Timeline Flashcards
Prior to 1960, what role did police officers have?
-They were primarily keepers of the peace
-Mediators of problems
-Reactive to problems
Why did the style of policing prior to 1960 work well?
-Lack of crime
-Society was not as complicated as today
1954
Civil Rights Movement Begins
1963
Children’s March, Birmingham, AL
1964-1968
Period of Major Demonstrations and Rioting
1971
War of Drugs Begins in Law Enforcement & LAPD creates SWAT team
1984
Crack Cocaine LA
1990
National Defense Act
Late 1990’s
Police departments begin using zero tolerance policing
1993
1st World Trade Center Bombing
1995
Oklahoma City Bombing
1997
National Defense Act Expanded - 1033 Program
1999
Columbine
2001
9/11
2007
Virginia Tech Shooting
Police and Civil Rights Movement
-1954
Police responds contributed to hostility
-Police operations were poorly planned and used aggressive tactics
-Police were used as instruments of power
Birmingham Children’s Crusade
1963
-Hundreds of children participated in a march against segregation
-Commissioner used police dog and fire hoses to break up protest
-Hundreds of children were injured and arrested
-One of the 1st times police excessive force was mainstreamed
1965 Selma to Montgomery March
- march from Selma, Alabama, to Montgomery, Alabama, to demand an end to discrimination in voter registration
- state and local police attacked the marchers with batons and tear gas, driving them back to Selma
-Televised images of the police attack presented Americans and international audiences with horrifying images of marchers left bloodied and severely injured
1968 Democratic Convention
-August 1968, over 10,000 demonstrators from around the country travelled to Chicago to assemble at the 1968 Democratic Convention
How did the role of policing begin to reshape during the Civil Rights Era?
-Police departments begin training and heavily depends on military influences
-New equipment: riot helmets and shields, tear gas
-New units are formed: riot squads & tactical teams
-National movement to increase diversity
How did heroin increase violent crime rates?
-Soldier deploed overseas came home with an opioid based addiction to morphine, but could not access it so they turned to heroin
-Semi-conscious state
-Quick addiction
Describe cocaine
-Suburban party drug
-Lasted hours, extra energy
-Thought of as not as addictive
-Comes from a leave and is grounded into powder and cut down to 40% and the rest would be an additive
Describe Crack
-Modified cocaine
-Powder is boiled and turns into 100% cocaine
-High lasts only for 10-20 minutes
-Increased in addictiveness
-Located in more urban areas and penalties were higher
Policing During War On Drugs
-Arrests for drug violations increased
-No distinction of user, seller, or supplier
-Techniques become more sophisticated: surveillance, undercover, informants, wiretaps
-Tactial drug raids
-Military equipment become available to law enforcement
Impact of War On Drugs
-Increase in mass incarceration
-Relationship between police and communities become more strained
National Defense Authorization Act of 1990
-Authorized the transfer of surplus military equipment to law enforcement agencies
-Ammunition, assault rifles, grenade launchers, helicopters, armored vehicles
-No accountability on how the equipment was used
Broken Windows Theory
If a small disorder physical problem is not addressed (like a broken window), it will lead (invite) to greater incidents of crime and violence.
Zero Tolerance
-In 1990 NYPD begins using a strict enforcement (zero tolerance) strategy to address violent crime
-Used a modified theory of Broken Windows focusing on people. Police officers enforced disorder related crimes, to prevent larger issues of crime
-At the national level, these strict enforcement strategies disproportionately impact minority communities…with higher rates of stops, citations and arrest of African American males
-Furrher strained relationship between police officers and minority communities
1993 Bombing of the World Trade Center
-February 26, 1993
-Killed 6 people and injured 1000+
-The 1,200-pound bomb was in a Ryder truck parked in a parking garage beneath the World Trade Center
-The explosion created a hole 200 feet by 100 feet, several stories deep
Oklahoma City Bombing
-April 15, 1995
-A rental truck packed with explosives detonated in front of the nine-story Federal building
-168 people killed (19 young children)
-680 injured
