Law Enforcement Chapter 1 Early Efforts at Policing Maintaining a Social Order beliefs Consensus viewpoint social order emerges from a commonly held set of values and o What s right and wrong o Guided by community standards order to preserve their advantage coercion Standards of behavior Conflict perspective small minority of powerful persons manipulate the legal system in o Norms standards for how people should behave make social interaction routine Folkways behavioral expectations that deal with minor norms mild sanction ex Etiquette ex Cannibalism Mores evoke strong reactions if violated essential to society s welfare o Deviant behavior any action that exceeds social tolerance levels Controlling social behavior o Informal social control actions taken by people to sanction behavior o Formal social control law and the criminal justice system Types of Society Gemeinschaft small network of persons who interact with each other in primary relationships close face to face Gesellschaft secondary relationships strangers who don t share a close bond Societal Development Durkheim explains societal development in terms of population size and density Anomie state of normalness people don t feel accountable to others Early English Law Enforcement accountable Mutual pledge system if one member committed a crime the entire village was held Night watch system voluntary surveillance Assize of arms all adult males shared responsibility for maintaining law and order A step toward police protection Law Enforcement o Entrepreneurial avocational policing private citizens perform law enforcement tasks o a part time basis and get paid for their productivity o Highwayman Act anyone who captured a criminal was entitled to a reward thief takers Sir Robert Peel and the Bobbies o London Metropolitan Police Act authorized the establishment of a government subsidized police force Not armed authority instead of force Uniforms Patrolling for a deterrence effect Law Enforcement in Developing America Metropolitan Police Forces by 1870 all major cities had a full time police force o Armed o Patronage system for hiring corruption Law and Order on the Frontier Three layers of people o Upper level local elite o Backbone of community workers teachers etc o Poor people with little stake in the community Vigilante Policing o People take the law into their own hands in order to regain control and secure the values they think are appropriate Socially constructive model establish an orderly existence by gaining control from outlaws ex south Carolina regulator trials for accused Socially destructive model lynch mobs ex KKK Law Enforcement Chapter 2 Critical Issues in 20 th Century Law Enforcement The Wickersham Commission 1931 A federal fact finding body appointed to survey existing practices in law enforcement Political manipulation of rank and file employees patronage Widespread reliance on coercive tactics to extract confessions third degree o No entrance exams No background investigations or fingerprint checks No job training not even for guns Lack of adequate communication system long response times The 1967 President s Commission Hostile commission between officers and civilians o Suggested having regularly schedule meetings open to the public in which Need better educated officers who were more representative of the community they citizens could air complaints o Hire more minority members served Three tiered system o Police agent two years of college study o Police officer routine patrol and emergency response o Community service officer between 17 and 21 to assist with social services to create a better community image for the department The Kerner Report Investigate urban riots to determine what happened why it happened and what should be done to prevent similar outbreaks in the future Participants were reacting to social injustices that included discrimination impoverished living conditions and blocked aspirations Police vs minority members Recommendations o More sensitivity to the frustrations and problems of ghetto life o Equal protection for both black and white citizens police presence in poorer areas o Review board independent from the police agency o Recruit and hire more minorities Standards and Goals The National Advisory Commission on Criminal Justice Standards and Goals 1971 Crime reduction and prevention at the state and local levels Reduce high fear stranger to stranger crime homicide sexual battery aggravated assault robbery and burglary 4 major priorities prevention of juvenile delinquency improved delivery of social services streamlining the criminal justice process and increasing citizen participation in crime control strategies Recommendations o College education entrance requirement o Increased citizen participation Law Enforcement o Improve training Civilianization hiring citizens to replace officers in clerical and other support positions The Knapp Commission Serpico story Found widespread corruption Meat eater officer who actively looks for opportunities to extort money from participants of illegal enterprises opportunity came along Grass eater doesn t actively search for a payoff but wouldn t pass up the chance if an Rotten apple theory once a few bad apples are removed the organization can reassure the people that remaining officers continue to do good work o It s important to note though that sometimes the problem is organizational because abuse requires sustained support Contemporary Critical Incidents not isolated incidents problems continue to exist The Mollen Report o Instructed to explore the nature and extent of corruption within the NYPD to assess whether organizational efforts to combat corruption were suitable and to make recommendations to strengthen anti corruption measures o shake down street dealers not listing items taken during an impound o Code of silence associate with rank and file o Brass wished to avoid embarrassment so they were reluctant to uncover corruption The Christopher Report Rodney King o Special investigators combed through citizen complaints concerning excessive force o 10 of members held 1 3 of the complaints filed o Car to car messages with racial undertones o Recommended pre service and continued in service training The Sequel to the Christopher Report o Follow up investigation showed that use of force incidents had declined by 1 3 o Introduction of pepper spray contributed to a drop in baton usage The Siege of Waco o Called for a better command
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