Crim 100 Exam #2

Police

Government official whose job is to enforce laws, maintain order, and provide public assistance.

Monopoly on legitimate force

the state/governnment has accepted legal authority to use force.

Policing

The activities used to control deviance, maintain order, and provide public assistance. It is a verb because it describes what people do.

Police vs. policing

police = organization/officers

policing = the activity of controlling crime and maintaining order.

Passive Policing

Responding to crime or disorder after it happens.

• ex: police investigating a burglary after someone reports it.

Active Policing

Trying to prevent crime before it happens.

• ex: police stop and question someone they believe may be preparing to commit a crime.

Active vs. Passive tradeoff

More active policing can increase security but reduce privacy; more passive policing can protect privacy but may provide less security.

Critical perspective on policing.

Question whether police should always protect the existing social order, especially if that order is unjust.

Conservative role of police

police generally protect the existing social order and laws.

Social instability

Can sometimes be beneficial when the existing system is unjust.

• ex: civil rights movement, feminist movement, LGBTQ+ movement.

London Metropolitan police Act/ Peel Act (1829)

Created a civilian, professional police force in London; associated with Robert Peel.

• modern policing

Peelian policing

policing based on preventing crime, gaining public cooperation, using force only when necessary, and maintaining public trust.

Main Peelian Principle

Police effectiveness should be measured by the absence of crime and disorder, not by how much they maintain public trust.

• prevention + public cooperation + limited force

“Police are the public, and the public are the police”

Police depend on public cooperation and should maintain a strong relationship with the community.

Police State

A government that relies heavily on police power and control over citizens.

Early American policing

Developed differently from England because the U.S. is larger and has a federal system.

Federalism

Power is divided between the federal government and individual state governments.

Early American policing

Developed differently from England because the U.S. is larger and has a federal system.

Federalism

Power is divided among the federal government and individual state governments.

Slave Patrols

Early Southern policing groups captured escaped enslaved people, prevented revolts, and enforced control over enslaved people.

• Early racial control

Black Codes

Post-Civil War laws that restricted the freedom, employment, and opportunities of Black Americans.

Vigilante groups

Private citizens who took law enforcement into their own hands.

Civillian posse

A group of citizens temporarily organized by a sheriff to help enforce the law.

Pinkerton Detective Agency

private organization that investigated crime and was also used to combat organized labor.

Pennsylvania State Police

Developed partly in response to labor unrest and coal mine strikes.

Cronyism.

Cooperation between police and politicians for political benefit.

• ex: police selectively enforce laws against a politicans’s benefit.

Patronage

Politicians give government jobs to people who support them.

• ex: a mayor appoints a police chief who owes their position to the mayor.

Politicization of policing

Police decisions are influenced by political interests rather than neutral law enforcement.

Prohibition and police corruption

Some police worked with criminals to profit from illegal alcohol, hurting public trust.

Professionalization of policing

reform movement to make policing independent, training, standards, and professional conduct.

Reasons for Federalization

Cars allowed criminals to cross jurisdictions quickly, while mass media made crime a national issue.

FBI (1908)

Federal Bureau of Investigation investigates major federal crimes.

• Federalization/ overreach

J. Edgar Hoover

A longtime FBI director who expanded the FBI's power but also kept secret files on political figures and others.

• Federalization/ overreach

1960s policing

rising crime, anti-government movements, and racial tensions led to worsening relationships between police and the public.

War on Drugs

Beginning in the 1970s, illegal drugs were treated primarily as a law-enforcement problem rather than a public-health problem.

DEA

Drug Enforcement Administration; federal agency responsible for enforcing drug laws.

Community Policing

Police and community members work together to identify and solve problems.

• Foot patrols and police-community commissions.

• police + community cooperation

9/11 / Global War on Terror

expanded policing into terrorism prevention, intelligence gathering, and identifying terrorist networks.

18,000 + law enforcememnt agencies

shows how decentralized and diverse American policing is.

Police department

Usually serves a city or municipality.

Sheriff

County-level law enforcement leader, usually elected by voters.

State Police/highway patrol

Enforce traffic laws, patrol highways, and assist with investigations crossing local jurisdictions.

Detectives/Investigators

Gather evidence and determine who committed crimes; usually begins as regular officers.

Clearance rate

Percentage of crimes that police successfully solve/clear.

SWAT

Special Weapons and Tactics: handles dangerous situations beyond the ability of normal police.

• Examples: Hostage situations and high-risk arrests.

Department of Justice (DOJ)

The major federal law enforcement department is headed by the Attorney General.

FBI

federal investigations

ATF

Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives.

DEA

Drug enforcement

Bureau of Prisions (BOP)

Manages federal prisons.

U.S. Marshal

fugitives, prisoner transportation, court security, and protection.

Department of Homeland Security (DHS)

Created after 9/11 to protect the U.S. from external threats.

ICE

Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

CBP

Customs and Boarder Protection

Secret Service

Protects important officials and investigates counterfeit currency.

IRS

Investigates tax violations and fraud.

Use-of-force continuum

Model officers can use to determine an appropriate level of force based on a person’s behavior; it is not an automatic guarantee.

Police discretion

Officers have some judgment in deciding how to respond to situations.

Tennessee v. Garner (1985) *

Deadly force may be used when police have probable cause to believe a suspect poses a serious threat of physical harm to the officer or others.

Probable cause

facts/circumstances that would be used when police have probable cause to believe a suspect poses a serious threat of physical harm to the officer or others.

Fourth Amendment *

protects against unreasonable searches and seizures.

Search Warrant

Court authorization allowing police to search a particular place for specific evidence based on probable cause.

Exclusionary Rule

Evidence discovered because of illegally obtained evidence can also be excluded.

Fruit of the poisonous tree

Evidence discovered because of illegally obtained evidence can also be excluded.

Automobile exception

Police can search a vehicle without a warrant when they have probable cause.

Special needs searches

Certain situations allow searches without a normal warrant.

• ex: airports, prisons, border crossings.

Chimel Rule

During an arrest, police can search the person’s body and areas they could immediately reach.

Plain View Doctrine

Police can seize evidence they can illegally see without moving objects to find it.

Open fields doctrine

Certain areas outside the home receive less Fourth Amendment protection.

Consent search

A person can voluntarily allow police to search without a warrant.

Technology and the Fourth Amendment

Courts must determine whether new technologies constitute searches, often

police deviance *

misconduct or misbehavior by officers while acting in their official capacity.

Excessive Force

using more force than necessary.

Excessive force

using more force than necessary.

Police brutality

An extreme form of excessive force.

Racial Profiling

targeting someone for police attention based on race, ethnicity, or relgion.

Corruption

abuse of police authority for personal gain.

Overenthusiastic policing

Officers believe breaking rules or using excessive methods is necessary to do their jobs effectively.

Net widening

Increased use of force because certain forms of force are considered less serious or “non-lethal”.

Lethal Force

force capable of causing death.

“Explains but does not excuse”

A stressful situation or poor judgment may explain an officer’s action, but does not automatically make it acceptable.

Self-fulfilling prophecy *

A belief leads to behavior that eventually appears to confirm the original belief.

• police stop more Black people - find more crime — use this as a justification for more stops.

Pretextual stop

Stopping someone for a minor violation as an excuse to investigate something else.

Institutional/ systemic racism

Racial disadvantages are created by broader institutions and social systems, not necessarily individual prejudice.

4th Amendment + racial profoiling

Racially motivated searches/stops can violate protections against unreasonable searches and seizures.

14th Amendment

Guarantees equal protection under the law.

In-group

people we see as similar to ourselves.

Out-group

People we see as different from ourselves.

In group bias

Tendency to be more sympathetic toward people we consider part of our group.

“Us vs. Them” mentality

police may develop a strong group identity that separates officers from the people they police.

Blue wall of silence *

An informal police culture in which officers protect one another and may refuse to report a fellow officer's misconduct.

Mooching

Small-scale corruption where officers accept gifts/favors, often with strings attached.

Quid pro quo

Exchange of favors or benefits.

• e.x., an officer accepts a gift in exchange for ignoring a violation.

Shakedown

Threatening to arrest or enforce unless they provide money or something of value.

Grass eaters

Officers who accept bribes when they are offered but do not actively seek them.

Meat eaters

Officers who actively seek out bribes or corrupt opportunities.

Frank Serpico

NYPD officer associated with exposing police corruption in the 1970s.

Knapp Commission

Investigated NYPD corruption in the 1970s and used the terms grass eater and meat eater.

Mollen Commission

1990s investigation of NYPD corruption, including officers involved in drug trafficking.

Internal Affairs (IA)

Police units that investigate officer misconduct from within the department.