Policing Final Review

Department of Homeland Security

Department of Homeland Security

largest federal agency: transportation of security agencies, US Customs and Border Protection, US Secret Service, Citizenship and Immigration Service, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, US Coast Guard, Federal Emergency Management Agency

largest municipal agency in the US

New York Police Department

Henry Fielding

(1707-1754) Organised the bow street runners; first constable system

August Vollmer

• The patriarch of police professionalism

Definition of law

a binding rule that regulates conduct and provides sanctions for violations of its provision

Screening in (screening process)

recommended best screening processes for achieving the best pool of process;application, background check, personal history, interview, polygraph

Screening out

psych eval, exit interview

Whren v. United States

Affirmed that stops are reasonable as long as the officer had probable cause to believe violation had occurreda

Terry v. Ohio

Supreme Court case establishing "stop and frisk" policy. Allows police to briefly detain and search individuals based on reasonable suspicion of criminal activity.

Graham v. Conner

• Factors when an officer can use force against a citizen

  • Whether the suspect poses an immediate threat to the officer or others

  • The severity of the crime 

  • Whether the suspect is actively resisting arrest

  • Whether the suspect is a flight risk or attempting to escape custody

Tennessee v. Garner

• dictated the circumstances  in which LEO could use deadly force to make an arrest

  • Court case struck down “fleeing Felon Doctrine”

Suicide by cop

aka “copicide”; happens when an individual is surrounded by cops and they believes that the only way out is making the officers shoot them

Hate Crimes

crime where a perpetrator targets a victim because of their physical appearance or perceived membership of a certain social group.

Quid pro quo

Exists when there is tangible econ. detriment as result of refusal to succumb to sexual advance

Hostile work environment

Unreasonably interfering with an individual's work perf. or creating an intimidating environment

Institutional Barriers

Refers to the formal/informal barriers police departments use to dissuade minorities

Types of supervision (4)

Traditional Supervisors- encourage officers to produce large numbers of tickets and arrests 

Innovative Supervisors- encourage officers to produce large numbers of tickets and arrests 

Supportive Supervisors- supervisor attempts to develop positive relations with their subordinates and be “one of the boys”

Active Supervisors- supervisor like to involve themselves in police work by answering calls, writing tickets, and making arrests

Excessive Force

when an officer applies too much force in a specific situation

Excessive use of force

where officers legally apply force in too many incidents

Various trainings and purpose

Basic or academy training; Field Officer Training; in-service training**

Responsibilities of upper-level administrators

• Planning, Organizing, staffing, directing, coordinating, reporting, budgeting

Less-than-lethal weapons

use of force not intended to lead to death or serious physical injury; baton, pepper spray, conducted energy devices

Contributions of police suicide

: Factors such as job stress, trauma exposure, mental health stigma, and access to firearms that increase the risk of suicide among law enforcement officers.

Title VII 1964 Civil Rights Act

Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act prohibits employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. (all except age)

formal social control

use of sanctions for rule-breaking

Informal Social Control

socialize individuals into internalizing the norms and values of institutions

psychological perspective of police lifestyle

Personality is fixed and does not change significantly by occupational choice or personal experience

Sociological perspective

• Behavior is based on group socialization and profession

• Socialization Model

  • The model assumes officers learn their social personality from training and exposure to the demands of the position

Anthropological perspective

• Officers are influenced and shaped by their culture

• Culturalization Model

  • model assumes that culture determines both personality and behavior

White classification of cops

• Tough Cop

• Problem solvers

• Crime fighter

• Rule applier

Coates classification of cops

• Legalistic-abusive officers

• Task officers

• Community service officers

Morality/ethics

Morality: denotes the capicty for people to make judgement on what is right or good describes the behavior on what is ethical or not

Ethics: evaluate behavior based on ethical or moral standards

extortion/bribery/corruption

Extortion: Initiating by the officer using the threat of arrest or harassment; the officer requires a person who has committed a crime to give them something of value to avoid being arrested

Bribery: Officers occasionally are voluntarily offered something of value to influence their performance of a official duty; to constitute bribery the citizen must initiate the offer

Corruption:requiring the misuse of authority for personal gain

Knapp Commission

Investigative body established in 1970 to probe corruption within the New York City Police Department. (widespread corruption)

Meat eaters

persona : officers who aggressively pursue corrupt activities

grass eaters

persona: officers who engage in illegal activities only occasionally or when work presents an opportunity to do so

Assumption of Risk

doctrine in another method where liability is limited; general principle behind the doctrine is that one who voluntarily engages in a known or foreseeable dangerous behavior cannot expect to recover damages; sustained in conjuction with engaging in danergerous behavior

Contributory negligence

Party cannot recover damages if they contributed to it

Comparative Negligence

Mitigates the size of the damage award

Negligence / Types

• Operation of emergency vehicles

• Failure to protect

• Failure to arrest

• Failure to render assistance

• Selection, Hiring, and Retention 

• Police Supervision and Direction

• Entrustment and Assignment 

• Failure to Discipline and Investigate

Goals of policing

Making police more neighbor oriented

focusing on problems within the neighborhood

prevention of crime

cooperation with other criminal jistice agencies

increasing citizen involveument

Clearance rate

used by police to show their effectiveness in responding to reported crimes, measures the rate at which the reported crimes result in arrests

What are the 4 types of Law

Civil Law: regulates social interactions from private, commercial, or contractual

Procedural Law: states how law enforcement shouldy applu substantive law; referring to laws that prescribe how police officers apply substantive law

Case Law: Written opinions from cases that set a precedent

Substantive Law: decides which behaviors are acceptable or inacceptable on society; these criminal statutes represent the bulk of police’s role

What are the 3 styles of policing

• Watchman style: an emphasis on informal means of resolving disputes and problems in the community (middle side of the spectrum)

• Legalistic style: an emphasis on violations of law, and the use of threats or actual arrests to solve disputes (right side of the spectrum)

• Service style: an emphasis on helping the community, as opposed to enforcing the law (left side of the spectrum)

What are 3 internal control methods for discretion

Policy and procedure that the department tells an officer what they can and cannot do. Second, they may use the early warning system. For example, if an officer has too many complaints or reports written on them for the same action repeatedly it can show a potential problem with that person. The Department of Justice has recommendations in place to help officers decide when and when not to use discretion depending on the situation or problem such as to encourage the reporting of police abuses.

What are the 5 categories to consider when determining the allocation of resources

4 primary roles of law enforcement

Information gathering: officers gather data by investigation crimes and interviewing suspects victims and witness

Order maintenance: officers maintain order by inestgating suspicoius behavior and dealing with domestic abuse

Provision of misc: Providing different services to the community by helping people on the side of the road or escorting

Law Enforcement: Upholding the Law by making arrests and dealing with criminals