Lecture - Communications Flashcards
Contact with the police
- Often a citizen-initiated process
- The impact of having a negative encounter with the police is 4-14x greater than the impact of a positive encounter (Skogan, 2006)
The Assumption
The public’s interaction with the police begins when they arrive-on-scene at a call.
* Police officer on scene -> Outcome
* Police Officers use information obtained on-scene to accurately assess their response to the situation
Dispatcher
All people that work in communication centers.
Call-Taker: Voice between public and police
Information Operator: Support Role - Handle overflow 911 calls and help radio-operators
Radio-Operator: Voice you hear on the police channel, speak exclusively to police officers
Call-Taker -> Information Operator -> Radio Operator
* Radio Operators are able to perform all 3 roles
The Reality
- Judgement By Public
- Judgement By Call-Taker
- Judgement By Radio-Operator
- Judgement By Police Officer
- Police Officer on scene
- Judgement By The Public
First, public must contact the police
* Call the police
* Visit the police station
* Flag down a police officer
The public’s reasons for contacting the police can vary depending upon the person, context, and time.
* Person’s location - some areas consider a call for a noise complaint important, while other areas focus on serious crimes
Most common call: Parking
Many more calls during the day then at night
Many calls to the police are criminal & civil
* Criminal Ex. - Assault, Theft, DUI
* Civil Ex. “My tenant won’t pay his rent” & “My friend borrowed my Xbox but won’t give it back” - Civil Court
If a crime is civil it’s not criminal and vice versa
- Judgment by Call Taker
Importance of language: Synonyms can have different meanings
- Indication of distress?
Ex.
Shouting vs Screaming
Breaking vs. Smashing
4 people vs. 10 people
Pressured by time during 911 call
* Also people call in various states of mind (angry, sad, confused)
Judgement by Radio-Operator
Radio-operators rely upon the files guaranteed by call-takers to dispatch police officers to calls for service.
Utilize information from call-takers:
* To decide order of files to be dispatched (determine priority)
* To decide how many police officers are needed for each file
Radio-Operators’ roles are complicated because:
* Radio time is sparse - must be quick as channel is shared with everyone
* Multiple calls for service are being handled simultaneously
Judgement By Police Officer
Police officers rely upon the information provided to them by their radio-operator to make operational decisions regarding their response to the call.
Police Officers then decide:
* Emergency Response or Routine Response?
* Proceed into scene or wait for backup?
* Tactical Entry vs. Routine Entry?
Police Officer on-scene
Police officer’s initial reactions to calls for service are based upon the information provided to them leading up to their arrival on scene.
Ex. If there is reason to believe a robbery occurred, they are able to detain a suspect
It may become clear that the initial call description was inaccurate, however the details were not known upon the officer’s arrival.
* Hindsight is 20/20
Conclusion
Policing is not a perfect system, it is very complex.
* There are multiple points where human error may arise before an officer arrives on scene
* Those who work in police are vulnerable to the same fallacies in logic, reasoning, and perception as the rest of society
There is no means to assess the accuracy of a complaint until post-arrival
- Misinformation from the public can lead to life or death situations - they rely on the public’s accuracy
Describe 3 things call takers do
