CRJS 2601 - Police & Criminal Justice Vocabulary

Vocabulary practice cards covering chapters 1 through 15 based on lecture review material.

Discretion

An officer's personal judgment about how to handle a situation.

Police accountability

The principle that officers are responsible for their actions, with transparency helping citizens see police policies and decisions.

Organizational transparency

The state in which police operations, policies, and decisions are visible to citizens.

Impossible mandate

The expectation that police will control crime even though they cannot control most factors that cause crime.

Overpolicing

The perception of too much police presence or police action in a community.

Underpolicing

The perception of too little police presence or police action in a community.

Ethics

Rules of behavior influenced by ideas of right and wrong.

Morality

Personal or internal beliefs about right and wrong.

Dirty means

Unethical or illegal methods used to accomplish a policing goal.

Constables

The first appointed law-enforcement officers in colonial America.

Watch

Men responsible for guarding towns, especially at night, during the colonial era.

Sheriff

An official traditionally responsible for law and order in less-populated areas who could summon a posse.

Political Era

An era of American policing heavily influenced by politics.

Reform Era

An era focused on removing police from political control and making departments more professional and efficient.

Community problem-solving era

An era of policing that emphasizes community assistance and support in fighting crime.

Coproduction

Police and the community working together to prevent crime.

Bureaucracy

An organization with departments and divisions operating through rules and regulations.

Specialization

Focusing employees on particular responsibilities to develop expertise and efficiency.

Chain of command

Organizational structure where every person has a supervisor, and authority flows through the organization.

Street-level bureaucracy

A public agency where workers have substantial discretion while directly dealing with citizens.

Police monopoly

The condition in which the police department with jurisdiction is generally the only police agency available to citizens in that community.

Gatekeepers

The role of police in determining who enters the criminal justice system and who stays out.

De-policing

A phenomenon where police withdraw from active police work and avoid interactions with citizens.

Compensatory process

A selection process where a high score in one area can make up for a low score in another.

Noncompensatory process

A selection process where a low score in any area can disqualify an applicant.

Field training

A stage of police training where a probationary officer works alongside a Field Training Officer (FTO).

De-escalation training

Training that teaches officers ways to resolve potentially violent situations without using force.

Call priority

System where more serious calls receive faster responses and more resources.

Differential Police Response (DPR)

Responding to calls without immediately sending an officer to the scene.

Kansas City Preventive Patrol Experiment

A study demonstrating that increasing or decreasing routine preventive patrol did not affect crime, fear of crime, community attitudes, response time, or traffic accidents.

Hot spot policing

Concentrating police resources in small areas where crime is concentrated.

Crackdown

Temporarily increasing police resources and enforcement to deter illegal behavior.

Terry stop

A brief police detention based on reasonable suspicion of criminal activity.

Offender-focused policing

Using intelligence to identify frequent offenders and focus enforcement on them.

Reactive investigation

An investigation conducted by police after a crime occurs.

Cold case

A serious unsolved crime reopened because of new evidence or witnesses.

Sting

An undercover operation where an officer poses as someone buying or selling illegal goods.

Decoy operation

An undercover operation where an officer creates an opportunity for someone to commit a crime.

Entrapment

Occurs when police induce someone to commit a crime they otherwise would not have committed.

Direct evidence

Evidence that immediately demonstrates a fact.

Indirect evidence

Evidence that requires inference or probability to reach a conclusion.

Chain of custody

A record showing who controlled evidence from collection through court.

Low-visibility situation

A situation where few people can see what decision an officer is making.

Fourth Amendment

Constitutional protection against unreasonable searches and seizures.

Exclusionary rule

Legal rule stating that illegally obtained evidence may be excluded from court.

Stress

A physiological and/or psychological demand that produces a physiological or psychological response.

Burnout

A prolonged response to chronic and interpersonal workplace stressors.

Circadian rhythm

A natural biological rhythm regulating sleep, alertness, and other biological processes.

Reasonable force

The minimum amount of force necessary to overcome resistance.

Continuum of force

A guideline stating that officers should use only as much force as necessary to overcome the threat or resistance.

Unnecessary force

Force that violates the continuum because of training errors or good-faith mistakes.

Brutality

The consciously or purposefully cruel or harsh use of force.

Deadly force

Force used when a person poses a significant threat of death or serious injury.

Early Intervention System (EIS)

A system that tracks officer behavior to identify potentially problematic patterns early.

Police corruption

Illegal behavior using police authority for personal gain.

Bribery

Accepting money, services, or goods in exchange for consideration.

Extortion

Using threats to obtain something, usually money.

Noble cause corruption

Illegally or unethically acting because the officer believes the action will achieve a greater good.

Code of silence

An unwritten rule that officers should not report fellow officers' misconduct.

Bad apple theory

The theory that a small number of problematic officers can influence others and create a larger problem.