Police in America – Chapter 1: Police & Society (Notes)

A law enforcement agency has four primary functions:
- 1. Prevents crime
- 2. Controls crime
- 3. Maintains public order
- 4. Provides many other miscellaneous services
There is very limited research on how much crime police agencies are able to prevent crimes.
Crime Fighting image- Police always involved in shootings, officers always fighting with criminals. Because of news media etc. except in very concentrated area.
Police rarely use their own weapon against another being
20 shootings in houston every year. 5 would be killed from those 20 shootings.
25 years for average work span. 500 shootings happen in those 25 years
Always prepared to shoot
Peace officer- mandated by the state
police officer- issued to county
police lost alot of credibility due too george floyd incident
officer, sgt, lt. Thats the hiarchy of the police force, shifts are very dependint based of the hiarchal system

Prevents us from objectively evaluating police performance
Ignores other important functions such as order maintenance and services
Only 19\% of the calls involve crime and only 2\% of calls are related to violent crime incidents

Description of categories:
- Investigation: investigate, follow-up
- Service: check individual/property, assist motorist, found property
- Traffic-related incidents: traffic-related, crash, reckless driver, hit and run crash, drunk driver, hit and run
- Suspicious incidents: suspicious person, alarm, prowler
- Disorder incidents: dispute, noise complaint, juvenile complaint, vandalism, mentally ill, animal, illegal parking, shoplifting, drunk, obscene/threat contact, abandoned vehicle, fireworks
- Special assignment
- Property offenses: theft, burglary, forgery/worthless/fraud, auto theft, con
Key figures (selected):
- Total calls (crime): 234{,}660
- Total calls (proactivity): 235{,}455
- Average time per case: 39.6\text{ minutes}
- Violent, person, and weapon crimes: 31{,}571 (crime) with 945 (proactivity); average time around 91.4\text{ min}
- Crimes of drug and vice (drug investigation, prostitution): 4{,}264 (crime) with 1{,}032 (proactivity); average time 48.6\text{ min}
- Property offenses (theft, burglary, forgery, etc.): (data shown in table)
Total row summary: Crimes 234{,}660 (100%), Proactivity 235{,}455 (100%), Average time 39.6\text{ min}

Complexity of the Police Role
Ambiguities, not clear
Use of force—even deadly force—is one of the most important factors to understand police work

Police are 24/7 and their availability is jurisdiction-wide
People call and police promise to respond (you can talk to a human being!)
Police are generalists; you can call the police for any reason
Authority to use force
This factor makes the police more likely to take care of the problem (not solve the problem)

Total Budget: About ext{
(approximately) } 583
Cost of Police Protection Per Person (City of Long Beach, CA):
- Full-time, Permanent: 3{,}085.52 to 4{,}011.84 (biweekly)
Category: Law Enforcement / Criminology

Social Control: a process by which people are taught to behave in a certain manner
Social control emphasizes conformity, not diversity, and predictability
Police are part of the political and social welfare system

Legitimate Police includes the following elements:
- Transparency in policy and practices
- Public trust in police work
- Public interactions to build legitimacy
- Procedural justice when enforcing the law

Freedom focuses on individual rights defined in the Constitution
Order emphasizes the group interest and the rules that individuals have consensus to abide by
Characteristics (illustrative): balance between individual rights and community safety