1. Chapter 6 Challenges to Effective Policing

2. Learning Objective 1
Explain why police are allowed discretionary power

3. POLICE DISCRETION Police Officer on Patrol
Lowest paid - Least amount of authority – Least discretion
P.O. – great degree of freedom to take action he/she feels the situation requires
Courts have upheld PO’s right to decide:
What laws to enforce
How much to enforce it
Against whom and on what occasions

4. POLICE DISCRETION Justification for Police Discretion
PO’s considered trustworthy and are therefore assumed to make honest decisions
Experience and training gives PO’s the ability to recognize threats to society and know what action to take to investigate or prevent them
PO’s by nature of the job are extremely knowledgeable in human, and by extension criminal behavior ( 6th sense )
Officers may find themselves in harm’s way and must be allowed to take action to protect themselves

5. POLICE DISCRETION FACTORS of POLICE DISCRETION:
PO’s beliefs, values, personality and background
Held to a set of rules ( US Constitution)
MAKING the DECISION:
Nature of the Crime
Attitude of the wrongdoer
Relationship between the victim and offender
Departmental Policy

6. DISCRETION and DOMESTIC VIOLENCE
Officer tends to avoid making an arrest in a family dispute ( to use discretion )
Sees it as a social services responsibility
Victims often refuse to press charges
23 states have mandatory arrest policies

7. Learning Objective 2
List the three primary purposes of police patrol

8. POLICE ORGANIZATION and FIELD OPERATIONS
BUREAUCRACY:
Formal rules govern each member
Each member reports to someone
Ultimate goal is maximum efficiency
STRUCTURE:
Militaristic
Rank/ Chain of Command/ Accountability
Delegation of Authority
Members supervised and disciplined

9. PATROL The Purpose of Patrol
The deterrence of crime by maintaining a visible police presence
The maintenance of public order and a sense of security in the community
The twenty-four hour provision of services that are not crime related

10. PATROL Community Concerns: Patrol Activities
Community sees patrol as a provider of services
Only 1 /5 calls are crime related
Debate if services should dominate a PO’s work
Patrol Activities
Preventive patrol ( 40% )
Calls for service ( 25% )
Administrative work ( 20% )
Officer initiated contact ( 15% )

11. Discussion Questions What is the purpose of patrol?
What are its goals?

12. Learning Objective 3
Indicate some investigative strategies that are considered aggressive

13. POLICE INVESTIGATIONS
Second main function of policing ( reactive )
Detective – commonly promoted from patrol
Investigate crime/ Stolen Property/ Cases for court
97% of cases solved are routine
Three categories of cases
Unsolvable
Solvable
Already solved

14. INVESTIGATIONS Investigations: Reactive, rather than proactive
The responsibility of detectives
Success is measured with clearance rates, or the number of cases resulting in arrest and prosecution
Aggressive strategies include going undercover and working with confidential informants

15. INVESTIGATIVE STRATEGIES
AGGRESSIVE INVESTIGATIVE STRATEGIES:
Detectives can adopt aggressive strategies
Undercover work
Confidential Informants
Clearance rates and cold cases:
Crime is cleared with arrest and prosecution
Clearance rate depends on crime
Cold cases are cases not solved
80% of large PD’s have cold case squads

17. Discussion Questions What are the characteristics of an investigation?
What are some of the responsibilities of detectives?

18. Learning Objective 4
Describe how forensic experts use DNA fingerprinting to solve crimes

19. DNA The DNA Revolution:
DNA provides the genetic blueprint for every living organism.
When DNA is recovered at a crime scene and matched to a suspect, the odds that match is conclusive are 30 million to 1.
The Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) is a database that stores DNA samples taken from crime scenes.
As of 2007, CODIS has produces almost 59,000 cold hits nationwide.

20. Learning Objective 5
Explain why differential response strategies enable police departments to respond more efficiently to 911 calls

21. POLICE STRATEGIES Police Strategies – What Works?
Response time to 911 calls
Incident-driven policing
Calls for service is the primary instigator for action
Response time as a benchmark of efficiency
Differential response
“Cold” calls versus “hot” calls
Prioritize calls
Location intelligence

23. PATROL STRATEGIES General patrol: Directed patrol:
Relies on officers to monitor a certain area detecting crimes in progress or preventing crimes due to their presence
Also called preventive patrol, or random patrol
Random
Directed patrol:
Is designed to respond to a specific criminal activity at a specific time
Targeted areas are labeled hot spots
Gives police the opportunity for preparation

24. GENERAL PATROL TEST KANSAS CITY
Test of patrol theories in Kansas City and tested three strategies;
Control beats - normal preventive measures
Proactive beats – preventive measures increased
Reactive beats – preventive patrol was eliminated
One year study showed that preventive patrol showed that increasing or decreasing preventive patrol had little or no impact (Inconclusive)

25. HOT SPOTS and CRIME MAPPIMG
Evidence for directed patrol effectiveness is strong
“ Hot Spots “ – high level of criminal activity
Crime Mapping – identifies “ hot spots “ - effective
CompStat – computerized crime mapping (NYPD)

26. ARREST STRATEGIES Types of Arrests
Reactive arrests – made by general patrol when they observe a crime or respond to a call for service
Proactive Arrests – made when the officer takes the initiative to target a particular type of criminal behavior

27. ARREST STRATEGIES BROKEN WINDOW EFFECT
Wilson and Kelling
Crime is related to the quality of life in neighborhoods
Dilapidated neighborhoods send out signals that crime is tolerated
Disorder – fear among residents
Broken Window arrest strategy – based on “order maintenance
Crack down on “quality of life crimes”
“Zero Tolerance” discriminates/result in mistrust of Police

28. Learning Objective 6
Explain community policing and its contribution to the concept of problem-oriented policing

29. COMMUNITY POLICING
Community policing is a strategy that emphasizes community support for and cooperation with police in preventing crime
Problem-Oriented Policing:
A key component of community policing
Moves beyond simply responding to incidents and attempts instead to control or even solve the root causes of criminal behavior
Two important aspects of problem-solving policing are “hot spots” and crime mapping

30. LOCAL POLICE and ANTI - TERRORISM
Over the past decade – local police had to confront the challenge of terrorism
Local police are well suited to anti- terrorism based on the large number of local Po’s nationally and their knowledge of local communities
Department of Homeland Security provides billions in anti- terrorist funding each year

31. Learning Objective 7
Determine when officers are justified in using deadly force

32. POLICE SUBCULTURE Us vs. Them
Police Subculture – values and perceptions shared by members of the department, shaped by unique existence of the police officer
Core values of Police Subculture: - learned through the socialization of a rookie police officer

33. POLICE SUBCULTURE
Begins on first day “on the job” , through learning the values and rules of police work.
Attending Police Academy
Working with a senior officer
Making an initial felony arrest
Using force to make an arrest for the first time
Using or witnessing deadly force for the first time
Witnessing major traumatic events for the first time

34. POLICE SUBCULTURE “Blue Curtain” or “ Blue Wall of Silence”
Police cynicism:
Characterized by rejection of the ideals of truth and justice
Suspicion police officers hold for citizens (weak, corrupt and dangerous)
Created through a feeling of helplessness
Can lead to increases of police misconduct, corruption and brutality

35. DANGERS OF POLICE WORK Physical and Mental:
Threat of physical harm daily
Considerable mental pressure and stress
Alcoholism prevelant

36. AUTHORITY and the USE OF FORCE
SYMBOLS OF AUTHORITY
Uniform
Badge
Nightstick
Firearm

37. AUTHORITY and the USE OF FORCE
“Misuse of Force”
In general the use of force by a police officer is very rare
Police officers are often justified to use force to protect themselves or other citizens
Nearly every department has a “ use of force matrix “

39. TYPES of FORCE Authority and the Use of Force Reasonable Force:
The degree of force that is appropriate to protect the officer and other citizens.
Non – Deadly
A reasonable person would think force was necessary
Deadly Force:
Force likely or intended to cause death

40. SUPREME COURT DECISIONS
Tennessee v Garner (1985) - mandated states change fleeing felon rules
Graham v. Connor ( 1989 ) – increased argument for reasonable amounts of force needed

41. LESS LETHAL WEAPONS
Designed to subdue, but not seriously harm suspects
Include OC pepper spray, tear gas, water cannons, rubber bullets and Tasers

42. RACIAL and ETHNIC BIASES in POLICING
Justice system vs “ Just Us” System
Minorities targeted more frequently for stop and frisk
DWB or “ driving while black
No evidence to suggest that officers are overly racist, however “selective law enforcement “ does exist
Cultural differences may result in “ contempt of cop”

43. Learning Objective 8
Identify the three traditional forms of police corruption

44. POLICE CORRUPTION Misuse of authority by a Police Officer
Types of Corruption:
Bribery – accepting money or other payments in exchange for favors
Shakedowns – coerce money or goods from a citizen or criminal
Mooching – accepts “gifts” such as cigarettes, liquor or services in return for favorable treatment

45. CORRUPTION IN POLICE SUBCULTURE
No single reason to explain why corruption occurs in policing
Several stages lead to the moral decline of a police officer
Minor gratuities
From bribes to payoffs

46. POLICE ACCOUNTABILITY
Corruption/ Misconduct are inevitable – Who polices the police ?
Internal Investigations:
Internal Affairs within PD
IA – often resented by PO’s but are preferred to outside monitors
Citizen Oversight:
A number of cases don’t result in civil damage or disciplinary action by the department
Causes frustration and calls for civilian oversight committees ( adopted by PD’s)

47. Learning Objective 9
Explain what an ethical dilemma is and name four categories of ethical dilemmas typically facing a police officer

48. POLICE ETHICS
Ethical dilemmas are defined as a situation in which law enforcement officers:
Do not know the right course of action
Have difficulty doing what they consider to be right; and/or
Find the wrong choice very tempting
Four categories of Ethical Dilemmas:
Discretion
Duty
Honesty
Loyalty

49. GUIDANCE to ETHICS Incorporate into Departments Mission Statement
Conduct internal training
Accept “ honest mistakes “ and help officers learn from them
Zero tolerance policy towards unethical decision when mistakes are not so honest