Historical Development of Law Enforcement (copy)

Flashcards covering key terms and concepts in the historical development and structure of law enforcement.

Sheriff

The chief executive officer of the Crown in a county, having various administrative and judicial functions.

Constable

An officer who enforces the law, carries out legal duties, serves warrants, transports prisoners, and provides security for judges.

Watchman

A type of law enforcement in England that maintained order and provided public safety before professional policing.

Shire Reeve

A local official in medieval England responsible for law enforcement and tax collection, later became known as sheriff.

Bow Street Runners

The first professional police force in London, active from 1749 to 1839, established by Henry Fielding.

London Metropolitan Police

The territorial police force responsible for law enforcement in Greater London, also known as the Metropolitan Police.

Sir Robert Peele

Regarded as the father of modern policing; focused on crime prevention and organizational structure. London Metropolitan Act

August Vollmer

Recognized as the father of American police professionalism and advocated for higher education among police officers.

Political Era of Policing

The period from 1830s-1900s characterized by patronage and no job security for police officers.

Wickersham Commission

A commission created by President Hoover to study the criminal justice system and recommend improvements.

Kansas City Preventive Patrol Experiment

A study which found that varying levels of police patrol did not affect crime rates but did affect public perception of crime

Miranda Rights

Guidelines established requiring police to inform suspects of their rights when questioning them.

Probable Cause

The legal standard allowing police to search, seize, or arrest based on reasonable belief a crime has been committed.

Exclusionary Rule

A legal principle preventing the use of evidence obtained in violation of a defendant’s constitutional rights.

UCR (Uniform Crime Reporting)

A program that compiles official crime statistics reported to law enforcement agencies.

Part I Offenses

Serious crimes tracked by the FBI, including violent and property crimes. Murder/nonnegligent manslaughter, forcible rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, larceny theft, motor vehicle theft, arson

Comes Stabuli

a Latin phrase that means “officer in charge of the stable”; the title of high-ranking official in the Roman and Byzantine Empires and also used by the Franks and in medieval European monarchies

Henry Fielding

appointed as Magistrate of London and organized the Bow Street Runners

O.W. Wilson

father of the Law Enforcement Code of Ethics; began America’s first police-college cadet program; pioneered state-sponsored training courses and minimum standards for police personnel; initiated psychological testing for police officers; founded the country’s first professional school of criminology; authored the most widely circulated police administration textbook in history served as Superintendent of the Chicago Police Department, chief of police in Fullerton, California, and Wichita, Kansas

Police reforms of the 60’s and 70’s

Miranda warnings were established (Miranda v. Arizona), prohibited the use of evidence obtained in violation of the 4^th amendment (Mapp v. Ohio), increased foot patrols, community policing, de-escalation training, improved legal training, increased accountability, increased diversity, improved professionalism (raised recruitment standards and established procedures for investigation officers)

Law Enforcement Assistance Administration (LEAA)

a federal agency that provided grants to state and local governments to help reduce crime; established in 1968 by the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act

National Advisory Commission on Criminal Justice Standards and Goals

appointed in 1971 by the Administrator of Law Enforcement Assistance Administration and supported by grants from LEAA, to formulate national criminal justice standards and goals for crime reduction and prevention at the State and local levels

Minneapolis Domestic Violence Experiment

found that arrest was more successful in reducing recidivism than police counseling of the parties or barring the assailant from the home for eight hours

Oklahoma City Bombing

a domestic terrorist truck bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma on April 19^th, 1995; performed by Timothy James McVeigh and Terry Nichols

Chicago Alternative Policing Strategy

a community-oriented policing strategy that aims to reduce crime in Chicago through collaboration between the police, residents, and other city agencies

Levels of Policing

federal, state, and local

FBI

Federal Bureau of Investigation; a division of the United States government that investigates and enforces the federal law; their mission is to protect the country from threats like terrorism, cybercrime, and public corruption

DEA

Drug Enforcement Administration; enforces the controlled substances laws and regulations of the United States and bring to the criminal and civil justice system, those organizations and principal members of organizations, involved in the growing, manufacture, or distribution of controlled substances appearing in or destined for illicit traffic in the United States

Secret Service

a federal law enforcement agency under the Department of Homeland Security tasked with conducting criminal investigations and providing protection to U.S. political leaders, their families, and visiting heads of state or government

U.S. Marshall

a federal law enforcement agency in the United States; serves as the enforcement and security arm of the U.S. federal judiciary; operated under the direction of the U.S. Attorney General

ATF

Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives; protects our communities from violent criminals, criminal organizations, the illegal use and trafficking of firearms, the illegal use and storage of explosives, acts of arson and bombings, acts of terrorism, and the illegal diversion of alcohol and tobacco products

ICE

the federal law enforcement agency under the U.S. Department of Homeland Security; stated mission is to protect the United States from cross-border crime and undocumented immigration that threaten national security and public safety

Restructuring of Homeland Security

created the Office of the Counterterrorism Coordinator to improve coordination and information sharing between components of the DHS that respond to terrorism threats; created to promote best practices among the DHS’s many law enforcement agencies; restructures the Office of Intelligence and Analysis to share information with partners and to focus on domestic threats; issues immigration enforcement guidelines in 2021 to facilitate the removal of individuals who pose a risk to national security, public safety, or border security

SARA

(Scanning, Analysis, Response, and Assessment) a problem-solving framework used by law enforcement agencies to address community issues

Centralized Models

a state law enforcement agency that is organized under a single command that oversees local law enforcement agencies

Decentralized Models

a state agency that is organized to distribute power and decision-making authority to lower levels of government

Police Chief

the highest-ranking police officer in a city or town; responsible for the day-to-day operations of the police department

Sheriff

the most important law enforcement officer in America, appointed by the colonial governor; enforces the law, collects taxes, oversaw elections, maintained bridges and roads; elected by county

Private Security

security provided by a person, other than a public servant, to protect or guard an person or property

Flat and Pyramid Police Structure

a flat police structure is a police department organizational structure with minimal command staff and a few levels between line officers and the chief executive; within the pyramid police structure, police departments are structured in a hierarchical pyramid with the Chief of Police at the top

Watchman

officers use discretion to determine how to enforce the law; officers may threaten or rough up disruptive people instead of arresting them; this style is often found in cities and is somewhat more lenient as long as order is maintained

Service

officers prioritize the needs of the community and see themselves as helpers; officers partner with residents on initiatives like community patrols, youth programs, and crime prevention strategies; officers work with social service agencies to address issues like homelessness, mental health, and poverty. A policing style focused on community engagement and support.

Law Enforcement

officers strictly adhere to the law as written, officers issue many citations, and make many misdemeanor arrests, officers exercise little discretion

Basic function and role of the police

enforcing the law, maintaining order, preventing and investigating crime; responding to emergencies and non-emergencies, patrolling assigned areas, conducting traffic stops and issuing citations, searching databases for vehicle or other records and warrants, working with other public safety agencies

Team Policing

a law enforcement strategy that assigns officers to specific neighborhoods to improve police-community relations and crime control

Problem-solving policing

a police strategy that involves identifying and analyzing problems to develop effective responses; goal is to prevent problems from happening instead of just reacting to them

Strategic Policing

a proactive law enforcement model that uses data to prevent crime, it involves analyzing data to identify patterns in criminal activity and then using that information to develop strategies

Hot spots

areas with high levels of crime and violence; often small, like sections of street parks and can be identified using crime mapping technology

Reasonable Suspicion

a legal standard that allows police to briefly stop and question someone if they have specific facts that suggest criminal activity; lower standard than probable cause

Brown v. Mississippi

ruled that confessions obtained through torture by law enforcement are inadmissible in court; established a precedent that protects defendants from having their rights violated by law enforcement

Terry v. Ohio

established the constitutionality of police “stop and frisk” procedures; ruled that police can stop and frisk people they reasonably suspect of being armed or involved in a crime, even without probable cause for an arrest

Miranda v. Arizona

established the Miranda rights, which are a set of guidelines that police must follow when questioning a criminal suspect; the ruling protects the rights of people in custody and prevents the government from using their statements as evidence in court unless they were given their Miranda rights

Escobedo v. Illinois

established the right of criminal suspects to have an attorney present during the police questioning; landmark decision that strengthened civil liberties and led to the creation of the Miranda Warning

Exclusionary Rule

prevents the use of evidence obtained in violation of a defendant’s constitutional rights

Fruits of the poisoned tree doctrine

a legal doctrine that makes evidence inadmissible in court if it was obtained illegally; based on the idea that if the source of the evidence is tainted, then anything derived from it is also tainted

Requirements for a search warrant

must demonstrate “probable cause” to a neutral magistrate, meaning they must present sufficient evidence to convince the judge that a crime is likely to have occurred and that the evidence can be found at the location of the search and specify the area to be searched and the items to be seized.

Mapp v. Ohio

ruled that evidence obtained by violating the 4^th Amendment cannot be used in state criminal trials

Chimel v. California

established the principle that police can search the area immediately around an arrested person without a warrant; also known as the Chimel rule

U.S. v. Leon

established the “good faith” exception to the 4^th Amendment exclusionary rule

Tennessee v. Garner

ruled that police cannot use deadly force to stop a fleeing suspect unless they have probable cause to believe the suspect poses a serious threat of harm; the case severely restricted the circumstances in which police can use deadly force

Official v. Unofficial Crime Data

official crime data refers to statistics gathered by government agencies like the FBI, primarily through the UCR which only includes crimes reported to the police; unofficial crime data comes from sources outside of official law enforcement, like self-reported surveys or victimization studies