Chapter 6 Notes: The Police—Organization, Role, and Function

Organization of Police Departments

  • Independent organizations — no two are exactly alike
  • Hierarchical with a chain of command
  • Problems are not uncommon, nor are they unique to policing agencies
  • Personnel changes
  • Internal reorganization
  • Time-in-rank system
    • Requires that before moving up the administrative ladder, an officer must spend a certain amount of time in the next lowest rank
    • Prohibits departments from allowing officers to skip ranks
    • Sometimes prevents them from hiring an officer from another department and awarding him or her a higher rank

The Police Organization (1 of 2)

  • The time-in-rank system (as above) is a key feature discussed under the Police Organization

The Police Role

  • Real police work includes:
    • Minor disturbances
    • Service calls
    • Administrative duties

The Patrol Function (1 of 4)

  • Patrol officers are the most highly visible components of the entire criminal justice system
  • Patrol activities include:
    • Deter crime
    • Maintain public order
    • Respond quickly
    • Identify and apprehend law violators
    • Provide aid
    • Facilitate the movement of traffic and people
    • Create a feeling of security in the community

The Patrol Function (2 of 4)

  • Improving patrol
    • Aggressive patrol (proactive policing) — officers take the initiative against crime rather than waiting for criminal acts
    • Broken windows policing — police as maintainers of community order and safety
    • Rapid response — improve police response time

The Patrol Function (3 of 4)

  • Improving patrol (continued)
    • Procedural justice — concern with making decisions that are fair when procedures are followed
    • Use of technology — technologies such as CompStat to help guide patrol efforts

The Patrol Function (4 of 4) / Concept Summary 6.1

  • Tactics, goals, and examples:
    • Aggressive patrol: Goal — Enforce law vigorously; Conclusion — sends a message that crime will not be tolerated
    • Broken windows policing: Goal — Target low-level offenses and incivilities; Conclusion — prevents serious crime
    • Rapid response: Goal — Respond to 911 calls quickly; Conclusion — increases odds of catching lawbreakers
    • Procedural justice: Goal — Treat citizens with dignity and respect; Conclusion — increases chances of citizens helping police fight crime
    • Use of technology: Goal — Employ latest communication and mapping technologies; Conclusion — identify criminals and target crimes efficiently

The Investigative Function (1 of 4)

  • Investigative work is less visible than patrol work
  • Works closely with patrol officers to provide an immediate investigative response to crimes and incidents
  • Many police departments maintain separate units, squads, or divisions of detectives who investigate crimes ranging from vice to homicides

The Investigative Function (2 of 4)

  • How do detectives detect?
    • Specific focus: interview witnesses, gather evidence, record events, and collect facts
    • General coverage: canvasses the neighborhood, makes observations, conducts interviews with friends/family/associates, contacts others for information regarding victims/suspects, constructs victim/suspect timelines to outline whereabouts
  • Informative data gathering
    • Uses technology to collect records of cell phones, computer hard drives, notes, and other information

The Investigative Function (3 of 4)

  • Sting operations
    • Organized groups of detectives who deceive criminals into openly committing illegal acts or conspiring to engage in criminal activity
  • Undercover work
    • Pose as criminals or as victims
    • Considered a necessary element of police work, though it can prove dangerous for the officer
    • May pose psychological problems for the officer

The Investigative Function (4 of 4)

  • Evaluating investigations
    • Creates considerable paperwork and is relatively inefficient in clearing cases
  • Improving investigations
    • Patrol officers should have greater responsibility at the scene
    • Specialized units can bring expertise
    • Collection of physical evidence is important
  • Using technology
    • Streamlines and enhances the investigative process

Discussion Activities

  • Recall a recent television show you have watched that deals with policing or detective work
    • What type of impression of policing or detective work did you get from the television show?
    • How does this correspond with what you learned in this chapter?
    • How can you explain the differences?

Discussion Activity Debrief

  • Would you rather be a detective or a patrol officer? Why?
  • What about that job would you like the most?
  • What would you like the least?

Community Policing

  • Community-oriented policing
    • Consists of a return to an earlier style of policing in which officers on the beat had intimate contact with citizens
    • Can be a specific program or a philosophy
  • Key components:
    • Community partnerships
    • Organizational transformation
    • Problem solving

Challenges of Community Policing (1 of 2)

  • The challenges include:
    • Defining community
    • Defining roles
    • Changing supervisor attitudes
    • Reorienting police values
    • Revising training
    • Reorienting recruitment
    • Reaching out to every community

Challenges of Community Policing (2 of 2)

  • Overcoming obstacles
    • Can fit well with traditional forms of policing
    • Credited with helping reduce crime rates in large cities
    • Has become a common part of municipal police departments

Written Assignment Activity

  • Look at the website of your community police department for evidence of community policing programs, or contact your local police department to inquire
    • What types of community-policing initiatives do you believe are present in your community?
    • Have you seen any evidence of such initiatives?
    • Do you believe these programs are beneficial? Why or why not?
    • Be prepared to share your findings with the class

Problem-Oriented Policing (POP) (1 of 2)

  • Problem-oriented policing (POP)
    • A style of police management that stresses proactive problem solving instead of reactive crime fighting
    • Requires police agencies to identify particular long-term community problems and to develop strategies to eliminate them
    • Supported by the fact that a great deal of urban crime is concentrated in a few hot spots

Problem-Oriented Policing (2 of 2)

  • Criminal acts, criminal places
    • Example: combating auto theft using technology to reduce car thefts
    • Reducing violence: Operation Ceasefire was formed to reduce youth homicide and youth firearms violence
    • Displacement: occurs when criminals move from targeted areas to less protected areas

Intelligence-Led Policing (ILP) (1 of 2)

  • ILP
    • The collection and analysis of information to generate an “intelligence end product” designed to inform police decision making at both the tactical and the strategic level
    • Relies heavily on:
    • Confidential informants
    • Offender interviews
    • Analysis of crime reports
    • Suspect surveillance
    • Community sources of information

Intelligence-Led Policing (2 of 2)

  • Fusion centers
    • Developed the National Criminal Intelligence Sharing Plan (NCISP)
    • Support for a range of law enforcement activities
    • Help for major incident operations and support for units charged with interdiction and criminal investigations
    • Provide the means for community input, often through “tip lines”
    • Assistance to law enforcement executives

Knowledge Check Activity

  • ILP is both tactical and strategic
    • How would you use intelligence-led policing in your neighborhood to reduce crime?
    • Do you see ILP as the main tactic of policing in 10 years? 20 years? Why or why not?

Knowledge Check Activity: Answer

  • ILP is intended to further shift the emphasis in police work away from reactive responses and individual case investigations. It instead emphasizes information sharing, collaboration, and strategic solutions to crime problems at various levels
  • It relies heavily on:
    • Confidential informants
    • Offender interviews
    • Careful analysis of crime reports and calls for service
    • Suspect surveillance
    • Community sources of information

Police Support Functions

  • Personnel service
  • Internal affairs division
  • Administration and control of budgets
  • Maintenance and dissemination of information
  • Dispatch
  • Training
  • Citizen police interactions
  • Forensics
  • Planners

Improving Police Productivity

  • Consolidation
  • Informal arrangements
  • Sharing
  • Pooling
  • Contracting
  • Service districts
  • Civilian employees
  • Dispatch
  • Training
  • Citizen police interactions
  • Forensics
  • Planners

Identify Some of the Cost-Saving Measures that may be Employed to Improve Police Productivity

  • Police departments have sought to improve their productivity by:
    • Consolidating
    • Adopting informal arrangements
    • Sharing
    • Pooling
    • Contracting
    • Assigning service districts
    • Hiring civilians
    • Multiple tasking
    • Using special assignments
    • Trying differential response

Self-Assessment

  • What do you think about a police chief who is not allowed to promote an officer with special skills to a supervisory position because they do not have time in rank?
  • Do you think some officers who are more qualified will not get promoted because of this policy?
  • Do you think the police and the community can ever form a partnership to fight crime? Why or why not? Explain.

Summary (1 of 2)

  • Now that the lesson has ended, you should have learned how to:
    • Explain the organization of police departments
    • Differentiate between the patrol function and the investigation function
    • Discuss various efforts to improve patrol
    • Discuss key issues associated with the investigative function
    • Explain the concept of community policing

Summary (2 of 2)

  • Now that the lesson has ended, you should have learned how to:
    • List several challenges associated with community policing
    • Discuss the concept of problem-oriented policing
    • Define intelligence-led policing and explain ways in which it occurs
    • Explain the various police support functions
    • Identify some of the cost-saving measures that may be employed to improve police productivity.