UNIT #3 - POLICING 21st CENTURY

Question 1

consider the Murphy (2006) article and identify current practices in policing that are as a direct result of 9/11
(3)
- Increase in police powers
- Community surveillance
- Cost of policing
- Partnership of Community Policing and Homeland Security

Answer 1

(1) Securitizing Canada
(2) Re-Investing in Policing and Security
(3) Expanding Police Powers for National Security

Question 2

Securitizing Canada (Murphy 2006 article)
(4)

Answer 2

(1) This is the idea that security is an outcome of political and social will.
(2) Essentially it is the process whereby governments and the media present national security threats in a dramatic fashion and persuade the public to demand more security from the government.
(3) In turn the government can legitimize and rationalize conventions and norms in the name of preserving political values and modern ideals.
(4) Additionally the government can (attempt to) appease the public and subsequently aide in justifying the ‘cost’ of policing.

Question 3

Re-Investing in Policing and Security

(4)

Answer 3

(1) Prior to 9/11 the cost of policing to the public was becoming a topic of concern.
(2) Statistics Canada 2006 reported an unprecedented reduction in numbers of police and the ratio of police officers per capita from 1992-2000.
(3) The extraordinary events of 9/11 serve to remind us that the government is exclusively responsible for providing national security and thereby rejuvenated the funding and expansion of government resources such as policing.
(4) Nevertheless, large scale, dramatic terror events require an evaluation of current methods of prevention and typically lead to some sort of expansion of governmental and police powers.

Question 4

Expanding Police Powers for National Security

(3)

Answer 4

(1) Murphy describes this as the broadening of the police mandate and a necessary response to the security threat posed by external and domestic terrorism.
(2) He argues that Canada had no overt examples of inadequate police powers, but the federal government (at the time) successfully argued that new police powers were a necessary “better safe than sorry” approach.
(3) Murphy rightly points out that in any other sociopolitical environment these changes would have been regarded as a dangerous assault on Canadian civil liberties.

Question 5

Securitizing Community Policing (5)

Answer 5

1) community policing and the subsequent problem oriented policing have dominated the policing landscape for nearly 20 years.
2) There was significant emphasis on community partnerships and relationship building.
3) 9/11 and several significant ‘terror’ events since then have, in some ways, transformed some communities into security problems.
4) ‘home grown terrorists’ and the lack of reliable community information make security problems within some ethnic communities a legitimate space for increased surveillance - “the enemy within” as it is referred to.
5) the ‘securitization’ of suspect groups provides powerful rationale for using community policing as a security strategy.

Question 6

Griffiths outlines how crime prevention initiatives can be categorized in three ways:

Answer 6

1) Primary prevention programs –
2) Secondary prevention programs
3) Tertiary prevention programs

Question 7

Primary prevention programs

Answer 7

this is the most common prevention type and is designed to alter the conditions that provide opportunities for crime

Question 8

Secondary prevention programs

Answer 8

these focus on areas that produce crime and social disorder and can be thought of as high risk offenders or high crime areas

Question 9

Tertiary prevention programs

Answer 9

these focus on adults and youth who have committed crimes and attempt to create programs that will deter or prevent them from offending again

Question 10

Approaches and Strategies outlined by Griffiths (3)

Answer 10

1) Zero-Tolerance and Quality of Life strategies (proactive policing)
2) quality of life
3) Crime Attack Strategies

Question 11

Zero-Tolerance and Quality of Life strategies (proactive policing)

Answer 11

Refers to the practice of an order-maintenance approach in specific areas along with high police visibility and presences with the goal of preventing crime from occurring in the first place.

Question 12

quality of life strategies

Answer 12

target social disruptions that are described as “annoying”, e.g. panhandling, loitering and public drug use, and seeks to disrupt it with police presence and thereby increasing the “quality of life” for others.

Question 13

What is the Broken Window theory? (2)

Answer 13

1) The strategy began in the 80s in New York.
2) According to this approach leaving a broken window in a neighborhood would cause the quality of life to deteriorate and increase in criminal activity.

Question 14

Crime Attack Strategies (2)

Answer 14

1) are intended to be ‘proactive’ and they target and apprehend individuals that are considered to be “high risk to reoffend individuals”.
2) Typically these strategies include increased patrol, visibility, proactive patrols and rapid response.

Question 15

What are some examples of crime attack strategies (4)

Answer 15

1) Tactical-Directed Patrol
2) Targeted High-Risk Offenders
3) Targeted Types of Crimes
4) Community Notification

Question 16

Tactical-Directed Patrol

Answer 16

involves identifying hot spots and saturating the area with police

Question 17

Targeted High-Risk Offenders (2)

Answer 17

1) These initiatives focus on intense monitoring of offenders;
2) most often repeat offenders and include programs like HERO (High Enforcement Repeat Offenders) or ROPE (Repeat Offender Program Enforcement)

Question 18

Targeted Types of Crimes

Answer 18

this involves developing strategies to address specific types of crime and often includes the use of “bait cars”.

Question 19

Community Notification (2)

Answer 19

1) use the media/social media to inform the public of a potential issue or danger, e.g. offenders on the loose.
2) It should be noted that research has indicated that community notification systems do not increase public safety.

Question 20

Restorative Justice (2)

Answer 20

1) views crime as holistic, not just the offender but the victim and the community as a whole suffer the consequences of criminal behavior.
2) The focus then is on bringing offender and community together to repair and prevent future criminal activity.

Question 21

Zero Tolerance (4)

Answer 21

1) High police visibility
2) High enforcement even on minor infractions
3) Focus on social disorder
4) Goal to reduce serious crime

Question 22

Quality of Life (4)

Answer 22

1) Improve area conditions
2) Target annoyances: panhandling, loitering, etc…
3) High police visibility
4) Goal of increasing public security and police legitimacy

Question 23

Broken Window (4)

Answer 23

1) Reduce neighborhood deterioration
2) Replace/fix/clean up neighborhood damage quickly
3) Rapid deployment/relentless follow-up
4) Goal of strict order and maintenance, reduce levels of fear

Question 24

Griffiths outlines four specific challenges faced when planning and implementing crime prevention programs that examine the non-financial costs:

Answer 24

1) Poor planning – the implementation of a program with little to no analysis and lack of clearly stated objectives, or measurable performance indicators. Often there is also the lack of consideration of ‘best-practices’ and previous ‘lessons learned’.
2) Poor implementation – a key feature here is the lack of consideration of where crime prevention should be implemented and who would be best served by which programs.
3) Lack of police support – services vary in the extent to which they integrate prevention into allocation of resources. In some cases prevention is peripheral and in others it is a core activity.
4) Lack of community support – often this is a result of community apathy or distrust of police. The distrust component can be readily evidenced in current arguments around carding and police presences in certain communities.

Question 25

What is suggested by research studies on crime attack strategies?

Answer 25

The number of police officers does not significantly reduce the levels of serious violent crime

Question 26

What type of crime prevention programs identify opportunities for criminal offences and alter these conditions in order to reduce the likelihood of crimes being committed?

Answer 26

Secondary crime prevention programs

Question 27

Which of the following “operational” police activities did Murphy characterize as aggressive information gathering as a basis for selective police action?

Answer 27

Intelligence led policing

Question 28

Murphy discussed _______________ as bringing together federal, regional, municipal and private agencies and sharing information. This practice reinforces and facilitates the blurring of public and security policing as they become one within the same security network.

Answer 28

integrated policing

Question 29

pluralization of policing (2)

Answer 29

1) was defined as ‘the expansion of policing beyond the public police to include para-police and private security’
2) The increasing costs associated with policing is one variable precipitating the move toward pluralization.

Question 30

McKenna (2014) has noted that what is contributing to increasing diversification of approaches and delivery of police services?

Answer 30

increasing external social, political and economic pressures

Question 31

Tiered Police Service Delivery (2)

Answer 31

1) the exploration of more ‘cost-effective’ delivery methods
2) the focus of which is: - the deployment of different types of police personnel to perform some police functions

Question 32

Tiered Policing Personnel

Answer 32

A variety of personnel (sworn/civilian; public/private) to deliver services and compliment a variety of policing functions.

Question 33

What are some examples of Tiered Policing Personnel? (6)

Answer 33

Sworn officers
Police personnel with limited powers
Civilian employees
Special constables
Private security
Community groups and civilian volunteers

Question 34

hard technologies (6)

Answer 34

1) Tracking devices to monitor movement of sex offenders
2) Threat assessment and risk of recidivism tools (SONAR, SVR-20, RRASOR, etc)
3) GIS mapping to identify hot spots and crime trends
4) Data base management of offenders
5) Linkage analysis software
6) Drones/other aerial surveillance vehicles

Question 35

soft technologies that include the human element and information sharing

Answer 35

1) Police analytics (data generated from service calls)
2) Big data or meta data that provides an unprecedented amount of information from a variety of sources
3) Data Analysts
4) Crime Analysts
5) Fusion centers

Question 36

issues regarding police databases (6)

Answer 36

1) A move away from community-based strategic policing
2) Return to crime and control orientation
3) Disconnect between analyses and police operations
4) Volume and usefulness of data kept
5) Implications of data gathered and retained
6) Determining who will collate and disseminate the information including when, where, how and to whom

Question 37

The tiered approach as discussed by McKenna

Answer 37

identifies that, in some areas, it is more effective to utilize civilian/support staff to assist police.

Question 38

Crime analysis

Answer 38

refers to the systemic approach to the prevention and response to crime that is designed to assist police services with the deployment and tracking of resources.

Question 39

role of the crime analyst (5)

Answer 39

1) Tactical analysis – the when, where and how of crime
2) Strategic analysis – identifies crime patterns and trends
3) Administrative analysis – collection and caparison of administrative figures
4) Investigative (Intelligence) analysis - profiles subjects, victims or locations vulnerable to repeat offending or victimization
5) Operations analysis – analysis of the utilization of resources, patrol deployment, tracking of specialty units, etc.

Question 40

predictive policing

Answer 40

1) using statistical analysis to identify time and location of criminal activity.
2) Analysts then create crime maps aided by geographical information systems (GIS) to plot, hotspots, trends and locations of crime.

Question 41

geographical information systems (GIS)

Answer 41

Analysts then create crime maps aided by geographical information systems (GIS) to plot, hotspots, trends and locations of crime.

Question 42

Challenges to Intelligence led policing (6)

Answer 42

1) Increased demands on uniform units
2) Morale problems with the creation of new internal units or jobs
3) Problems with implementation and adherence to service standards
4) No noticeable reduction of police costs
5) Lack of substantive evaluation
6) Inaccessibility of researchers to measure outcomes

Question 43

CompStat

Answer 43

Derived from “computer statistics” was intended to increase the effectiveness and efficiency of police services while still holding police personnel and the service accountable for achieving crime reduction.

Question 44

four general principles of CompStat

Answer 44

1) Timely and accurate intelligence
2) Effective tactics
3) Rapid deployment
4) Relentless follow-up and assessment

Question 45

Complaints of the CompStat model (5)

Answer 45

1) What resulted was a general model that does not include measures of a variety of strategies within the community policing model
2) Disconnect between management and front line
3) Pressure to reduce crime levels (statistical adjustments)
4) Manipulation of crime stats
5) Humiliation, degradation and embarrassment at CompStat meetings

Question 46

A key feature of problem oriented policing

Answer 46

CompStat

Question 47

evidenced-based (3)

Answer 47

(1) used when discussing how services can provide examples of the crime reducing effectiveness and fiscal sustainability of the various crime fighting initiatives.
(2) An ongoing challenge for police services is the ability to ensure that actual police work is well informed by the findings of evaluative research.
(3) the effectiveness of many police programs are inconclusive due to the lack of rigorous testing and research.

Question 48

The challenges to developing evidence based practices are significant and include: (4)

Answer 48

1. resistance of policy makers to new strategies
2. political concerns findings may compromise agendas
3. costs
4. fear of the unknown

Question 49

‘best practices’ (4)

Answer 49

1) This is the reference to organization, administrative and operation strategies that are effective in preventing and responding to crime.
2) Historically, police services have lacked the capacity to incorporate best practices into their operations.
3) Even policies and programs that have proven to be ineffective, e.g. DARE and (Simon Fraser –Project DARE) are often continued purely because they are ‘known’.
4) Traditional “that’s the way we’ve always done it” practice is still prevalent in many police services.

Question 50

smart policing (2)

Answer 50

1) often used to describe the efforts services give to ‘do more with less’ and to reform traditional practices.
2) Smart policing looks to implement best practices with an evidenced based approach while maximizing resources and increasing the effectiveness and efficiency of police policies and operations.

Question 51

Smart policing looks to implement best practices with an evidenced based approach while maximizing resources and increasing the effectiveness and efficiency of police policies and operations.
Key to these reforms is: (3)

Answer 51

1. effective leadership
2. a move away from traditional practices
3. breaking the resistance to change

Question 52

Evidence-based policing (3)

Answer 52

1) Is a method of making decisions about “what works”: which practices and strategies accomplish police missions most cost-effectively.
(2) In contrast to basing decisions on theory, assumptions, tradition, or convention, an evidence-based approach continuously tests hypotheses with empirical research findings.
(3) The practice employs the tasks of Targeting, Testing and Tracking (Three T’s).

Question 53

Evidence-based policing practice employs the tasks of (Three T’s)

Answer 53

Targeting, Testing and Tracking

Question 54

Evidence-based targeting

Answer 54

Requires systematic ranking and comparison of levels of harm associated with places, times, and people, that policing can lawfully address.

Question 55

Evidence-based testing

Answer 55

helps assure that police neither increase crime nor waste money.

Question 56

Evidence-based tracking

Answer 56

Shows whether police are doing what should be done, such as the use of GPS records of where police go, and body-worn video records of what happens in encounters with citizens.

Question 57

Sherman (2013) lays out key components to the three T’s of evidenced based practices which include: (4)

Answer 57

(1) Social trends and institutions that have helped shape research and attempt to improve policing
(2) Confusion and hold back stall progression
(3) Use of new technologies to improve quality of evidence
(4) More evidence can increase police legitimacy

Question 58

State of Canadian Police Research (3)

Answer 58

(1) One reoccurring theme is the lack of evidence to support the effectiveness of many police initiatives.
(2) Compounding this issue is the lack of Canadian, ‘university-based’ rigorous academic research.
(3) The current state of research has been described by some, during the Summit on the Economics of Policing (2015), as; disjointed, incoherent, fragmented and inconsistent

Question 59

major contributors to the problem of the current state of Canadian research are: (3)

Answer 59

lack of funding,
lack of collaboration and
little dissemination of research findings

Question 60

The lack of accessible and useful research findings affects decision makers which then impacts police models and front line officers. For example, lack of research means there is little knowledge base for: (4)

Answer 60

Police Services Boards
Municipal Councillors
Government policymakers
Organizational deployment

Question 61

Along with lack of funding, there is also a noticeable lack of: (4)

Answer 61

1) collaborative partnerships with universities and academics that would increase access to expertise in the field of policing
2) a national strategic plan to coordinate research
3) limited action within key stakeholders
4) little communication between academics and police leaders/stakeholders

Question 62

What is the result of a lack of accessible and useful research findings in Canadian policing?

Answer 62

The result is the increased likelihood that funding and decision making for police will not be informed by research literature and best practices, but by political expediency.

Question 63

sponsors some Policing and Community Safety Research

Answer 63

Public safety Canada