Chapter 4: The Police
Historical Developments
When was the first “official - contemporary” police force formed? And where?
London, 1829 (first contemporary department)
Remember Daniel M’Naghten? (First insanity defense)
It was Robert Peel who formed the London Metropolitan police force in 1829
What is a nickname for English police officers?? Bobbies
Peel established a tradition of limited authority, local control, and fragmented organization
Peel also suggested police should:
Prevent crime without repressive force (don’t use military force for large scale issues)…also (most) Bobbies don’t carry guns
Maintain public order without violence… again, no guns
Show efficiency through reduced crime and disorder not through visible police actions
The presence of police > police actions
Policing in the United States
Colonial Era and the Early Republic
First LE efforts relied on a watch system
Each male citizen was required to be on the watch
Originally intended only at night, but moved to the day as well
Focused on more than crimes, fire, weather, etc.
Other early efforts also originated in the South
Slave patrols (historical foundation…to some extend…of sheriffs)
Slave patrols focused on:
1. Chase down, apprehend, and return runaway slaves
2. Provide a form of organized terror to deter slave revolts
3. Maintain discipline for slave-workers who were subject to justice outside of the law
Eras of Modern Policing in the US
Political era (1840 - 1920)
super corrupt
Close ties between police and politicians (corrupt)
Police tended to serve interests of politicians and not the public
Came about due to immediate need to maintain social order
if you have to establish something quickly, it will not be done correctly
Professional Era (1920 - 1970)
Realize political era was super corrupt
Progressive movement towards education (mini-enlightenment)
Focus on eliminated political ties of police
August Vollmer and O.W. Wilson - making police a profession (best candidates)
thought police should look to higher ed
Officers might study psychology, sociology, and consider why crime exists
Promotion looks at your record
6 key aspects:
stay out of politics, training and discipline with good organization
Training and discipline with good organization
Equal enforcement of the law
police should use technology (handheld radio, car)
Personnel procedures should be based on merit
Main task of police forces should be fighting crime
Use of data to better policing.
Kansas City Patrol Experiment:
Wanted to study patrol, see if we can do better
Break KC into different models (control (normal patrol), saturated patrol (ton of police) only responding to call (no patrol))
Control - no difference
Saturated Patrol - no difference
Only Responded to calls - no difference
Questions the effectiveness of patrol
Community Policing Era (1970 - Present)
Less focus on crime fighting and more on order and providing services
Seeing community as a partner
Key research assisted
Increased # of officers in a neighborhood has little effect
rapid response did not greatly increase arrests
improving clearance rates was difficult
Minneapolis showed that in a domestic violence call, a mandated arrest of the perpetrator is the best result
Allow the victim time to leave
Before DV was seen as a private matter
Try to understand what is driving crime, not hammering communities with police. Data driven
Broken Windows Policing
If you have a house with a broken window, and police don’t address it, then it feels like no one is paying attention
Disordered neighborhood, no one is paying attention
No guardian
It would be a good place to commit crime as no one is paying attention
Focus on minor social dissonances (graffiti, jumping terminals at subway)
It would expand out and indicate a major police presence
Issue is that:
Lots of arrest harm community-police relations
Over policing disenfranchised communities
they don’t choose to be disenfranchised
and it is criminalizing poverty
Policing on the street - Styles
Police might “fall” into a style of policing
Personality of officer and situation involved
Watchman Style
Stresses order maintenance (political era-ish)
ignore minor violations as long as there is order
Arrests are only made for flagrant issues
Considerable discretion… might be troublesome for some groups
Legalistic Style
Follows the letter of the law (professional era-ish)
professionalism is emphasized…expected to make high 3 of arrests
No discrimination… just arrets
Deterioration of community
No focus on providing services
Service Style
Focus is on service to the community
Major issues are focus, minor issues take back burner
Underlying issues regarding crime
Law Enforcement Agencies
Remember, LE in the US is decentralized
federal level and state/local levels
The goals of Law enforcement
Enforce the law
Apprehend criminals
Maintain order
Prevent crime
Provide Services
But these are different for the 18,000 municipal departments, 49 state departments, and 80+ federal agencies
Most LE work is at municipal departments
Remember: system and non-system
Federal Agencies
Most well known
FBI: established in 1908
Premiere US LE agency… assists local agencies, runs CODIS, UCR, FBI crime lab
Other Specialty Agencies:
DEA, ATF, IRS, marshals, Air Marshals, Secret Service, Homeland, CBP, SCOTUS police, FBI police, NSA police
CIA and NSA are not law enforcement. They focus on National security
Big focus on specialty
State Agencies
Reluctance to have centralized police is crucial to remember ‘
State agencies are broken into two models
centralized: Tasks are combined → Highway patrol and general LE tasks
PA is centralized
Decentralized: Tasks are separated→ Highway patrol and investigations
County Agencies
Primarily Sheriffs
depends on state/geographic
in 47 states
In north east, they are associated with the courts
Everywhere else, sheriffs have more traditional LE roles
And serve the court and sometimes act as local DOC
Sheriffs are a political appointment (voting)
Only person that can arrest a sheriff in PA is the coroner
Municipal Agencies (and who are police)
From the one officer department to the 34,500 officers of the NYPD
around 461,063 sword officers
roughly ¾ of all departments have less than 25 officers
The five largest departments employ around 15% of all officers
Glamor of the job:
Job security and working with people
It is a people person job, you have to work with people
Recruitment:
Depends on agency
So, what do you think of veterans preference, no-degrees preference, and sometimes no degree requirements
Written test, oral interview/test, (two scores are added up) (veterans get additional points)
Training:
Depends on jurisdiction
Focus on physical fitness, discipline, handling situations and scenarios quickly
Socialization into the group… more on later
Training
In PA:
940 hours across five months
Cadets study 10 specific modules
Including:
Criminal law, cultural diversity, reporting writing, PT, defensive tactics, vehicle operations, first aid, de-escalation, understanding mental health, firearms, etc.…
As well as annual training and re-certification
Learning outcomes:
working with people (who might not like you) effectively
dealing with stress
situational awareness
problem solving skills
Given the current environment of police - community relations
If you were chief… wat/how would you re-tool your department’s training?
What do you focus on? what do you add or subtract?
Changing profile of Police
Equal Employment Opportunity Act of 1972
Reduces discrimination in hiring
Increased diversity in police
why is this a good thing?
Currently, around 25% of officers (nationwide) are from a minority group
75% of officers are white men
Women in policing
originally took on role as “police matrons”
Handled women in jail, dealt with children connected to CJ… no arrest or investigation powers
originally viewed as unqualified (physically and emotionally)
Research indicates female officers generally have superior performance in use of force avoidance and are better communicators
Better at de-escalation
Sometimes more appropriate in investigatory settings (rape investigations)
Police Subculture
Define subculture:
Set of ideas, beliefs, values, and attitudes shared by members of a subgroup within larger society
Students, professors, baseball players, waiters, Democrats, Republicans
Every sub-group has them
For police: begins and the academy →
What makes policing unique? What might be
important to police sub-culture?The working personality
The Working Personality
Set of emotional or behavioral characteristics developed by members of an occupational group
Characteristics that drive police working personality
The threat of danger
Maintaining your wits during the routine
Traffic stops
How was Timothy McVeigh caught
Considering your implicit bias
What is that? How do you control/overcome? Why is it dangerous
Philando Castile
Establish authority (examples)
People you interact with might nor defer to your authority
They might not like you
Job Stress
List the stressors of the job
Shifts, danger, trauma, overtime, holiday work, suspicion, working with public, pay, perceptions
One of 10 most stressful jobs
Record number of police suicides in 2019 (228)
External
Organizational
Personal
Operational
Police Morality
Dilemmas of the job and overcoming them
Use of morality to justify actions
Think, again, of agree with protests but having to control the crowd
contradiction between goal of preventing crime and officer’s inability to do so
using discretion to handle a situation → actions fall outside of policies and procedures but gets good results
that you might act against a citizen’s interest, sometimes with coercive threats to kill
Difficult situations that are traumatic → dealing with them in your own mind
Justifying that you uphold the law, getting the bad guys
But…this feeds into the working personality…sometimes in bad ways
Us vs them, cynicism
The Thin Blue Line or Blue Wall
Working personalities again
Cynicism, suspicion, etc.
But also public view of police
Not always positive…mistrust and hostility
Especially in specific neighborhoods or population sub-groups
Being cognizant of this
President’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing
LE culture should focus on guardian not warrior
Focus on positive image and reputation and work with the community
Focus training on de-escalation, racial profiling, and other contemporary issues
Civilian oversight
New tech and body cams
Mandate CIT for officers
Police Function
What are police expected to do:
Maintain order
Enforce the law
Prevent crime
Provide services
Apprehend offenders/criminals
Maintain Order
Dealing with conflict…keeping the peace
Domestics, loud music, panhandling, vagrants, bar fights, “suspicious” persons
Pretty broad category
Discretion
Most powerful tool
Who do you arrest? Do you arrest anyone? Who is lying? Do you arrest or force one to leave
Enforcing the law
Law is violated…you have to enforce it
Specific branches within departments
Not every officer really enforces the law all the time
Patrolmen vs. detective
But presence is key
Also…most important information in any investigation??
Also, how much crime is actually known
Service
Providing service to the community
Majority of calls are for service…not crime related
Building relationships and partner with the community
Who do you call?
Partnering with neighborhood watches
DARE “type” programs
Being a community partner…being active beyond traditional LE role
Service is found to be key to implementing LE’s role:
Crime prevention is more effective than just arrests (for crime reduction)
Cooperation of the community is crucial (Erie witnesses)
Organization of Police
Generally a quasi-military model
Rank, communication, responsibilities
Increases efficiency, labor, and communications
Flow chart allows communication to flow up and down, issues up and down, etc.
Every individual knows who they report to and who reports to them
Chain of command
Mobilize units where needed…changes where needed
Accountability, discipline, control is also specialized
Specialized labor