CH 6-10 Questions Survey of Criminal Justice

What are the main requirements for becoming a police officer?

High school diploma, good physical condition, absence of a criminal record.

How has the profile of American police officers changed?

Better educated, more female and minority officers.

What type of training do police recruits need?

Preservice training, usually in a police academy.

Where does socialization to police work take place?

On the job.

The most important reason reported for becoming a police officer, regardless of officer sex or race, is blank…

the opportunity to help people

As the population and political power shift toward minorities in some American cities, the composition of their police forces reflects this change. True or false?

True

What are the two key elements of police work that define the officer’s working personality?

Danger, authority.

What are the four types of stress felt by the police?

External stress, organizational stress, personal stress, operational stress.

Sargent Owens, an experienced police officer, has a particular …, or set of emotional and behavioral characteristics developed by members of an occupational group in response to the work situation and environmental influences.

working personality

Officer Jenkins is experiencing high levels of …stress as a result of facing real threats and dangers nearly every day.

external

What is incident-driven policing?

Citizen expectation that the police will respond quickly to every call.

What is differential response?

Policy that prioritizes calls according to whether an immediate or delayed response is warranted.

What are the basic measures of police productivity?

Clearance rate—the percentage of crimes known to the police that they believe they have solved through an arrest—is the traditional productivity measure, now supplemented by such measurable activities as traffic tickets and stop-and-frisk searches.

The approach to policing that emphasizes a quick response to calls for service is called … policing.

incident-driven

The clearance rate—the percentage of crimes known to police that they believe they have solved through an arrest—is a basic measure of police performance. True or false?

True

What is the difference between line and staff functions?

Personnel assigned to line functions are directly involved in field operations; those assigned to staff functions supplement and support the line function.

What are the three parts of the patrol function?

(1) Answering calls for assistance, (2) maintaining a police presence, and (3) probing suspicious circumstances.

What is the job of the detective?

Detectives examine the crime scene, question witnesses and victims, and focus on gathering evidence to solve crimes.

What are the four steps of the apprehension process?

(1) Detection of crime, (2) preliminary investigation, (3) follow-up investigation, and (4) clearance and arrest.

What kinds of special operations units do police departments often employ?

Traffic, vice, narcotics, juvenile.

… functions are those that directly involve field operations such as patrol, investigation, traffic control, vice, and juvenile crimes.

line

Apprehension of a felony suspect starts with …

detection of the crime

Enforcement of vice laws depends on … police work, which often involves the use of undercover agents and informers.

proactive

What factors affect patrol assignments?

Crime rates, “problem neighborhoods,” degree of urbanization, pressures from business people and community groups, and socioeconomic conditions.

What did the Kansas City study show about preventive patrol?

Crime rates do not seem to be affected by changes in patrolling strategies, such as assigning more officers.

What is a hot spot?

A location that generates a high number of calls for police response.

What is directed patrol?

A proactive patrol strategy designed to direct resources to known high-crime areas.

What types of delays reduce response time?

Decision-making delays caused by ambiguity, coping activities, and conflicts.

What are the advantages of foot patrol? Of motorized patrol?

Officers on foot patrol have greater contact with residents of a neighborhood, thus gaining their confidence and assistance. Officers on motorized patrol have a greater range of activity and can respond speedily to calls.

How do one-person and two-person patrol units compare?

One-person patrols are more cost-efficient; two-person patrols are thought to be safer.

What is aggressive patrol?

A proactive strategy designed to maximize the number of police interventions and observations in a community.

What are the major elements of community policing?

Community policing emphasizes order maintenance and service. It attempts to involve members of the community in making their neighborhoods safe. Foot patrol and decentralization of command are usually part of community-policing efforts.

… patrol is a strategy designed to deploy resources specifically to high-crime areas.

Directed

What actions have been taken to combat counterfeit currency in the United States?

Redesign of U.S. currency; efforts to detect counterfeit currency from the level of individual cashiers at stores to international investigations leading to the seizure of large quantities of fake currency.

What harms are caused by counterfeit products in the United States?

Billions of dollars in losses for American businesses due to counterfeit and pirated products; deaths and other harmful health consequences from counterfeit medications.

What aspects of weaponry increase the risks to police officers and the public?

The availability of high-powered weapons and body armor permit some criminals to outgun the police and avoid being easily stopped by police weapons.

What kinds of new technologies are assisting police with their investigative functions?

Smartphones, tablets, and laptop computers in patrol cars connect to various databases; geographic information systems (GIS); and DNA testing.

What problems are associated with the use of new technologies?

Questions about the accuracy and reliability of the technology, inadequate resources to utilize technology fully, and ethics and competence of personnel.

What kinds of new weaponry have police employed?

Less-lethal weapons, including beanbag projectiles, Tasers, and pepperball projectiles.

One aspect of the availability of technology that presents grave concerns for police officials is the proliferation of body armor, which can easily and legally be purchased online, even by convicted felons.True or false?

False

In …, the Supreme Court ruled that law enforcement officials cannot use a thermal-imaging device to examine a home unless they obtain a warrant.

Kyllo v. United States

What have law enforcement officials done to enhance homeland security?

Planning and coordinating with other agencies, new equipment and training, and the development of the Incident Command System.

What are the criticisms directed at the USA Patriot Act?

Permits too much government authority for searches and wiretaps; defines domestic terrorism in ways that might include legitimate protest groups.

Martin is a data analyst who works at a(n) … center--a center run by his state that analyzes and facilitates sharing of information to assist law enforcement and homeland security agencies in preventing and responding to crime and terrorism threats.

fusion

The USA Patriot Act …

authorized warrantless searches of third-party records

What has caused the growth of security management and private policing?

Companies’ recognition of the need to protect assets and plan for emergencies; problems with employee theft, computer crime, and other issues that require active prevention and investigation.

What are the three models for private employment of police officers?

Department contract model, officer contract model, and union brokerage model.

In recent years, private-sector activities related to policing functions have…

become more complex and important

Police officers may work as … while off duty.

private security

What kinds of practices may be viewed as police abuse?

Profanity, abusive language, physical force, and violence.

When may the police use force?

The police may use force if necessary to make an arrest, to keep the peace, or to maintain public order.

What is the difference between grass eaters and meat eaters?

Grass eaters are officers who accept payoffs that police work brings their way. Meat eaters are officers who aggressively misuse their power for personal gain.

What are five of the ten practices cited by Stoddard as blue-coat crime?

Mooching, bribery, chiseling, extortion, shopping, shakedown, premeditated theft, favoritism, perjury, and prejudice.

Officer Allan is attending a training on the use of force. He learns that … is(are) considered the best way to resolve a situation.

officer presence

involves a police officer demanding discounts or free admission to places of entertainment, whether on duty or not.

Chiseling

What are the four methods used to increase the civic accountability of the police?

Internal affairs units, civilian review boards, standards and accreditation, and civil liability suits.

What is an internal affairs unit?

A unit within the police department designated to receive and investigate complaints alleging violation of rules and policies on the part of officers.

Why are civilian review boards relatively uncommon?

Opposition by the police.

What is the importance of the decision in Monell v. Department of Social Services of the City of New York?

Allows citizens to sue individual officers and the agency when an individual’s civil rights are violated by the agency’s customs and usages.

An internal affairs unit is a branch of a police department that receives and investigates complaints alleging violations of rules and policies on the part of officers. True or False?

True

Civilian review boards…

review how police departments handle citizen complaints

What is a search?

A government intrusion into an individual’s reasonable expectation of privacy.

What justification do police officers need to make a stop?

Reasonable suspicion of wrongdoing based on articulable facts.

What is the difference between an arrest and a stop?

An arrest requires probable cause and involves taking someone into custody for prosecution, whereas a stop is a brief deprivation of freedom of movement based on reasonable suspicion.

What do police officers need to demonstrate in order to obtain a warrant?

The existence of probable cause by the totality of circumstances in the case.

Officer Warren asserts that he has …, or reliable information indicating that evidence will likely be found in a specific location or that a specific person is likely to be guilty of a crime.

probable cause

The … is a flexible test established by the Supreme Court that allows a judge to make a generalized determination about whether evidence is both sufficient and reliable enough to justify a warrant.

totality of circumstances test

What is the plain view doctrine?

Officers can examine and use as evidence anything that is in open sight at a place where they are legally permitted to be.

May officers use senses other than sight to find evidence of crime without a warrant?

Officers may use their sense of smell, especially for distinctive odors such as that of marijuana, but the Supreme Court has limited the authority to feel and manipulate luggage and other objects.

Property owners have a reasonable expectation of privacy in open fields on and around their property. True of false

False

In …, the Supreme Court ruled that, when conducting a pat-down search of a subject, police may seize items in pockets or clothing as evidence if they are immediately identifiable by touch as weapons or contraband.

Minnesota v. Dickerson

In what situations do law enforcement’s special needs justify stopping an automobile without reasonable suspicion?

Warrantless stops of automobiles are permitted at sobriety checkpoints (unless barred within a specific state by its own supreme court), and international borders, or when there is reasonable suspicion of a traffic violation or other wrongdoing.

What knowledge must an officer possess in order to conduct a stop-and-frisk search on the streets?

A reasonable suspicion based on personal observation or information from a reliable informant that an individual is armed and involved in possible criminal activity.

Where can officers search when conducting a warrantless search incident to a lawful arrest?

Officers can search in the immediate area of the arrestee and do a protective sweep of rooms where the arrestee may have recently been.

What are exigent circumstances?

Urgent situations in which evidence may be destroyed, a suspect may escape, or the public would be endangered if officers took the time to seek a warrant for a search or arrest.

What two elements must be present for a valid consent to permit a warrantless search?

The person must do it voluntarily and must have the proper authority to consent.

What defines the scope of officers’ authority to search containers in automobiles?

Officers can search any container or closed portion of an automobile for which probable cause exists to justify the search.

According to Customs and Border Protection policy, a pat-down for merchandise including contraband hidden on a person’s body requires…

one articulable fact

Henry has just been lawfully arrested. Under …, a warrantless search for weapons and evidence in his immediate vicinity is permissible.

Chimel v. California

What are Miranda rights?

Before custodial interrogation, officers must inform suspects of the right to remain silent, the prosecution’s authority to use any of the suspect’s statements, the right to the presence of an attorney during questioning, and the right to have an attorney appointed if the suspect cannot afford one.

What is the public safety exception?

Officers can ask questions of suspects in custody without first providing Miranda warnings if public safety would be threatened by taking the time to supply the warnings.

How have police officers changed their practices in light of Miranda?

Officers ask questions before suspects are in custody, use techniques to pretend to befriend or empathize with suspects being questioned, and give suspects misinformation about the existence of evidence demonstrating guilt.

In …, the Supreme Court linked the Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination to the Sixth Amendment right to counsel.

Escobedo v. Illinois

In …, the Supreme Court ruled that an officer may direct questions to arrested subjects prior to reading the Miranda warning if concerns about public safety necessitate immediate questioning.

New York v. Quarles

Why was the exclusionary rule created and eventually applied to the states?

The exclusionary rule was created to deter officers from violating people’s rights, and the Supreme Court considers it an essential component of the Fourth and Fifth Amendments.

What are some of the criticisms of the exclusionary rule?

The rule is criticized as punishing the prosecutor and society rather than the police, imposing excessive costs on society, depriving the legal process of relevant evidence, and permitting some guilty people to go free.

What are the exceptions to the exclusionary rule?

A good faith exception in warrant situations and in reliance on erroneous police or court records; an inevitable discovery exception when evidence would have been discovered by the police anyway; and no application of exclusion in grand jury proceedings and other contexts that do not involve the proof of guilt in a criminal prosecution.

Under the exclusionary rule, illegally collected evidence must be excluded from trial. True of false?

True

Under …, improperly obtained statements may be used to impeach the credibility of defendants who take the witness stand and testify in their own trials.

Harris v. New York

Courts that review the decisions of lower courts are called

appellate courts

What is the dual court system?

Separate federal and state court systems handling cases in the United States.

What different categories of courts exist within each court system?

The federal system is made up of the Supreme Court of the United States, circuit courts of appeals, and district courts. State court systems are made up of an appellate court of last resort, intermediate courts of appeals, trial courts of general jurisdiction, and trial courts of limited jurisdiction.

What does it mean for courts to be decentralized?

Operated and controlled by local communities, not a statewide administration. Most state and county courts are decentralized.

What are the main goals of advocates of judicial reform?

To create a unified court system with consolidated and simplified structures, having centralized management, full funding by the state, and a central personnel system.

The unified structure of state courts can be a barrier to justice. True of false?

False

What is the image of the judge in the public’s eye?

That judges carefully and deliberately weigh the issues in a case before making a decision. Judges embody justice and dispense it impartially.

Why might it be important for judges to represent different segments of society?

So that all segments of society will view the decisions as legitimate and fair.

What are judges’ main functions?

Adjudicator, negotiator, administrator.

Why do political parties often prefer that judges be elected?

To secure the support of attorneys who aspire to become judges and to ensure that courthouse positions are allocated to party workers.

What are the steps in the merit-selection process?

When a vacancy occurs, a nominating commission is appointed that sends the governor the names of approved candidates. The governor must fill the vacancy from this list. After a short term, a referendum is held to ask the voters whether the judge should be retained.