Introduction to Criminal Justice

1. Introduction to Criminal Justice Chapter 6

2. Police Hiring Practices • Practices changed little from 1829-1961 • Primarily white males with limited education • Recent efforts to diversify the police with minority and women officers • More testing and screening of applicants • Increase in pay and opportunities today

3. More extensive screening today • Drug tests • Review of educational, military and driving record • Credit check • Interviews with spouse, previous employers • Criminal record check • Physical agility test • Polygraph exam (20% fail)

4. Becoming an Officer • Minimum Iowa requirements: • Be a U.S. citizen • Be 18 at time of appointment • Hold valid Iowa driver’s license • Not be addicted to drugs/alcohol • Be of good moral character • Successfully pass physical exam

5. Becoming an Officer---Specific Additional Requirements • Not opposed to use of force • Be a high school graduate or hold a GED certificate • Have uncorrected vision of not less than 20/100 in both eyes; corrected to 20/20; not color blind • Normal hearing (hearing aids permissible) • Pass a physical exam

6. Becoming an Officer---Additional Requirements • Undergo psychological testing • Undergo cognitive (basic skills) testing • The physical: • Gender and age specific • Sit and reach • 1 minute sit ups • 1 minute push ups • 1.5 mile run

7. New Educational Requirements • 65% of officers had some college • 25% were college graduates • 8% of departments require 2-year degree, while 9% require 4-year degree • College coursework gives advantages in promotion • Some still believe education is not a necessity for police

8. Training for New Police Recruits • Police academy---Required by most states • Controlled, militarized environment • Taught law, police procedures, weaponry, interviewing, self-defense, securing crime scenes, and interpersonal skills • Field training • Field Training Officer (FTO) helps apply academy training in the streets.

9. Small group discussion • What do you believe are the most important requirements for a police officer? Education, experience, integrity, background, attitude, etc. • What things in an applicant’s background do you believe should automatically rule them out of being an officer?

10. Increase in minority officers on the jobs • 1968---only 5% of officers nationwide were minorities • Women were even a smaller percentage • 2002---27% of recruits were minorities • 17% were women • Federal laws and court decisions pressured departments to diversify

11. Departments are bureaucracies • Bureaucracy: Hierarchically structured administrative organization that carries out specific functions • Formal rules govern each individual’s actions and relationships with co-employees • Goal of bureaucracies is to reach maximum efficiency • For police, to provide best service for the community with its limited resources

12. 1950’s---Reform leads to militaristic organization • Chain of command leads from Chief through each level of department • Delegation of authority is the principle of command on which departments are based • Personnel take orders from and are responsible to those directly above them • Encourages discipline and control

13. Police Organization • Typical structure of police departments is layered: • Chief of Police • Deputy Chiefs (larger departments) • Captains (larger departments) • Lieutenants (larger departments) • Sergeants • Patrol

14. Police strive for efficiency---Response times • Response time: Speed with which police respond to calls for service • Incident-driven policing: calls for service are the primary instigation of action • 40-60% of police activity are result of citizen calls • Differential response: Respond first to most serious incidents • “Hot crimes” come first; “cold crimes” later

15. Police strive for efficiency---Arrest rates • More arrests, fewer criminals on street (theory) • But, amount of crime is not necessarily a function of arrest rates • Most arrests are for misdemeanors • Arrests do not always result in imprisonment • Arrest rates cannot be relied on as measures of police performance

16. Police and the community • Many police departments have seen the need to incorporate community policing into their structure (table on p.137) • A philosophy that emphasizes community support for and cooperation with the police in preventing crime • Problem-solving policing – requires police to identify potential criminal activities and develop strategies to prevent them

17. Community policing emphasizes • Promotes community-police partnerships • Proactive problem solving • Community engagement • Develops personal relationships with residents • More freedom for officers to improvise

18. Problem solving policing • Moves beyond simply responding to crimes • Attempts to control or even solve root causes of crime • Analyze patterns of crime • Adjust police actions to prevent further similar crimes

19. Problem solving policing uses • Crime mapping- to identify patterns of crime (Introduced by Compstat program in New York in 1990): • Time of day • Type of crime • Type of weapon --Location of repeat offenses – Hot spots

20. Broken Windows Theory (Wilson and Kelly) • Decaying and disordered neighborhoods send out signals that criminal activity is tolerated • Broken windows, dilapidated buildings, graffiti, lawless behavior by residents • Promotes fear in law-abiding citizens • Discourages them from leaving their homes, or from improving the neighborhood

21. Broken Windows Theory • Is based on order maintenance • “Quality of life” crimes (panhandling, public drinking, urinating in public, loitering, graffiti painting) are not overlooked • Foot patrols are utilized • Officers “reconnect” with community • “Crackdowns” are used to address specific public crimes

22. Question??? • Do you believe there is merit to the Broken Windows theory? • How do you think we should treat homeless panhandlers in the inner city? Clear them out? Let them stay?

23. Police Field Organization • Patrol Activities • Investigations • Special Operations

24. Patrol Function • Patrol units – 2/3 of police are on patrol; long considered the “backbone” of force • Deterring crime by physical presence • Maintain public order • Traffic • Arrest • Provide other non crime related services • Paperwork – about 20% of time • Larry Naber says, “Police work is 90% boredom and 10% adrenalin rush.”

25. Police Patrol • Directed patrol: Strategy to respond to specific criminal activity at a certain time • General patrol (or random patrol): Strategy to rely on officers monitoring a specific area to detect crimes in progress, or prevent crimes due to their presence. • All jurisdictions use automobile for patrol, some have bicycles, motorcycles, horses, boats, and foot patrols

26. Kansas City Patrol Experiment (1973) • Utilized 3 different patrol procedures: • Control beats: similar to general patrol • Proactive beats: patrol activities doubled or tripled in area • Reactive beats: no patrol; only reacted to calls from precinct

27. Results of Kansas City Patrol Experiment • Shocking to most observers • Study results---no real difference in: • Crime • Opinions of public of effectiveness of police • Response times • Reports of crime to police • In spite of results, most continue patrols to reassure citizens • But, police concluded they could divert officers from patrol for other activities

28. Investigations Function • Usually after a crime has been committed, a detective does an investigation • Detectives make up about 15% of personnel in midsized to larger departments • May be in specialized units – motor vehicle thefts, forgery, vice, drugs, crime against persons • Detectives’ jobs limited to law enforcement • Investigate primarily common crimes like burglary

29. Other specialized units in detective division • Cold case investigations---Unsolved for long periods (Like Hoffa disappearance; Mark case) • Undercover activities---Assume false identities to obtain information • Sting---Give opportunity for suspects to engage in crime • Confidential informants---Effective, controversial

30. Police subculture • Every organization has a subculture – a broad term used to describe the basic assumptions and values that permeate law enforcement agencies and are taught to new members as the proper way to think, perceive, and act • These values are formed in an environment of danger, stress, boredom, and violence • Unique aspects of police work encourage this

31. Police Culture • This socialization process: • Begins on the first day of work • Graduation from academy • Learning from the FTO • Making first arrest • Making first “big” arrest • Using force for the first time • Using or witnessing deadly force • Witnessing major traumatic incidents for first time

32. Police Culture • As an officer, who do you turn to? In whom do you confide? • Slowly, officers tend to insulate themselves from civilians – “us versus them” • Police cynicism – individual officer begin to distrust human motives and expect nothing but the worst from fellow humans • Blue curtain descends; values secrecy and general mistrust of outside world • Leads to understanding he will not report wrong doing by peers

33. Police Culture • One of the top ten most stressful jobs • Stress and social isolation a factor in police having one of the highest divorce rates • Law enforcement officers are 300% more likely to develop alcoholism than average American • Entitlement – an attitude of “look at all that I’ve done, gone through, I deserve….”

34. Police Culture • Do these pressures possibility explain why there may be “misuse of force” by police? • Use of Force Continuum: • Officer presence • Verbal • Open hands • Chemicals • Nonlethal • Deadly force

35. Use of Force • Reasonable force – the amount of force a reasonable person would assume was necessary • Deadly force – force applied that is likely or intended to cause death • Non-deadly force – All other types of force • Officers generally justified in using force to protect themselves or others • Occurs in only about 1.5% of encounters with public

36. Supreme Court restrictions on use of force • “When the suspect poses no immediate threat to the officer or to others, the use of deadly force is not justified.” (Tennessee v. Garner, 1985) • Police may use deadly force if they have probable cause to believe a fleeing suspect poses a threat of serious injury or death to the officer or others.

37. Police Culture • Police corruption – misuse of police authority to produce a personal gain • Grass eaters – passive corruption: accepting free meals, coffee • Meat eaters – more aggressive in quest for personal gain: bribery, payoffs, shakedowns

38. Stages in Moral Decline of Police Officers (Sherman) • 1st stage: Officer accepts minor gratuities • 2nd stage: Gratuities evolve into outright bribes • 3rd stage: Officers actively seek out bribes and even force parties to pay for services • Moral decline follows lack of training, lack of supervision, and potential for large financial gain

39. Police Culture • The blue curtain; thin blue line; blue wall of silence, the blue code of silence are all names given to police not telling about the misconduct of a fellow officer. • Is it permissible for an officer not to give another officer a speeding ticket? • What are some other situations where the “blue curtain” would prevail?

40. Group Discussion Topic • You are a uniformed police officer. You have just eaten your lunch and tried to pay. You were told that as an officer, you eat for free. What do you do and why? • You are a State Trooper and have stopped a speeding vehicle. You learn the “speeder” is a local police officer. Do you give him/her a ticket and why? • How about if it was your neighbor-friend?

41. Police accountability • Internal affairs units (IAU) or (IAD) • Conduct investigations in-house of complaints or reports of violations • Officers could be disciplined or even prosecuted • Citizens’ oversight boards used in some areas • Review allegations of brutality or misconduct and make recommendations

42. Police Culture • Ethics – the rules or standards of behavior governing police work; aimed at ensuring the fairness and rightness of actions • Three guiding rules • Is it legal? • Is it balanced? • How does it make me feel about myself? • Police Code of Conduct (official): Officers will not allow personal feelings, animosities, or friendships to influence official conduct. (Realistic?)

43. Ethical Dilemmas • Officer does not know right course of action • They have difficulty doing what is right • The wrong choices are very tempting

44. DNA at work • Major breakthrough for crime investigation • Compares known sample of DNA to one found at crime scene • If positive match, lab will determine odds that sample came from someone other than match subject • Odds often extremely high

45. Concerns about DNA collection • Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) • Gives law enforcement access to DNA profiles of a large number of people • Widening group of offenders now required to give samples • How far should we go? • Convicted of violence? • Convicted of felony? (Currently) • Arrested?