LAW ENFORCEMENT Final

What are common features of the police subculture?

• More than just a job

• Masculine/Tough guy

• Causes stress

• Solidarity/Secrecy

• Varies by agency

( sets in during academy)

(Artifacts are visible form of police subculture) (sounds, language, behavior).

What factors contribute to the police subculture?

• Danger

• Authority

• Performance

What are elements of the “police personality”?

• Cynicism

• Need to be in control

• Solidarity

• Aggression

• Separation from citizens

Role Demands

• Inconsistent expectations can create role conflict

• Society’s expectations of police can conflict with police principles and beliefs

• Role ambiguity is confusion based on expectations of others.

Personal Pitfalls: Cynicism

• Loss of faith in people, pride, and integrity

• Officers may develop cynical attitudes

• Cynicism may involve different issues depending on subculture

• Stress can lead to cynicism, burnout, ailments.

• High levels of stress can lead to deviance.

• Stress is most common occupational hazard.

• Compassion fatigue is the desire to help traumatized victims

Personal Pitfalls: Burnout

• Characterized by emotional exhaustion, cynicism.

• View victims as case numbers and have little empathy.

• Police may experience higher burnout rates

• Burnout can lead to alcohol or drug use, or suicide

What are common strategies for police departments to promote officer mental health and wellness?

• Employee Assistance Programs

• Teaching coping mechanisms

• Emphasizing physical conditioning

• Orientation programs

1st Amendment and how does it apply to police

• freedom of speech, religion, assembly

  • If protesters become violent police must step in

4th Amendment and how does it apply to police

• prohibits unreasonable searches and seizures.

  • A search occurs when expectation of privacy is infringed

5th Amendment and how does it apply to police

• protects people from self-incrimination

  • When you arrest and interrogate someone for a crime

14th Amendment and how does it apply to police

• ensures that state and local governments uphold due process and equal protection

  • Due Process Clause ensures fair treatment in arrests, investigations, and trials

search warrants and exceptions to warrante requirements

• Consent

• Automobiles

• Plain View

• Exigent Circumstances

• Search Incident to Lawful Arrest

(Special Need and Inventory)

Exclusionary rule, what it means, and its exceptions

• Any evidence obtained by violating rights must be excluded

  • Good-faith doctrine

  • Inevitable discovery doctrine

  • Independent source doctrine.

What are elements of a Terry stop (aka stop, question, and frisk)

• Reasonable suspicion

• Totality of the circumstances

• Officer must justify

• Brief

What are the elements of search warrants?

• Probable Cause

• Specific (location and what looking for?)

• Affidavit

• No Knock Optional

• Expectation of privacy

What are the elements surrounding the use of Miranda?

• Custody

• Interrogation

• Voluntary/no coercion

• Public safety exception

What are issues involved with Qualified Immunity?

• Shields from Civil liability

• “Clearly established law”

• Allows police to take risk

• Not just police

• Controversial

What are issues are involved with numbers based policing?

• Send wrong message

• Strain community relations

• Pressure officers toward misconduct

• Cause stress

• Illegal quotas

What are issues involved with police discretion?

• Individual decision making

• Interpret law

• Common sense

• Wide-variation

• Subject for reform (i.e. racial bias)

What terms are most associated with corruption?

• Meat eaters and grass eaters

• Nonfeasance Racial profiling

• Nobel cause

• Misfeasance/Malfeasance

Kickback

practice of obtaining goods, services, or money for business referrals by police officers

Shakedown

officers taking money or other valuables and personal services from offenders

Gratuities

gifts or favors given to officers

Bribery

gives or takes money or favors to influence decisions

Opportunistic theft

steal money or other valuables

Protection of illegal activities

police officers taking money or other valuables in exchange for their protection of criminal activities

Excessive force– how prevalent is it? Racial characteristics associated with?

• police brutality

  • Black Americans face police threats and physical force more often than other groups

What are some reasons why management may be reluctant to address misconduct and corruption?

• Getting fired

• Negative press

• Liability

• Outside examination

• Political pressure

What are some ways to address misconduct and corruption?

• No tolerance message

• Field associates

• Cooperating guilty officers

• Rotating personnel

• Shifting demographics

Management and Administrative Issues

• Reluctance to discipline only strengthens subculture.

• More serious types of corruption also lead to less serious types

• Fear of unpleasant publicity.

• Difficulty of enforcing laws against police themselves

• Lack of commitment by leadership in dealing with corruption common in problem agencies

• Fear among chiefs of losing their job.

• Incentive structures within agencies can increase corruption.

Whistleblowing

• Belief that identification of corruption can bring about retaliation.

• Retaliation against whistleblowers is prevalent.

• A policy of accountability can lead to improvement.

Addressing Misconduct

• Eliminating misconduct requires no-tolerance message.

• New York City strategy changes in 1994.

• Field associates are trained to obtain information on misconduct.

• Management will sometimes use officers who have been caught to gain information

• Rotating personnel can disrupt misconduct.

• Using only punitive measures is not useful.

• Creating an anticorruption attitude and increasing pay.

• Internal affairs units and external review boards.

• Police culture can be altered by changing demographics.

Accountability

• Council on Criminal Justice Task Force on Policing found:

• Early Intervention Systems may be effective in reducing misconduct.

• Statistical prediction models can identify officers at risk of corruption.

• Interventions should be tailored to individuals.

• Reviewing body camera footage with officers can reduce incidents.

Stanford Prison Experiment

• College experiment half where “police” other half where “prisoners”

• “police” where power hungry and become abusive with their power

Issues with measuring corruption

• hard to track actual crimes

• leads to corruption

• leads to faulty arrests

Relationship with minorities

• tense relationship

• no/low trust

Advantages/Disadvantages of civilian oversight of police

Advantages

• increases accountability

• improves public trust

• transparency

• fair investigations

Disadvantages

• limited authority

• bias

• resource constraints

• resistance from police

Rationalizing misconduct

• making excuses to avoid guilt or punishment

  • blaming others

  • comparing worse behavior

  • claiming necessity

Occupational discrimination

someone is treated unfairly at work because of their race, gender, age, disability, or religion

Legal cynicism

law and the agents of its enforcement are viewed as illegitimate, unresponsive, and ill equipped to ensure public safety

Tokenism

agencies hire a few minority officers to seem diverse but don’t make real changes

Strategies to improve police/community relations

• Community Policing

• Bias training

• Youth engagement

• Transparency

Protective coloration

Black police officers can often gather information that would be extremely difficult for white officers to gather

Policing immigrant communities

• fear of law enforcement

• language barriers

• cultural differences

Psychological harassment

Harassment based on the use of racial slurs and other attempts to embarrass or humiliate members of the minority group