43
CHAPTER 5
TWENTY-FIRST CHALLENGES IN POLICING
Learning Objectives
2. Identify the ways police can abuse their power and the challenges of controlling this abuse.
4. Describe the delivery of police services.
6. Explain the importance of connections between the police and the community.
8. Describe the policing and related activities undertaken by private sector security management.
Lesson Plan
Correlated to PowerPoints
I. Everyday actions of the police
Learning Objective 1: Describe the everyday actions of police.
A. Encounters between police and citizens
Each year one in five Americans has face-to-face contact with law enforcement
officers
B. Police discretion
Officers have broad powers to deprive citizens of their liberties and, as such, are
expected to exercise discretion
Five factors influence the use of police discretion:
1. The nature of the crime
3. The relationship between the police and the criminal or victim
5. Departmental policy
Class Discussion/Activity
Have students consider this scenario:
-sized city is informed that of the speeding
Learning Objective 1
Learning Objective 1
PPT 5
PPT 6-7
44
realistic. Can discretion be eliminated? Can discretion be controlled?
C. Domestic violence
Historically police treated domestic violence as a private matter rather than a crime
II. Police abuse of power
Learning Objective 2: Identify the ways police can abuse their power and the challenges of controlling
this abuse.Learning Objective 3: List the methods that can be used to make police more accountable to
citizens.
Media Tool
A. Use of Force
Use of force used legitimately is ok, but excessively is not
Police brutality is the lay term to describe a variety of practices from bad language to
violence
Findings from the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) show:
1. Police use force infrequently
3. Most use of force happens when police are attempting to make an arrest and
the suspect is resisting
B. Corruption
Has a long history in the US
Grass Eaters are officers who accept payoffs that typical police work bring their
way
Meat Eaters are officers who actively use their power for personal gain
See Assignments 1, 4
See Assignments 3, 5,
6
PPT 8
PPT 13
There are few Meat Eaters relative to numerous Grass Eaters
Blue-coat crime is thought to contribute from a code taught to officers early in
their career that officer illegal activity is normal and snitching risks retaliation
Media Tool
C. Civic Accountability
Four strategies are used to control police
1. Internal Affairs Units of a police department which receive and investigate
complaints alleging violation of rules and policies on the part of officers
Media Tool
4. Civil Liability Lawsuits or Section 1983 Lawsuits authorized by a federal
statute against state and local officials and local agencies when citizens have
evidence that their federal constitutional rights have been violated
Class Discussion/Activity
See Assignments 3, 5,
6
See Assignments 3, 5,
6
PPT 19
46
Ask students to consider community crime prevention programs and give
III. Delivery of Police Services
Learning Objective 4: Describe the delivery of police services.
A. Police response and action
About 86% of all police action are reactive and result from citizen requests
1. Organizational response
2. Productivity
Compstat approach relies on crime statistics to hold officers accountable
B. Clearance rate as a measure of police productivity
What If Scenario
What if you were a first time offender and had the choice of drug court or regular
criminal court? Which court would you rather be sentenced in and why?
IV. Patrol functions
Learning Objective 5: Name patrol strategies that departments employ.
Line functions
Patrol functions
A. Special operations
School Resource Officers (SRO)
Traffic
See Assignments 3, 5,
6
See Assignment 4
PPT 20-
PPT 24-
27, 31
PPT 28-
29, 32
47
B. Assignment of patrol personnel
Preventive patrol
C. Community policing
Attempts to involve residents in making their own neighborhoods safer
What If Scenarios
What if your local police chief asked you for your input regarding the use of social
media to aid in community relations? What insight would you share with the chief
about using social media (Facebook, Twitter, etc.) to help with dealing with
community-police relations?
Community policing has four components:
1. Community-based crime prevention
3. Making the police more accountable to the public
Problem-oriented policing is a central feature of community policing
V. Police and community
Learning Objective 6: Explain the importance of connections between the police and the community.
A. Special populations
Urban police often deal with complex populations
Police often must cooperate with social service agencies
Many of the calls are for order maintenance or nuisance complaints
B. Policing in a multicultural society
Introduces a new challenge and dynamic to policing in many areas
Ethnic groups have changed over the last decade and some have migrated to other
See Assignment 5
See Assignment 2
PPT 30,
33
–
34
PPT 37
PPT 36
48
Class Discussions/Activities
Break the class into different groups and assign or have them select a local
police department and research the racial/gender makeup of the department
and the community it serves. How does the numbers compare? What
conclusions can you draw?
VI. Community crime prevention
Learning Objective 6: Explain the importance of connections between the police and the community.
Social control require involvement by all members of the community
VII. Homeland security
Learning Objective 7: Identify issues and problems that emerge from law enforcement
Established in the aftermath of 9/11
Reordered crime control policies from street crimes to international and domestic
terrorism
A. Preparing for threats
Gather intelligence and combat risks
B. New laws and controversies
Restricting and modifying criminal procedures and due process for accused terrorists
USA Patriot Act greatly increased police powers and discretion
Class Discussions/Activities
Have students give their opinions of the USA Patriot Act. Discuss whether
the restricting of individual personal liberties for the sake of society as a
whole is a good thing. Has the Act gone too far, or is it necessary and
effective?
What If Scenarios
What if the USA Patriot Act did not exist? How would police investigative and
other activities be influenced?
VIII. Security management and private policing
Learning Objective 8: Describe the policing and related activities undertaken by private
See Assignment 2
PPT 39
PPT 40-
41
PPT 42
49
2. Increase in fear of crime
What If Scenario
What if you were the manager of a store which had lost significant revenue due to
shoplifting? You have a limited budget but the owner wants the theft to stop or
else. What options would you consider given your situation?
A. Functions of security management and private policing
Much of the work is proactive through contingency planning
Many private police officers function like a local government officer
B. Private employment of public police
Nearly all major departments deal with the private part-time employment issues of
Lecture Notes
Police activities are very reactive. Most police contact with the public involves a call for
service and a police response. Much research and effort over the past ten years has focused on
moving police from reactive mode to one that is proactive. Such proactive programs as
Community Crime Watch seek to deter crime before it happens. But how is success measured
with such a proactive effort? Unlike measuring the number of arrests in a certain time period,
proactive methods have no way to measure their success.
A. Functions of security management an
PPT 44
50
Key Terms
aggressive patrol – A patrol strategy designed to maximize the number of police interventions
and observations in the community. (p. 164)
civilian review board –
(p. 153)
community crime prevention – Programs through which criminal justice officials cultivate
relationships with and rely on assistance from citizens in preventing crime and apprehending
offenders within neighborhoods. (p. 170)
CompStat – Approach to crime prevention and police productivity measurement pioneered in
New York City and then adopted in other cities that involves frequent meetings among police
directed patrol – A proactive form of patrolling that directs resources to known high-crime
areas. (p. 163)
domestic violence – The term commonly used to refer to intimate partner violence or violent
victimizations between spouses, boyfriends, and girlfriends, or those formerly in intimate
51
excessive use of force – Applications of force against individuals by police officers that violate
either departmental policies or constitutional rights by exceeding the level of force permissible
and necessary in a given situation (p. 149)
fusion centers – Centers run by states and large cities that analyze and facilitate sharing of
information to assist law enforcement and homeland security agencies in preventing and
responding to crime and terrorism threats (p. 173)
Interpol – The International Criminal Police Organization formed in 1946 and based in France
with the mission of facilitating international cooperation in investigating transnational criminal
activities and security threats. (p. 171)
law enforcement intelligence – Information, collected and analyzed by law enforcement
officials, concerning criminal activities and organizations, such as gangs, drug traffickers, and
organized crime. (p. 172)
proactive – Acting in anticipation, such as an active search for potential offenders that is initiated
by the police without waiting for a crime to be reported. Arrests for victimless crimes are usually
proactive. (p. 155)
problem-oriented policing – An approach to policing in which officers routinely seek to
identify, analyze, and respond to the circumstances underlying the incidents that prompt citizens
to call the police. (p. 165)
52
school resource officers (SROs) – Police officers assigned for duty in schools to assist in order
sworn officers – Police employees who have taken an oath and been given powers by the state to
make arrests and to use necessary force, in accordance with their duties. (p. 157)
U.S. Border Patrol – Federal law enforcement agency with responsibility for border security by
patrolling national land borders and coastal waters to prevent smuggling, drug trafficking, and
Assignments
1. Describe the differences between proactive and reactive policing. Can both be effective?
2. Research the Department of Homeland Security and answer the following questions:
What are the mission and objectives of DHS?
How does DHS interact with non-federal agencies and the military?
3. Do some research of pursuit policies in police departments? Compare the policies of at
least three agencies. How do the policies differ? How do the policies limit officer
discretion? (LO2)
4. If you were a police chief, would you use proactive policing strategies? Which strategies would
you use and why would you use them? How would you guard against any the risk of adverse
consequences? [LO 1, 4, 5]
5. Use of force is a controversial subject within most police departments. Many departments have are
now using a taser as form of less lethal force; however, there is an increase in taser deaths in the