Introduction to Criminal Justice

1
Introduction to Criminal Justice

• Chapter 7
• Issues in Policing

2
Introduction

• Public concern
• Quality and effectiveness of local police
• Expert and administrators
• Effectiveness and efficiency concerns
• Social composition of police force

3
The Police ProfessionCulture

• Police subculture
• Clannishness, secrecy, insulation from others in
  society, the blue curtain

4
Culture Cont.

• Six core beliefs in the police subculture
• They are the only real crime fighters
• No one else understands us
• Loyalty to each other
• It is difficult to win the war against crime
• Public is unsupportive
• Patrol work is the pits
• Believed to developed from work experience

5
Personality

• Authoritarian
• Suspicious
• Racist
• Hostile
• Insecure
• Conservative
• Cynical

6
Origins of the Police Personality

• Police work attracts people with these
  personality traits
• The nature of the work causes traits to develop

7
Styles of Policing

• The Dirty Harry problem
• Some officers see themselves as civil servants
• Others see themselves a s the thin blue line

8
Styles of Policing Cont..

• The Crime Fighter
• Investigates crimes and prosecutes criminals
• Focuses on major personal crime
• Disregards property crime and misdemeanors
• Also known as enforcers, super cops or old-style
  crime fighters

9
Styles of Policing Cont.

• The Social Agent
• Feels responsible for a wide range of services
• Problem-solvers

10
Styles of Policing Cont.

• The Law Enforcer
• Emphasizes detection and apprehension
• Does not distinguish between major and minor
  crimes
• Plays it by the book

11
Styles of Policing Cont.

• The Watchman
• Emphasizes maintenance of public order
• Ignores infractions and service requests
• Is There A Police Style?
• Most officers cannot specialize

12
The Changing Composition of the Public

• Traditional Police Officer
• White male
• High school education
• Generation of police officers
• Educated Police Officers
• Majority of departments do not require a college
  education

13
The Changing Composition of the Public Cont.

• Education makes for a better police officer and
  increases chances for promotion
• Does Higher Education Matter?
• Dissuades minority applicants
• Costly to recruit and pay
• Lack of evidence that education is a benefit to
  police work

14
The Changing Composition of the Public Cont.High
Education Benefits

• Receive fewer citizen complaints
• Better performances characteristics
• Fewer on-the-job injuries
• Fewer injuries from assault
• Fewer disciplinary actions
• Fewer sick days
• Fewer physical force allegations
• Controls negative aspects of police personality
• Better report writing

15
Minority Police Officers

• First minority officer hired in Washington, D.C.
  in 1861
• Double marginality
• Black officers are becoming more aggressive and
  self-confident

16
Minority Police Officers Cont.

• Racial Problems
• Black officers identify with white peers
• Promotion and command problems
• Overcoming Discrimination
• Court-ordered hiring deemed essential
• U.S. v. Paradise- upheld use of quotes

17
Minority Police Officers Cont.

• All minority officers assigned to a single beat
  discriminatory
• What The Future Holds
• Minority hiring plans

18
Female Police Officers

• First women officers in 1910
• Forced revision of entrance requirements
• Make up about 9 of all sworn officers
• Promotion and acceptance problems

19
Female Police Officers Cont.

• Do women make good cops?
• Exhibit satisfactory work performance
• Receive support from community
• Less likely to be charged with improper conduct
• Female and male arrest rates identical
• Work best when paired with another female
• Less likely to use firearm

20
Female Police Officers Cont.

• Gender Conflicts
• Males complain that females lack emotional and
  physical strength
• macho atmosphere of police work
• Process of defeminization
• The Future of Women In Policing
• Under represented in supervisory positions
• Beverly Havard /Page 218
• Maternity policies

21
Applying Social Control Police Use of Discretion

• Examples
• Selective enforcement of the law
• Low visibility decision-making
• Environmental Influences on Discretion
• Community culture
• Community racial makeup
• Socioeconomics status of neighborhood
• Community alternatives to police processing

22
Applying Social Control Police Use of Discretion
Cont.

• Departmental Influences On Discretion
• Departmental policies and directives
• Ration of supervisory personnel
• Bureaucratization
• Peer Influences On Discretion
• Subculture
• Rookies seek out veteran cops

23
Applying Social Control Police Use of Discretion
Cont.

• Extralegal Factors
• Race, class, and gender of suspect
• Criminal/Victim Influences on Discretion
• How seriously officer views offense
• Relationship between parties
• Behavior/characteristics of victim
• Workload strain

24
Applying Social Control Police Use of Discretion
Cont.

• Does Race Matter?
• Conflicting research
• Victims race may be significant

25
Problems of Policing

• History of Police Violence
• Early officers used violence to gain respect
• Wickersham Commission notes use of the third
  degree
• Violence in the 1940s
• Rodney King beating

26
Police Brutality

• Involves the unnecessary use of force, coercion,
  threats, or harassment
• History of Police Brutality
• Charges of brutality were common from 1940s to
  1960s
• 1967 Presidents Commission concludes it had
  abated
• Modern research indicates it is less common than
  imagined

27
Police Brutality Cont.

• Verbal abuse is common
• Excessive use of physical force is rare
• Likely to use force against those who show
  disrespect one arrested
• Is Brutality Reemerging?
• The Rodney King case and the Christopher
  Commission
• Problems with the LAPD

28
Who Are The Problem Cops?

• chronic offenders- a minority of officers
  account for a significant proportion of
  complaints
• Young, inexperienced officers responsible for
  bulk of complaints
• Little evidence of racial motivation

29
Curbing Brutality

• Roots in American culture
• Videotape encounters
• Create detailed rules of engagement
• Deselect violence-prone candidates

30
Deadly Force

• The actions of a police officer who shoots and
  kills a suspect who is either fleeing from
  arrest, assaulting a victim, or attacking the
  officer
• How Frequently is Deadly Force Used?
• FBI supplementary homicide reports
• Reports from the national Center for Health
  Statistics
• Sources lack reliability

31
Deadly Force Cont.

• Why Deadly Force Occurs?
• Jurisdictional variation
• Police workload
• Firearms availability
• Social variables
• Administrative policies

32
Race and Police Shootings

• A disproportionate number of police shootings
  involve minorities
• Racial differences are insignificant if other
  factors are controlled for armed suspect,
  violent crime, attack on officer
• Black officers more likely to shoot

33
Controlling Deadly Force

• Tennessee v. Garner- Supreme Court rules on the
  use of deadly force
• Graham v. Connor- reasonableness standard

34
The Effect Of Garner

• Reduction in police use of deadly force
• State statutory policies restricting the use of
  force
• Upgraded training
• Internal review and police administrative review
  boards
• Non-lethal weapons

35
Police Stress

• Effects
• Alcoholism, divorce, depression, or suicide
• Categories of Police Stressors
• External stressors
• Organizational stressors
• Duty stressors
• Individual stressors

36
Police Stress Cont.

• Police suffer from high rate of premature deaths
• Coronary heart disease
• Diabetes
• Combating Stress
• Confrontive coping strategies
• Problem solving skills
• Maladaptive strategies escape-avoidance
  distancing
• Stress training programs

37
Corruption

• Michael Dowd and the history of corruption
• Police Deviance
• Definition varies

38
Varieties of Corruption

• Internal corruption
• Selective enforcementor non-enforcementor
• Active criminality
• Bribery and extortion
• Mooching, Shopping, Shakedown
• Chiseling, Favoritism, Abuse of authority

39
Corrupt Departments

• Type I Rotten apples and rotten pockets
• Type II pervasive unorganized corruption
• Type III pervasive organized corruption

40
The Causes of Control of Corruption

• Explanations the type of person who becomes an
  officer large amounts of police discretion the
  code of secrecy societys ambivalence toward
  vice crime

41
Controlling Corruption

• Internal administrative review
• The accountability system
• Outside review boards
• Court review
• Training and education
• Change social context
• Decriminalization of vice

42
The End