Criminal Justice ch.5-8

CHAPTER 5

Police

What did the Metropolitan Police Act (1829) create?

The London police force

Who was Sir Robert Peel, and what did he stress?

The founder of the London police. He stressed crime prevention and community interaction, and he created the 9 Principles of Policing

What three features did the Metropolitan Police Act pass on to U.S. policing?

1) Limited authority (police powers are defined by law)
2) Local control (no national police force)
3) Fragmented organization (constables, sheriffs, police, FBI, etc.)

Name the three eras of U.S. policing and their dates

Political Era (1840-1920)
Professional Model Era (1920-1970)
Community Policing Era (1970-present).

Where was the first formal U.S. police force, and when?

New York City, 1854

Describe the Political Era (1840-1920)

Close ties between police and politics, police performed social services, corruption began to surface, and there was a lack of organization

Describe the Professional Era (1920-1970)

Police rejected political influence and took on a “crime fighter” image. The community was removed from the conversation, and many cities began to see police as “other” or an occupying force, no longer members of the community

Describe the Community Policing Era (1970-present)

It questions how effective police are at catching and deterring criminals. Crime is seen as a community issue, and police should be community members and service providers, not just crime fighters

What are the main ideas of “broken windows” theory?

Neighborhood disorder creates fear. Allowing disorderly behavior shows the community doesn’t care. Police need help from citizens to deal with disorder

What changed in policing after 9/11? A new Era?

Funding shifted to homeland security, policing became terrorism-oriented and intelligence-led, and there was growing awareness of evidence-based practices

Who deals mostly with law enforcement issues in the U.S.?

Local agencies. Law enforcement is largely a local effort because of federalism (decentralized government)

List the types of law enforcement agencies

Federal, state, county, Native American tribal police, and municipal

When was the FBI established, and what are its current priorities?

Established in 1908.
Its highest priority is now protecting against terrorism. It has grown its intelligence analysts and foreign-language specialists and has increased interest in financial crime (so being an accountant improves your odds of getting a job)

How do federal agencies work internationally?

They post officers overseas (63 overseas offices), and the U.S. cooperates with Interpol (the International Criminal Police Organization)

What are the key facts about state police agencies?

About half have broad authority and the others are mainly highway patrols. The Texas Rangers were the only state police force before 1900. State crime labs often assist local agencies

What are the key facts about county agencies?

Most counties outside Alaska have sheriffs. Sheriffs are elected in 33 states. A sheriff’s office may lack jurisdiction over cities and towns.

What are the key facts about municipal agencies?

There are about 450,000 local police officers. The NYPD is the largest, with 36,000 full-time officers. Conflicts are common between a central city’s agency and surrounding suburbs

What are special jurisdiction agencies? Give examples.

Agencies with a narrow jurisdiction, such as university police, park police, and mass transit police

What are the three police functions?

1) Order maintenance
2) law enforcement
3) service

What are the three important issues about police bureaucracy and the CJ system?

1) Police are the gateway to the justice system

2) The ultimate outcome of a case is largely in the hands of others

3) Police follow rules and orders as well as make discretionary judgments

What factors influence police discretion?

The nature of the crime, the relationship between victim and offender, the relationship between police and those involved, race/ethnicity, age, gender, class, and department policy

Frankpledge

A system in old English law in which members of a tithing, a group of ten families, pledge to be responsible for keeping order and bring violators of the law to court

Watch system

Practice of assigning individuals to night observation duty to warn the public of fires and crime that was first introduced to the American colonies in Boston and that later evolved into a system of paid, uniformed police

Slave patrols

Distinctively American form of law enforcement in southern states that sought to catch and control slaves through patrol groups that stopped and questioned African Americans on the roads and elsewhere in public places

Sheriff

Top law enforcement official in county government. The sheriff was an exceptionally important police official during the country’s westward expansion and continues to bear primary responsibility for many local jails

U.S. Marshals

Federal law enforcement officials appointed to handle duties in western territories and today bear responsibility for federal court security and apprehending fugitives

Intelligence-led policing

An approach to policing, in conjunction with concerns about homeland security, that emphasizes gathering and analyzing information to be shared among agencies in order to develop cooperative efforts to identify, prevent, and solve problems

Interpol

The International Criminal Police Organization, through which countries cooperate in investigating crimes, especially situations in which lawbreakers have crossed international borders or participated in multicounty criminal activities

Order maintenance

The police function of prevention behavior that disrupts or threatens to disturb the public peace or that involves face-to-face conflict among two or more people. In such situations, the police exercise discretion in deciding whether a law has been broken

Law enforcement

The police function of controlling crime by intervening in situations in which the law has clearly been violated and the police need to identify and apprehend the guilty person

Service

The police function of providing assistance to the public, usually in matters unrelated to crime

Patrol units

The core operational unit of local police departments that deploy uniformed officers to handle the full array of police functions for service, order maintenance, and law enforcement

Chain of command

Organizational structure base don a military model with clear definition of ranks to indicate authority over subordinates and obligations to obey orders from superiors

Watchman style

Style of policing that emphasizes order maintenance and tolerates minor violations of law as officers use discretion to handle small infractions informally but make arrest for major violations

Legalistic style

Style of policing that emphasizes strict enforcement of laws and reduces officers’ authority to handle matters informally

Service style

Style of policing in which officers cater to citizens’ desire for favorable treatment and sensitivity to individual situations by using discretion to handle minor matters in ways that seek to avoid embarrassment or punishment

Domestic violence

The term commonly used to refer to intimate partner violence or violent victimization between spouses, boyfriends and girlfriends, or those formerly in intimate relationships.

Such actions account for significant percentage of the violent victimizations experienced by women

CHAPTER 6

Police officers and law enforcement operations

What does “paramilitaristic” mean in police structure?

It resembles the military but does not have military power

What are the two elements of the police “working personality”?

1) Threats of danger
2) The need to establish and maintain authority

What else defines the police subculture?

Sworn officers are never off duty, many maintain a constant state of “high alert,” and their authority may be questioned by both higher-status people and poor people who feel targeted

What are the four types of police job stress?

External, organizational, personal, operational

External stress

Produced by real threats and dangers, like entering a dark, unfamiliar building

Organizational stress

Produced by the paramilitary structure: changing schedules, irregular hours, detailed procedures

Personal stress

Caused by an officer’s racial or gender status among peers, creating trouble getting along or adjusting to group values that differ from their own

Operational stress

The total effect of dealing with thieves, derelicts, and people with mental illness, and being lied to so often that all citizens become suspect

Are police mainly reactive or proactive?

Mainly reactive (incident-driven policing). Proactive strategies, like surveillance and undercover work, can have benefits

What organizational factors affect police response?

Communication technology and immediate contact with administrators

What is a clearance rate?

The percent of known crimes that have been solved by an arrest

How do departments measure productivity?

It varies by city, using measures such as accountability briefings and arrest statistics

What share of sworn officers are patrol officers, and what are the three parts of the patrol function?

Two-thirds. Parts: answering calls for help, maintaining police presence, probing suspicious circumstances. Patrol is the backbone of policing

What do detectives make up, and how do they compare to patrol officers?

About 15% of officers. They have higher status, pay, and freedom, and they work as part of a team

What are the stages of catching a suspect?

Detection of the crime, preliminary investigation, follow-up investigation

What are the two assignment-of-patrol concepts you listed?

Prevention patrol (the Kansas City surprise), and hot spots (place-based policing)

What are the types of patrol?

Foot versus motorized, and one-person versus two-person

What are the four parts of community policing?

1) Community-based crime prevention
2) Changing the focus of patrols to nonemergency services
3) Making police more accountable to the public
4) Including residents in decision making

Socialization

The process by which the rules, symbols, and values of a group or subculture are learned by its members

Subculture

The symbols, beliefs, and values shared by members of a subgroup of the larger society

Working personality

A set of emotional and behavioral characteristics developer by a member of an occupational group in response to the work situation and environmental influences

Reactive

Acting in response, such as police activity in response to notification that a crime has been committed

Proactive

Acting in anticipation, such as an active search for potential offenders that is initiated by the police without waiting for a crime to be reported. Arrests for victimless crimes are usually proactive (Ex: drug dealers).

Incident-driven policing

A reactive approach to policing emphasizing a quick response to calls for service

Differential repsonse

A patrol strategy that assigns priorities to calls for service and then determines the appropriate response depending on the importance or urgency of the call

Clearance rate

The percentage rate of crimes known to the police that they believe they have solved through an arrest; a statistic used to measure a police department’s productivity

Line functions

Police components that directly perform field operations and carry out the basic functions of patrol, investigation, traffic, vice, juvenile, and so on

Sworn officers

Police employees who have taken an oath and been given powers by the state ot make arrests and use necessary force, in accordance with their duties

Preventative patrol

Making the police presence known, in order to deter crime and to make officers available to respond quickly to calls

School resource officers (SROs)

Police officers assigned for duty in schools to assist in order maintenance while also developing positive relationships with students that may assist in delinquency prevention

Aggressive patrol

A patrol strategy designed to maximize the number of police interventions and observations in the community

“Broken windows” theory

Influential theory about increases in fear and crime within neighborhoods when there is insufficient police attention to seemingly minor public order offenses such as vandalism, loitering, aggressive panhandling, and prostitution

Problem-oriented policing

An approach to policing in which officers routinely seek to identify, analyze, and respond to the circumstances underlying the incidents that prompt citizens to call the police

CHAPTER 7

Policing: Contemporary Issues and Challenges

What new-crime challenges do police face?

New technologies, copying and piracy (fake money, driver licenses, goods, prescription drugs), widespread ATM/credit card skimmers, and criminals gaining high-tech weaponry and body armor

What did the Supreme Court allow in 2013 about DNA?

Collecting DNA from anyone arrested. This raises privacy questions

What did the PATRIOT Act do, and what changed in 2015?

It gave agencies sweeping powers (like warrantless searches of a person’s records). The 2015 USA Freedom Act included some reforms

What are the four reasons for the growth of private policing?

1) Increase in workplace crime
2) More fear of crime (real or perceived)
3) States cutting police budgets
4) Private security becoming more cost effective

What are the problems with the public-private interface?

Private company goals may not align with the public interest. There’s a disparity in recruitment and training between security managers and guards, many guards earn minimum wage, and training requirements vary widely (14 states have no training for armed guards)

When do police use force most, and where is deadly force highest?

Most often when an individual is resisting. Deadly force is highest in communities with the most economic inequality

What was the situation before Tennessee v. Garner?

Until the 1980s police had free rein on force and could shoot a fleeing felon

What happened in Tennessee v. Garner?

Memphis police shot eighth-grader Edward Garner in the back of the head as he fled a house where he’d stolen $10. The Supreme Court outlawed deadly force against an unarmed, fleeing suspect

What are the effects of police corruption?

It leaves suspects on the loose, damages morale, and hurts the police’s public image

What is noble cause corruption (the Dirty Harry problem)?

Breaking the rules for a good reason

Mooching

Accepting free coffee, cigarettes, meals, liquor, etc., seen as compensation for being underpaid or for future favoritism to the giver

Bribery

Receiving cash or a “gift” in exchange for past or future help avoiding prosecution

Chiseling

Demanding discounts or free admission to entertainment, on duty or not

Extortion

Demanding payment (like for an ad in a police magazine or tickets to a police function), or holding a “street court” where minor tickets are avoided by paying cash “bail” with no receipt

Shopping

Picking up small items (candy, gum, cigarettes) from a store left unlocked after closing

Shakedown

Taking expensive items for personal use during a break-in or burglary investigation. It’s distinguished from shopping by the value of the items

Premeditated theft

Using tools, keys, or other devices to force entry and steal property. It’s distinguished from shakedown because it’s planned, not by value

What are the four techniques for civil accountability of police?

1) Internal affairs units
2) Civilian review boards
3) Standards and accreditation
4) Civil liability lawsuits

Geographic information system (GIS)

Computer technology and software that enable law enforcement officials to map problem locations to better understand calls for service and the nature and frequency of crimes and other specific issues within particular neighborhoods

Latent fingerprints

Impressions from the ridges on the fingertips that are left behind on objects due to natural secretions from the skin or contaminating materials, such as ink, blood, or dirt, which were present on the fingertips at the time of their contact with the objects

Maryland v. King (2013)

U.S. Supreme Court decisions that endorsed the legality of collecting DNA samples from individuals arrested but not yer convicted of serious offenses

United States v. Jones (2012)

Law enforcement officials cannot place a GPS device on a vehicle to monitor its movements based on their own discretion without obtaining a warrant or having other proper justification

Less-lethal weapons

Weapons such as pepper spray and air-fired beanbags or nets that intend to incapacitate a suspect without inflicting serious injuries

Law enforcement intelligence

Information, collected and analyzed by law enforcement officials, concerning criminal activities and organizations such as drug traffickers, and organized crime

Fusion centers

Centers run by states and large cities that analyze and facilitate sharing of information to assist las enforcement and homeland security agencies in preventing and responding to crime and terrorism threats

USA Patriot Act

A federal statute passed in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks of 9/11, which broadens government authority to conduct searches and wiretaps and that expands the definitions of crimes involving terrorism

Excessive use of force

Applications of force against individuals by police officers that violate either departmental policies or constitutional rights by exceeding the level of force permissible and necessary in a given situation