Criminal Justice CHATPER 6 VOCABULARY

Vocab Words From the Textbook

Chain of Command

The unbroken line of authority that extends through all levels of an organization, from the highest to the lowest

Order:

captains

lieutenants

sergeants

police officers

Community Policing

A collaborative effort between the police and the community that identifies problems of crime and disorder and involves all elements of the community in the search for solutions to these problems.

Comp Stat

A crime-analysis and police management process built on crime mapping that was developed by the New York City Police Department in the mid 1990s.

Crime prevention

The anticipation, recognition, and appraisal of a crime risk and the initiation of action to eliminate or reduce it.

Crime Scence

The physical area in which a crime is thought to have occurred and in which evidence of the crime is thought to reside.

Crime Scene Investigator

An expert trained in the use of forensic techniques, such as gathering DNA evidence, collecting fingerprints, photography, sketching, and interviewing witnesses.

Criminal Intelligence

Information compiled, analyzed, and/or disseminated in an effort to anticipate, prevent, or monitor criminal activity.

Criminal Investigation

The process of discovering, collecting, preparing, identifying, and presenting evidence to determine “what happened and who is responsible” when a crime has occurred.

Intelligence led policing

The collection and analysis of information to produce an intelligence end product designed to inform police decision making at both the tactical and strategic levels.

Legalistic Style

A style of policing marked by a strict concern with enforcing the precise letter of the law.

Legalistic departments may take a hands-off approach to disruptive or problematic Behavior that does not violate the criminal law.

Line operations

 In police organizations, the field activities or supervisory activities directly related to day-to-day police work.

MATIRX

an acronym from the Multistate Anti-terrorism information exchange, an internet based proof of concept pilot program funded by the department of justice and the department of homeland security to increase and enhance the exchange of sensitive information about terrorism and other criminal activity between enforcement agencies at the local, state, and federal levels. 

Peace officer standards and training (POST) program

The official program of a state or legislative jurisdiction that sets standards for the training of law enforcement officers.

All states set such standards, although not all use the term POST.

Police Community Relations (PCR)

an area of police activity that recognizes the need for the community and the police to work together effectively and that is based on the notion that the police derive their legitimacy from the community they serve.

Many police agencies began to explore PCR in the 1960s and 1970s.

Police Discretion

the opportunity of law enforcement officers to exercise choice in their daily activities.

Police ethics

the special responsibility to adhere to moral duty and obligation that is inherent in police work.

Police Managment

the administrative activities of controlling, directing, and coordinating police personnel, resources,

and activities in the service of preventing crime, apprehending criminals, recovering stolen property, and performing regulatory and helping services.

Police professionalism

the increasing formalization of police work and the accompanying rise in public acceptance of the police.

Police subculture

a particular set of values, beliefs, and acceptable forms of behavior characteristic of American police.

Socialization into the police subculture begins with the recruit training and continues thereafter.

Preliminary investigation

all of the activities undertaken by a police officer who responds to the scene of a crime, including determining whether a crime has occurred, securing the crime scene, and preserving the evidence.

Problem Solving Policing

a type of policing that assumes that crimes can be controlled by uncovering and effectively addressing the underlying social problems that caused the crimes.

It makes use of community resources, such as counseling centers, welfare programs, and job training facilities.

It also attempts to involve citizens in crime prevention through education, negotiation, and conflict management.

Quality of Life Offense

a minor violation of the law (sometimes called a petty crime) that demoralizes community residents and businesspeople.

It involves acts that create physical disorder such as excessive noise or vandalism or that reflect social decay such as panhandling and prostitution

Response Time

a measure of the time that it takes for police officers to respond to calls for service.

Service style

a style of policing marked by a concern with helping rather than strict enforcement.

Service oriented police agencies are more likely to use community resources, such as drug treatment programs, to supplement traditional law enforcement activities than are other types of agencies.

Solvability factor

information about a crime that forms the basis for determining that perpetrators identity.

Span of control

the number of police personnel or the number of units supervised by a particular command.

Staff operations

in police organization, activities (such as administration and training) that provide support for line operations

Strategic policing

a type of policing that retains the traditional police goal of professional crime fight but enlarges the enforcement target to include nontraditional kinds of criminals, such as serial offenders, gangs and criminal associations, drug distribution networks, and sophisticated white collar and computer criminals.

Strategic policing generally makes use of innovative enforcement techniques, including intelligence operations, undercover stings, electronic surveillance, and sophisticated forensics methods.

Team Policing

the reorganization of conventional patrol strategies into “an integrated and versatile police team assigned to a fixed district.

Watchman style

a style of policing marked by a concern for order maintenance.

Watchman policing is characteristic of lower class communities where police intervene informally into the lives of residents to keep the peace.