Ch 6 Police Police 10 01 2012 Regulate to control People regulate their own behavior if they trust police There are a lot of studies that prove this o Social control police control an aspect of behavior o Selective enforcement why is it ok for police but not for prosecutors Discretion Police can chose who to arrest and who not to o Discretion they have the ability to discriminate as much as they have the ability to discern things Police can choose who they want to pull over He chose not to pull over anyone only going 10 mph over the speed limit They are choosing certain parts of society to control Police are a collective group of people coming together to enforce societal norms What happens if police loose power to regulate control o Vigilante Justice take matters into their own hands o Defiance o Protesting o Resisting police with or without violence Power differential A power on one side and a power on the other Both are trying to enforce their power o In a protest both police and protestors have power police have more power and try to exert it to shut down the protest protestors are trying to make their power equal to the police Police may react to strongly trying to enforce their o Power differential is very prevalent o Leads to conflicts between police and groups of people Police officers are responsive mostly they don t prevent crime they respond to it Drive thru policing drug dealers are not fearful of police When police do drive thru policing the dealing stops for a few minutes then starts up again power The Police Mission The is a disconnect between the people and what the police are actually trying to do Police are trying to ensure societal safety The purpose of policing in democratic societies is to o Enforce and support the law o Prevent crime o Provide the community with enforcement related service Mediators between disputes between neighbors Provide community with tools to regulate their own behavior o Ensure domestic peace and tranquility Ex noise disturbance o Investigate crimes apprehend offenders This is mostly what they do This is usually done after the fact Done after the crime actually occurred Collecting evidence Interviews Looking for probable cause The end purpose is to get probable cause to arrest a person Job of police is to get probable cause Job of state attorney is to get beyond reasonable doubt Enforcing the law response Only about 10 of all calls to the police require a law enforcement o Auditors responded to too many simple traffic accidents New rule passed that police only response to accidents in which there was injury o Saves a lot of money that can be used in more important ways Police cannot enforce all of the laws Resources are limited o This is why they couldn t respond to every simple traffic accident or noise disturbance o Police only respond to about 50 of calls Law enforcement priorities are significantly affected by community needs Individual discretion also impacts them Police are expected to support the laws the enforce o This does not always happen Sometimes police take short cuts We have to remember that police are still humans just more trained and carry a gun they actually have minimal power Providing Services police About 70 of the millions of daily 911 calls are directed to the o 70 is a huge number o Of the 70 only about 30 are instances in which response Police handle emergency and non emergency calls such as Operational Strategies There are five core operational strategies each with unique is necessary o Barking dogs o Lost and found items o Minor accidents features o Preventive control done by vice quads Preventing prostitution preventing drug sales studies show that this changes peoples control for a very short amount of time and then they return to their original behavior ex speed traps slow people down then they speed back up o Routine incident response Primarily what police do o Emergency response Police are trained medically CPR To stabilize a person for transport o Criminal investigations o Problem solving Additionally there is an ancillary operational strategy o support services Criminal Investigations First responding o Provide assistance to injured and in capturing suspects o Secure crime scene o Conduct the preliminary investigation Follow up investigators are based on solvability factors o Returning to the scene o Collecting evidence o Necessary for solving the case o Solvability factors Based on officer discretion Determines if the case stays open for investigation or is close Introduction 10 01 2012 Demonstrators protesting the proposed creation of the FTAA clashed with Miami police officers equipped with riot gear Most of the protestors were peaceful and avoided confrontation but a few pulled down barriers and scuffled with officers who were trying to maintain control End result o 74 arrested o 42 protestors injured 10 hospitalized o 3 police were hurt demonstrates that the maintenance of social order is an important part of police work today The Police Mission Enforcing the Law Enforce and support the laws of society of which the police are a part Investigate crimes and apprehend offenders Prevent crime Help ensure domestic peace and tranquility Provide the community with needed enforcement related services Official public mandate requires them to enforce the law Police agencies are the primary enforcers of federal states and local criminal law Most officers spend the majority of their time o Answering nonemergency public service calls o Controlling traffic o Writing tickets Only 10 of al calls to the police involve situations that actually require a law enforcement response Police can not enforce every law o Due to limited resources o This causes officers to focus on certain types of law violations than on others It is illegal to spit on the sidewalk example of an old law prohibiting a minor offence that holds little social significance today and are typically unenforced law is still on the books but officers choose not to enforce Police tend to tailor their enforcement efforts to meet contemporary concerns of the population they serve Police are expected to not only enforce the law but to support it o Police actions should inspire others to respect and obey the law Respect for the law begins with the personal and public behavior of law enforcement officers Apprehending Offenders Timothy McVeigh o Was stopped by an Oklahoma Highway Patrol officer on routine patrol only 90 minutes after the bomb destruction
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