CJS/241: Introduction to Criminal Justice Week 2 Presentation

Major organizational theories in policing

A Relatively Modern Approach In Week 1 the problems associated with policing in pre-20thcentury America were covered It was a political patronage system which caused many problems like corruption, lack of duty, informality in operations, etc. As covered in Week 1, out of this grew a professional era of policing which continues to this day… Now look at the different organizational theories that have grown out of the need to instill discipline among the ranks.

Quasi-Military Model Essentially all of the major theories have grown out of this model, the first to be adopted It emphasizes command and control, resulting in clear structure in decision-making A top down model What is meant by a top down model? Example?

Top Down Model In terms of a police department you have a police chief at the top; major executive functions are placed in her role as chief (and her deputies) Middle Management: captains, lieutenants, sergeants Tasked with carrying out the day to day administrative duties of a police department Human resources, internal investigations, assignments, etc. Patrol These are your officers who are on the streets In addition to the military, where else do you see this model? What does it resemble?

Identified Weaknesses With its many advantages this system has seen, overtime, weaknesses resulting from its bureaucratic rigidity Creates its own subculture of “us versus them” All are considered the enemy when patrolling Resulting “blue wall of silence,” ironically creating a new type of corruption that the model was intended to prevent Career advancement based on length of service and rank, thereby resulting in officers with better skills not being advanced or matched to jobs that do not suit their strengths With decision making spread out among so man different people, reform is difficult

Decentralized Policing AKA Flat Policing This is another identified weakness of the top down model Those with the best information (i.e. patrol officers) are unable to effectively communicate that information to those who set strategy/policy because of the rigid bureaucracy This particular problem of information blockage that results from decentralized policing has been termed vertical differentiation

Flattening Flattening is a proposed solution to vertical differentiation It encourages a reduction in bureaucratic layers, thereby creating horizontal differentiation This model essentially flattens the very tall top-down model into a system of more integrated reporting Especially helpful in large departments where you find highly specialized units

Principal Roles and Functions of the Police in America

Prevention of Crime and Protection of Life “To Protect and Serve” Remember this focuses on crime prevention How can a police department prevent crime? Do you think of the policing role as one of reacting to things that have already occurred? Taking actions prospectively? Both? Is it possible in today’s society to effectively prevent crime? Why or why not?

To Uphold and Enforce the Law How is this different from the prevention of crime? What are the police more effective at doing? Why? Should there be priorities when it comes to law enforcement, and if so who should set those priorities? What about the discretion of the individual officers? Could this create problems?

To Combat Public Fear of Crime Often overlooked this is an essential function of the police The less fear that the public has in crime, the better off that particular community is Cities that have reputations of being safe, i.e. San Francisco, have far better standards of living and economies than those that have reputations of being dangerous, i.e. Detroit What came first?

To Protect Civil Rights and Liberties Should this even be a goal of the police departments? Ironically, for better or worse, it would be hard to argue that the police have a reputation for protecting civil rights and liberties…instead the police have a reputation for exactly the opposite. Where are we seeing this today, especially on a national scale?

Activity Break out into groups and consider the following scenario and the civil liberties implications. Identify where the police encounter an issue related to civil liberties and what role they should play in protecting rights and liberties. The Ku-Klux Clan obtains a permit to march down the center of a town’s major thoroughfare. Among the positions they are advocating in their march is the claim that the holocaust did not happen and that Jewish people control the world to the detriment of Christians. The town is predominately Jewish with many holocaust survivors. During the march the townspeople become clearly agitated and threaten the ability of the Clan to complete there march. Some townspeople verbally threaten the physical safety of Clan members.

Other Roles Traffic Control Encourage Respect for the Law Community Education Protect People and Property