial composition; socioeconomic status
-Police officers who patrol affluent communities vs poor communities
-Different policing strategies used depending on the problems faced by neighborhoods
-Police tend to make more arrests in poor communities (broken windows policing)
Police Decision Making- Situational Factors
Offense seriousness
-probable cause to arrest is more likely to be present in cases of serious crime
Location and Bystanders
-When they are in plain view and watched by people, officers are more likely to follow proper policies
Relationship between parties
-Mandatory Arrest Policy
Police Decision Making- Officer
Education, Age, and Experience
-younger officers with less experience tend to be more aggressive
Gender
-female officers tend to be less aggressive
Ambition and Attitudes
-performance and promotion
Police Decision Making- Organizational Factors
Bureaucratic structure
-chain of command
-Hierarchy
-Rules and regulations
-Mandatory Arrest Policy
Beats and scheduling
-Larger patrol areas usually equate to impersonal relationships
-Smaller areas usually see service styles of policing
The Police Mission
-To enforce and support the law
-To investigate crimes and apprehend offenders
-To prevent crime
-To ensure domestic peace and tranquility
-To provide local communities, states, and the nation as a whole with needed enforcement-related services
Types of Patrol: Preventative
-Patrolling neighborhoods in an effort to discourage people from committing crime
-Deterrence theory
-getting caught outweighs the benefits of committing the crime
Types of Patrol: Directed
-Concentrating the police presence in areas where certain crimes are a significant problem
Hot spots and hot times
-When and where crime is likely to occur
-Pin maps
-Crime mapping
Patrol Methods and Techniques
-Strip malls, shopping districts, tourist destinations
Limits officer’s ability to give chase if the need arises
-Provides mobility
-Patrol vehicles, bikes, motorcycles, foot patrol, etc.
