Section 1 Flashcards
Sheriff
-Derived from the term Shire reeve
-Assisted the king in fiscal, military, and judicial affairs and was referred to as the “king’s steward”
Shire
-“Country”
Reeve
-“Agent of the king”
Position of the Corner
-Was created to act as a monitor over the sheriff
Posse Comitatus
-An important part of the criminal justice machine that allowed the sheriff to deputize common citizens to assist in the capture of outlawes, among other tasks
Constable
-Alone pursued felons- hence the ancient custom of citizens raising a loud “hue and cry” and joining in pursuit of criminals lapsed into disguise
Constable various duties
-Including collecting taxes, supervising highways, and serving as a magistrate
Constable eventual duties
-Limited to making arrests only with warrants issued by the justice of the peace
~These men were not paid for their work, and the duties were often dangerous
Coroner
-Duties
~Oversight of the interests of the crown
*Not only in criminal matters but in fiscal matters
~Determine the cause of death and the party responsible for it
-Felony cases
~Would conduct preliminary hearings
*The sheriff would often come to the coroner’s court to prestige over the coroner’s jury
The over 2,000 coroner offices in the US duties
-Determining the causes of all deaths by violence or under suspicious circumstances
~Determine the causes and effects of wounds, lesions, contusions, fractures, poisons, and more
Justice of the Peace (JP)
-Custos pacis or conservator of the peace, nominated by the king for each country
-Allowed constables to make arrests by issuing them warrants
-The practice removed power from constables and sheriffs
-Referred to as “bobbies” and “scum of the earth”
-Only qualification was a wealthy landowner who was able to buy his way into office
JPs today
-Lay and inexpert upholder of the law
-The office has declined from high perstige to relative obscurity
“Kin Police”
-No formal mechanism existed with which to police the villages, and the informal voluntary model that developed
“Frankpledge”
-Required that every male above the age of 12 form a group with nin of his neighbors
Tithing
-Was sworn to help protect fellow citizens and to apprehend and deliver justice and its members who committed a crime
~They were not paid for their work but expected to perform certain duties under penalty of law
Wild’s “System”
-After ordering his men to commit a burglary, he would meet the victim and courteously offer to return the stolen goods for a commission
-He operated such a business for so long that its testimony to the corrupt nature of the magistrates of the “trading justice” period
Warden
-Law-empowered officials to hire as many watchmen as needed; the powers of the watch were increased; and the legislated levied a tax to pay for it
~Instead of requiring all men to participate, one male citizen interested in making money needed to join the watch
Republicanism
-Asserted that power can be divided, and it relied on local interests to promote the general welfare
~Under this program, neighborhood groups and local interest blocs have input with respect to crime-control policy with the sheriffs and police chief
Henry Fielding Argument
-The severity of the English penal code, which provided for the death penalty for a large number of offenses, including theft of a handkerchief, did not work in controlling criminals
Henry Feilding
-Believed the country should reform the criminal code to deal more with the origins of crime
-Pursuit of criminals more systematic by creating a small group of “thief-takers”
~Victims of crime paid handsome rewards for the capture of their assailants, so these volunteers stood to profit nicely by pursuing criminals
Patrick Colquhoun
-Interested in improving social conditions in England
-Believed that the government should and could regulate people’s behaviors
~Contradicted traditional and even constitutional ideals, undermining the old principle that the residents of local communities, through voluntary watchmen and constables, should police the conduct of their neighborhoods
Colquhoun’s three ideas originally set by Fieldings
-The police should have an intelligence service for gathering information about offenders
-A register of known criminals and unlawful groups should be maintained
-A police gazette should be published to assist in the apprehension of criminals and to promote the moral education of the public by publicizing punishments such as whipping, the pillory, and public execution
Sir Robert Peel
-Helped develop “An Act for Improving the Police in and Near the Metropolis”
Metropolitan Police Act 1829
-The principal object to be attained is the prevention of crime
~The security of person and property will thus be better affected than by the detection and punishment of the offender after he has succeeded in committing the crime
-Called on the home secretary to appoint two police commissioners to command the new organization
~Were recruited “a sufficient number of fit and able men” as constables
Principles of Policing
-Robert Peel
-The police should be organized along military lines and under governmental control
-Expressed the belief that crime
~Prevention was as important as crime suppression
~That public approval of police actions is paramount
-The police must always recognize that they require the willing cooperation of the public if there is to be public observance of laws
~”The police are the public, and the public are the police.”
-The need for the police to exercise force will decrease as public cooperation increase
~Force should be used as a last resort
*When the officer’s powers of persuasion, warning, and so on failed to secure public compliance
-Police should be impartial in their enforcement of the laws, without regard to one’s wealth or public standing
-Emphasis on the prevention of crime
Community Policing (1829)
-The current era of policing
~The police are situated to proactively curb criminal activity and to provide order in the community, are no different from the people they are to serve, and should be visible in the community and interact with is citizens
Slave Patrols
- Were a legal mechanism for enforcing these codes; as a formal means of social control, particularly in rural areas of the Southern colonies, these patrols were to maintain the institution of slavery as well as capture runaway slaves and protect the white majority from slave uprisings and crimes
Political Era (1840s-1930s)
-Authorization
~Politixs and Law
-Function
~Broad social services
-Organizational Design
~Decentralized
-Relationship to Community
~Intimate
-Tactical and technology
~Foot patrol
-Outcomes
~Citizen and political satisfaction
Reform Era (1930s-1980s)
-Authorization
~Law and Professionalism
-Function
~Crime Control
-Organizational design
~Centralized and classical
-Relationship to community
~Professional and remote
-Tactics and technology
~Preventive patrol and rapid response to calls
-Outcome
~Crime control
Community Era (1980s-Present)
-Authorization
~Community support (political), law, and professionalism
-Function
~Broad provision of services
-Organizational design
~Decetralized using task forces and matrices
-Relationship to Community
~Intimate
-Tactics and technology
~Foot patrol, problem-solving, and public relations
-Outcome
~Quality of life and citizen satifaction
Political Era of Policing
-NY state passed a law to establish a full-time preventive police force for NYC
-The American plan required that each ward in the city be a separate patrol district, unlike the European model, which divided the districts along the lines of criminal activity
-The mayor chose the recruits from a list of names submitted by the alderman and tax assessors of each ward; the mayor then submitted his choice to the city council for approval
Issues with the Police uniform
-The police officer would be visible
~Crime victims wanted to find a police officer in a hurry
~Would strip the officers of their anonymity
~Would hinder their work because criminals would recognize them and flee, and the uniform was demeaning and would destroy their sense of manliness and democracy
-Carrying of Arms
~At stake was the personal safety of the officers and the citizens they served
~Citizens viewed ab armed police force with considerable suspicion
*Eventually, there were no other options, and the police had to carry arms simply because there was no alternative, which significantly changed American policing and a major point of departure from the English model
-Use of Force
~Whether an offender was armed perpetuated the need for an officer to rely on physical prowess for survival on the streets
Bushwhackers
-Someone who lives far from urban ‘civilization’
~Criticized by Tammanyites
Tammanyites
-Corrupt NYC politicians
~Favored the political patronage system
~Claimed the Bushwhackers “could not find their way to a single station house.”
“Baton Charge”
-The use of the baton to put down riots
“Internal Affairs”
-The “shoofly,” a plainclothes officer who checked on the performance of the patrol officerrs
