Policing: Origins, Purpose, and Organization10/14/14 10:48 PM

Definitions:

Crime Prevention: the anticipation recognition, and appraisal of crime risk and the
initiation of action to eliminate or reduce it.

Quality of life: minor violation of the law ( sometimes called a petty crime) that
demoralizes community residents and businesspeople. They involve acts that create physical
disorder ( for example, excessive noise and vandalism) or that reflect social decay such as
panhandling and prostitution).

Broken windows: the model of policing based on the notion that physical decay such as
litter and abandoned building breed disorder in the community.

Sworn officer: A law enforcement officer who is trained and empowered to perform full
police duties.

Municipal police department: A city or town based law enforcement agency.

Fusion centers: A multi agency law enforcement designed to enhance cooperative efforts
through a coordinated process for collecting sharing and analyzing information in order to
develop actionable intelligence.

International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol): Began in 1923, 177 member

nations

European Criminal Police Organization (Europol): Focus on drug trafficking in

European Union

Police management: The administrative activities of controlling, directing, and

coordinating police personnel, resources, and activities in the service of crime prevention, the
apprehension of criminals, the recovery of stolen property, and the performance of a variety
of regulatory and helping services.

Line operations: In police organizations, the field activities or supervisory activities directly
related to day- to- day police work.

Staff Operations: Activites such as administration and training.

Chain of command: The unbroken line of authority that extends through all levels of an
organization, from the highest to the lowest.

Span of Control: The number of police personnel of the number of units supervised by a
particular officer.

Watchman style: a style of policing marked by a concern for order maintenance .

Watchman policing is characteristic of lower class communities where informal police
intervention into the lives of residents is employed in the service of keeping the peace.

Legalistic style: A style of policing marked by a strict concern with enforcing the precise
letter of the law. Legalistic departments may take a hands- off approach to disruptive or
problematic behavior that does not violate the criminal law.

Service style: A style of policing marked by a concern with helping rather than strict
enforcement. Service- oriented police agencies are more likely to take advantage of
community resources, such as drug- treatment programs, than are other types of agencies.

Police community relations (PCR): An area of police activity that recognizes the need
for the community and the police to work together effectively and that is based on the notion
that the police derive their legitimacy from the community they serve. Many police agencies
began to explore PCR in the 1960s and 1970s.

Team Policing: The reorganization of conventional patrol strategies into an integrated

and versatile police team assigned to a fixed district.

Strategic policing: Retains the traditional police goal of professional crime fighting
Problem solving policing: A type of policing that retains the traditional police goal of
professional crime fighting but enlarges the enforcement target to include nontraditional
kinds of criminals, such as serial offenders, gangs and criminal associations, drug-distribution
networks, and sophisticated white- collar and computer criminals. It generally makes use of
innovative enforcement techniques, including intelligence operations, undercover stings,
electronic surveillance, and sophisticated forensic methods.

Community policing: A collaborative effort between the police and the community
that identifies problems of crime and disorder and involves all elements of the community in
the search for solutions to these problems.

Law Enforcement Assistance Administration (LEAA): A now-defunct federal agency

established under Title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to
funnel federal funding to state and local law enforcement agencies.

Scientific Police Management: The application of social sciences techniques to the study
of police administration for the purpose of increasing effectiveness, reducing the frequency of
citizen complaints, and enhancing the efficient use of available resources.

Directed patrol: A police-management strategy designed to increase the productivity of

patrol officers through the scientific analysis and evaluation of patrol techniques.

Evidence based Policing (EBP): The use of best available research on the outcomes of
police work to implement guidelines and evaluate agencies, units, and officers.

Police discretion: The opportunity of law enforcement officers to exercise choice in their
daily activities.

The Police Mission (Comes from England)

The 4 basic purposes of policing in democratic societies are:
1. Enforce the laws
2. Apprehend Criminal Offenders
3. Prevent Crime
4. Preserve the Peace
Five core law enforcement strategies:
(1) Preventive patrol
(2) Routine incident response
(3) Emergency response
(4) Criminal investigation
(5) Problem solving
Mutual Pledge System:
A system of community self-responsibility that existed in Britain in the Middle Ages in which
residents were held responsible for the conduct of their neighbors.
Constable:
Citizen in charge of weapons and equipment for 100 families in his geographic area.
COP = Constable on Patrol
The Invention of Gin:
Provoked a more organized effort toward the establishment of public policing in the 17th & 18th
century.
The New Police:
Were not popular because they were seen as an unnecessary encroachment into the lives of
Londoners. (friction between citizens and cops)
Peels 9 Principles:
! The basic mission for which the police exist is to prevent crime and disorder.
! The ability of the police to perform their duties is dependent upon public approval of police
actions.
! Police must secure the willing co-operation of the public in voluntary observance of the law to
be able to secure and maintain the respect of the public.

! The degree of co-operation of the public that can be secured diminishes proportionately to
the necessity of the use of physical force.
! Police seek and preserve public favour not by catering to public opinion but by constantly
demonstrating absolute impartial service to the law.
! Police use physical force to the extent necessary to secure observance of the law or to restore
order only when the exercise of persuasion, advice and warning is found to be insufficient.
! Police, at all times, should maintain a relationship with the public that gives reality to the
historic tradition that the police are the public and the public are the police; the police being
only members of *the public who are paid to give full-time attention to duties which are
incumbent on every citizen in the interests of community welfare and existence.
! Police should always direct their action strictly towards their functions and never appear to
usurp the powers of the judiciary.
! The test of police efficiency is the absence of crime and disorder, not the visible evidence of
police action in dealing with it.
The 3 Main Problems with Early Policing:
1. Low Pay
2. Disrespect
3. Ineffectiveness
""The 3 Cause of the Main Problems ""
1. Low pay # Military model not suited for police work
2. Disrespect # Police have contradictory tasks of protecting and arresting their employers/the
public
3. Ineffectiveness # Police forces were often used as a source of political patronage and control.
1900 Police Offer Selection Criteria
In 1900 the only criteria used in the selection of police officers were physical fitness & political
influence. Today the selection method is a little more strict (associate degree)
Early 20th Century: Movement toward professionalization

improve efficiency
improve technology
better selection and training

The Major Innovations in Early Policing:

1. Patrol Car

2. Two Way Radio

3. Telephone
The 3 Levels of Police
1. Local (City police)
2. State
! Centralized model: the tasks of major criminal investigations are combined with the patrol of
state highways.
! Centralized state police:

3. Federal

Assist local law enforcement departments in criminal investigations when asked to do

so
Operate centralized identification bureau
Maintain a centralized criminal records repository
Patrol the states highways
Provide select training for municipal and county officers
Only laws enacted by Congress
17 Agencies
Ex: FBI (federal crimes), IRS (tax fraud), DEA(drugs), ATF (guns & bombs)

American Policing Today: From Federal to the Local Level

State Law Enforcement Agencies:
1. Alcohol law enforcement agencies
2. Fish & Wildlife agencies
3. Highway patrol
4. Port authorities
5. State bureaus of investigation
6. State park services
7. State police
8. State University police
9. Weigh station operations
Local Agencies:
1. Campus police
2. City/County agencies
3. Constables
4. Coroners or medical examiners

5. Housing authority agencies

6. Marine patrol agencies
7. Municipal police departments
8. Sheriffs Department
9. Transit police
10. Tribal police
Police Administration:
Roles within police agencies generally fall into one or two categories: LINE and STAFF
Line operations: are field or supervisory activities directly related to daily police work
Staff operations: include support roles such as administration; human resources, court work
LOOK AT FIGURE 41 Organization Chart of LA Police Dept.
Women in Policing:
1972 Amendment to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act
Equal Opportunity Employment Commission # eliminated arbitrary police qualifications (ex.
min. height) criteria must relate to job performance

Currently
11% of police officers are female
11% are African American
8% Hispanic

Police Selection Process:

1. Written Test
2. Agility
3. Drug Test
4. Oral interview
5. Background
6. Polygraph
7. Psychological assessment
8. Medical
Characteristics for Good Police Work
1. Attentiveness
2. Reliability

3.
4.
5.
6.

Responsiveness
Competence
Manners
Fairness

1st Major Technological Breakthrough

National Crime Information Center (NCIC) - 1960s: Criminal histories, missing persons, wanted
persons, stolen property
3 Tenets of Community Policing
1. Uses a problem solving approach
2. Is service oriented
3. Encourages officers use of discretion

10/14/14 10:48 PM

10/14/14 10:48 PM