Policing Notes – History, Structure, Methods, Legal Environment

Section 4.1 – Early History of Policing

• United States legal system derives from English common law; restraints on police power trace back to English constitutional documents (e.g., Magna Carta).
• Two enduring English contributions to U.S. policing:
– Legally limited police authority.
– Decentralized organizational structure.

Ancient & Medieval Precursors

• Kin-policing: clan/tribe enforces norms collectively; informal, unwritten.
• First written criminal code: Code of Hammurabi (Babylon, $ext{c. 1750 B.C.}$ ).
• Greek, Roman, Mosaic codes influence Western law.
• Mutual-pledge system (Anglo-Saxon England):
– Ten families = tithing, led by tithingman.
– Hue-and-cry obligation for males $\ge12$ .
– Ten tithings = hundred; overseen by constable; entire hundred fined if offender not produced.
– Hundreds grouped into shires; shire-reeve ⇒ modern “sheriff.”
– Sheriff’s authority to summon posse comitatus (all able-bodied men).
• Norman conquest (1066) tightens system → frankpledge.
• By $1361$ : watch & ward (urban night watch) + parish constables under justices of the peace; model endures until Industrial Revolution.

Colonial America

• Common law imported; county sheriff central official.
• Sheriff collected taxes, ran elections, and investigated only upon complaint (purely reactive; no preventive patrol).

Rise of Modern Policing

• Sir Robert Peel → Metropolitan Police Act ( $1829$ ): first modern, uniformed, preventive force; London subdivided into beats; officers nicknamed “Bobbies.”
• Key innovations: crime prevention focus; preventive foot patrol; military structure (ranks, uniforms, discipline).
• U.S. adoption (local level, no national force):
– Boston day watch ( $1838$ ) & NYC PD ( $1844$ ) argue first status.
– Local politicians control hiring & policy ⇒ graft, ethnic patronage, pay-offs; era $1840\text{–}1920$ labeled “political era.”

Reform / Professional Era (late 19th cent.→1960s)

• Progressive Movement goals: insulate police from politics; create merit-based civil service.
• August Vollmer (Berkeley PD Chief $1909\text{–}1932$ ):
– Defines professionalism: crime control, educated officers, non-political service.
– First university CJ degree program; early forensic science & automobile use; code of ethics banning gratuities.
• O.W. Wilson (Vollmer protégé): introduces scientific management; advocates single-officer cars; later UC-Berkeley professor, leading admin scholar.

Section 4.2 – Structure & Nature of Policing

Public Misconceptions

• Media myth: officers spend most time in dangerous crime-fighting; reality = majority of workload is “residual problems of society” (Goldstein, $1990$ ).

Three Broad Police Functions

Law enforcement (crime control).
Order maintenance (peace-keeping; e.g., traffic & crowd control).
Service (social services; aid, directions, lost property, etc.).
• Empirical estimates: >50\% of calls = service; $\approx20\%$ = crime.

ABA (1986) – 11 Police Responsibilities

(a) Identify/apprehend offenders. (b) Crime opportunity reduction. (c) Aid endangered persons. (d) Protect constitutional rights. (e) Facilitate movement. (f) Assist helpless. (g) Resolve conflict. (h) Spot emerging problems. (i) Create community security. (j) Preserve civil order. (k) Provide other emergency services.

Discretion & “Monopoly on Force”

• Great power ⇒ ethical responsibility; experts favor broad officer discretion for problem-solving (warnings vs arrests, force decisions, etc.).
• Factors influencing discretion: seriousness, evidence strength, suspect demeanor.

U.S. Organizational Landscape

• $\approx18{,}000$ state & local agencies; >2/3 are local police departments.
• 2008 local PDs: $593{,}000$ employees ( $461{,}000$ sworn; $60\%$ of all sworn nationwide).
• BJS definition: local PD = general-purpose agency below sheriff level; tribal police included.

Federal Agencies (missions excerpted)

• FBI – national security + law enforcement; $13{,}785$ special agents, $22{,}117$ support (2013).
• ATF – firearms, explosives, arson, alcohol & tobacco diversion.
• DEA – enforce controlled-substances laws; dismantle trafficking orgs.
• U.S. Marshals Service – oldest; fugitive apprehension, court security, witness protection, prisoner transport, asset forfeiture.
• Secret Service – financial-system protection & dignitary protection; in DHS since $2003$ .
• USCIS – administer lawful immigration; $19{,}000$ staff, $223$ offices.
• TSA – risk-based transportation security.

State Agencies

• Every state except Hawaii has state police/highway patrol; largest = California Highway Patrol.
• Roles: highway patrol, investigative aid to locals, state crime labs, training, records.

Sheriffs’ Offices

• $\approx3{,}012$ offices; $369{,}084$ personnel; $12\%$ of offices $\to65\%$ of sworn staff (large agencies).
• Additional duties: jails, court security, civil process.

Local Police Departments

• Half have <10 officers; $3/4$ serve <10{,}000 residents.
• Demographics (2007): $1/8$ officers female (vs $1/13$ in $1987$ ); $1/4$ minority (vs $1/6$ ).
• Hiring screens: $86\%$ physical agility, $82\%$ written aptitude, $66\%$ personality inventories.

Wilson’s Management Styles

• Watchman – order maintenance; informal handling; ignore minor violations unless peace disturbed.
• Legalistic – “by the book;” low discretion; uniform enforcement.
• Service – community service priority; arrest last resort.

Quasi-Military Features & Critiques

• Uniforms, weapons, rank hierarchy; “war on crime/drugs” rhetoric.
• Critics: encourages “ends justify means,” intimidation, potential abuses (perjury, brutality).

Bureaucracy

• Positives: specialization, clear hierarchy, rule clarity, efficiency.
• Negatives: inflexibility, red-tape, impersonal service.

Section 4.3 – Police Methods

Patrol – “Backbone”

• Transitions: foot/horse ⇒ automobile (larger beats, cost savings).
• Three evaluation benchmarks:

Rapid response to calls.
Visible deterrence.
Investigation of suspicious acts.

Kansas City Preventive Patrol Experiment ( $1972\text{–}73$ )

• Design: $15$ beats ⇒ control (normal patrol), reactive (none), proactive ( $\times4$ patrol).
• Findings: no significant differences in crime, fear, or public satisfaction.
• Implication: random patrol alone ≠ effective; resource re-allocation required.

Proactive / Targeted Patrol

• Focus on specific offenders, places, victims; tactics: undercover, decoys, informants, hot-spot saturation.
• Research: small fraction of addresses generate $\approx60\%$ of crime; brief intensive patrols reduce robberies; San Diego FI Study (field interrogations ↓ violence & disorder); NYPD decoy success.

Problem-Oriented Policing (POP)

• Goldstein ( $1979$ ): police mission = resolve community problems; need broader “toolbox.”
• Problem Analysis Triangle: Offender × Victim × Location.
– Concentration: $10\%$ of victims ⇒ $40\%$ victimizations; $10\%$ offenders ⇒ $50\%$ crimes; $10\%$ locations ⇒ $60\%$ crimes (Spelman & Eck, $1989$ ).
• Goldstein’s eight police goals span prevention, aid, rights, mobility, care, conflict resolution, early problem ID, community security.

Community-Oriented Policing (COP)

• Philosophy: partnerships + problem solving to address crime, disorder, fear.
• Collaborative partners: other govt agencies, residents, volunteers, businesses, media.
• Organizational change: decentralized decision-making, transparency, strategic planning, supportive culture; labor (unions) inclusion essential.

Section 4.4 – Investigations & Specialized Units

Hollywood Myths vs Reality

• Only $\approx20\%$ of Index crimes cleared.
• Detectives’ work heavy in paperwork; patrol often makes on-scene arrests.

Detective Core Functions

Interview victims/witnesses/suspects.
Process crime scenes.
Develop & manage informants.
• NIJ: many serious crimes unsolvable due to lack of evidence; patrol arrests > detective follow-ups.

Preliminary Investigation by Patrol

• Priorities: officer safety ⇒ public safety ⇒ rapid scene assessment ⇒ witness ID ⇒ scene security.
• Good documentation (notes, reports, sketches, photos) critical.

Specialization Trends

• Larger jurisdictions ⇒ more specialized units (traffic, narcotics, etc.).
• Common investigative splits: crimes against persons vs property; domestic violence, vice, organized crime, sex crimes.

Domestic Violence Units

• Problem: cyclical, escalating violence; $\approx1/3$ of female homicide victims killed by partner.
• Specialized approach pairs investigators w/ social workers; focus on victim assistance + enforcement ⇒ reduced repeat calls.

Vice / Drug Units

• Vice = “victimless” crimes (prostitution, gambling, drug use).
• Enforcement controversies (e.g., marijuana legalization variances).

Organized Crime Investigations

• Group criminality: supply illegal goods/services & predatory crimes; often multi-jurisdictional.
• Require financial expertise, electronic surveillance, confidential informants; federal/state resources supplement locals.

Internal Affairs

• Established late 1950s–1960s; investigate misconduct (force, corruption).
• Report directly to chief; outside normal chain.

Juvenile Units

• Juveniles disproportionately offend; plus status offenses (truancy, curfew, running away).
• Order maintenance encounters frequent; juveniles less respectful, complicating relations.
• Community policing programs:
– D.A.R.E. (peer resistance focus; limited long-term impact but proved school-police collaboration feasible).
– School Resource Officers (SROs): defined by $1968$ Safe Streets Act; roles = law enforcement, counselor, teacher; COPS $\$68$ million funded $599$ SROs (289 communities); successes include reduced disruption & community intelligence.

Section 4.5 – Legal Environment of Policing

Substantive vs Procedural Criminal Law

• Substantive: defines crimes.
• Procedural: governs processes; largely constitutional interpretation (Bill of Rights) by SCOTUS.

Key Constitutional Provisions

• Fourth Amendment – protection vs unreasonable searches & seizures; warrants require probable cause, oath, particularity.
• Fifth Amendment – no self-incrimination; due process.
• Sixth Amendment – speedy/public trial, counsel.
• Fourteenth Amendment – states must honor due-process rights (selective incorporation).

Privacy & Probable Cause

• Implicit constitutional “right to privacy” limits police; reasonableness = probable cause.
• Plain view & open fields ≠ search.
• Probable cause standard > reasonable suspicion < proof beyond reasonable doubt.

Search Warrants

• Require sworn affidavit establishing probable cause; particularity (place, items/person).
• Execution rules: daytime, knock & announce unless no-knock authorized (danger / evidence destruction concerns).

Warrantless Search Exceptions

• Exigent circumstances (emergency).
• Consent (voluntary; no need to advise right to refuse federally).
• Hot pursuit.
• Automobile (probable cause + mobility).
• Search incident to arrest (person + immediate area).

Arrests & Warrants

• Arrest = seizure; needs probable cause.
• Common law: warrantless arrest for felonies (probable cause) or misdemeanors in officer’s presence; statutory expansions (e.g., domestic battery).
• Entry into home needs arrest warrant (or exigency).

Domestic Violence Mandatory Arrest Statutes

• Research: arrest primary aggressor reduces recidivism ⇒ statutes require arrest without warrant.

Terry Stops – Reasonable Suspicion

• Terry v. Ohio ( $1968$ ): brief stop & frisk permitted on articulable reasonable suspicion; less intrusion than arrest.

Exclusionary Rule

• Illegally obtained evidence inadmissible.
• Weeks v. U.S. ( $1914$ ) federal; Mapp v. Ohio ( $1961$ ) applied to states.
• Erosion through exceptions:
– Good faith (U.S. v. Leon $1984$ ).
– Inevitable discovery (Nix v. Williams $1984$ ).
– Public safety (NY v. Quarles $1984$ ).

Confessions & Interrogation

• Brown v. Mississippi ( $1936$ ) bans coercion/torture.
• Escobedo v. Illinois ( $1964$ ) – right to counsel once accusatory.
• Miranda v. Arizona ( $1966$ ): custodial interrogation requires warnings (silence, use-against, attorney, appointed counsel).
• Waiver must be knowing & voluntary; right can be invoked anytime.
• Non-custodial encounters & spontaneous statements exempt.

Police Use of Force

• Lawful force must be reasonable & for legitimate purpose.
• Excess force ⇒ civil suits (torts, $42\;\text{U.S.C.}$ § $1983$ ) & criminal charges.

Deadly Force

• Standard: objective reasonableness of danger (to officer/others).
• Tennessee v. Garner ( $1985$ ) ends “fleeing felon” rule; deadly force on fleeing suspect only if serious threat.

Employment Outlook & Pay

• BLS $2010$ median for officers/detectives: $\$55{,}010\;(≈\,\$26.45\,/hr)$ ; $794{,}300$ jobs; projected growth $≈7\%$ .
• Entry-level local PD $2007$ : $26{,}600\$−49{,}500$ (avg $\$40{,}500$ ).
• >90\% of departments (\ge25k pop.) used in-field computers ⇒ tech skills advantageous.