CHAPTER 4 Policing: Purpose and Organization

The Police Mission There are five basic elements of the police 1. Enforce and support the laws of the society of which the police are a part 2. Investigate crimes and apprehend offenders 3. Prevent crime 4. Help ensure domestic peace and tranquility 5. Provide the community with needed enforcement-related services

Enforcing the Law Police are the primary enforcers of federal, state, and local criminal laws. Law enforcement is not the only responsibility of the police. Research shows only 10-20% of all calls to the police involve situations that actually require a law enforcement response.

Apprehending Offenders While some offenders are apprehended during the commission of a crime or immediately afterward, many are only caught as the result of extensive police work.

Preventing Crime Crime prevention is a proactive approach to crime that involves: Recognizing and assessing risks Initiating action to eliminate or reduce risks Working to reduce the public’s fear of crime Crime prevention relies partly on the ability of police planners to predict crime. CompStat CrimeStat

Preserving the Peace In preserving the peace, police focus on criminal and non-criminal behavior. Many departments focus on quality-of-life offenses as a crime-reduction and peace- keeping strategy. A similar approach is based on the broken windows theory of policing.

Providing Services People can easily contact the police when they are faced with problems. Police respond to emergency and non-emergency, non-law enforcement situations. Some communities have developed non-emergency 3-1-1 numbers to supplement their 9-1-1 systems.

American Policing Today: From the Federal to the Local Level

American Law Enforcement American law enforcement is very complex. There are thousands of different agencies involved in law enforcement, with not a lot of uniformity among them. Three major legislative and judicial jurisdictions exist: Federal State Local Supplementing these are thousands of private security companies.

Federal Agencies

Federal Agencies Federal law enforcement agencies are distributed among 11 government services. Additionally, many other government officers are involved in enforcement of laws through inspection, regulation, and control activities.

American Policing: Federal Law Enforcement Agencies Department of Agriculture U.S. Forest Service Department of Commerce Bureau of Export Enforcement National Marine Fisheries Administration Department of Defense Air Force Office of Special Investigations Army Criminal Investigation Division Defense Criminal Investigative Service Naval Investigative Service Department of Homeland Security Federal Law Enforcement Training Center Federal Protective Service Transportation Security Administration U.S. Coast Guard U.S. Customs and Boarder Protection U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement U.S. Secret Service Department of Justice Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives Bureau of Prisons Drug Enforcement Administration Federal Bureau of Investigation U.S. Marshals Service Department of Labor Office of Labor Racketeering Department of the State Diplomatic Security Service Department of the Treasury Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation Division Treasury Inspector General for Tax Enforcement U.S. Postal Service Postal Inspection Service Department of the Interior Bureau of Indian Affairs Bureau of Land Management Fish and Wildlife Service Department of the Interior (Con’t) National Park Service U.S. Park Police Other Agencies with Enforcement Personnel: AMTRAK Police Bureau of Engraving and Printing Police Department of Energy Environmental Protection Agency – Criminal Investigations Division Food and Drug Administration Tennessee Valley Authority U.S. Capitol Police U.S. Mint U.S. Supreme Court Police Washington, D.C. Metropolitan Police Department

Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) The FBI may be the world’s most famous law enforcement agency. It was developed in 1908 and called the Bureau of Investigation. It was designed originally to help the federal government investigate political and business corruption.

The Mission of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) “The mission of the FBI is to protect and defend the United States against terrorists and foreign intelligence threats, to uphold and enforce the criminal laws of the United States, and to provide leadership and criminal justice services to federal, state, municipal, and international agencies and partners.”

Offices of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) The FBI is headquartered in Washington, D.C. and has 56 field offices and 400 satellite offices. The FBI also operates: “Legal attaché” offices in other nations, to help coordinate international law enforcement efforts and information sharing The National Computer Crime Squad (NCCS) The Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) A Criminal Justice Information Services Division A full-scale crime laboratory A National Academy Program

The FBI and Counterterrorism The focus of the FBI changed as a result of the September 11th terrorist attacks, centering now on counterterrorism efforts. The FBI maintains: A Counterterrorism Division A national threat warning system Flying Squads The Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF)

FBI Priorities Protecting the United States from terrorist attacks Protecting the United States against foreign intelligence operations and espionage Protecting the United States against cyber-based attacks and high- technology crimes Combating public corruption at all levels Protecting civil rights Combating transnational and national criminal organizations and enterprises Combating major white-collar crime Combating violent crimes that have wide impact Supporting federal, state, local, and international partners Upgrading technology to perform the FBI’s mission successfully

State-Level Law Enforcement

State Agencies Most state police agencies were created in the late nineteenth or early twentieth century. Agencies were established to meet specific needs. The Texas Rangers were the first. Today, there is a lot of diversity among the different state police agencies.

Models of State Police Agencies Centralized Combine criminal investigations duties and state highway patrol Assist local departments Operate identification bureaus Maintain a criminal records repository Patrol highways Provide training for local officers Decentralized Separates state highway patrol from other duties Other duties performed by adjunct state-level law enforcement agencies

Local Law Enforcement

Local Agencies Local agencies include: Municipal departments Sheriffs departments Specialized groups, like campus police and transit police

Municipal Police Departments Municipal police departments are city- or town-based. Any municipality can create its own police department; not every one does. Jurisdiction is within the municipality. While some municipal police departments have huge budgets and employ thousands, most are small, hiring fewer than 10 full-time officers. Many utilize part-time officers.

Sheriffs Departments Sheriffs departments are responsible for law enforcement throughout their counties. Mostly patrol the unincorporated areas that lie between municipalities Jurisdiction is throughout the entire county Operate county jails Serve court papers Maintain security in state courtrooms Most departments have fewer than 25 full-time officers

Police Administration

Police Management …the administrative activities of controlling, directing, and coordinating police personnel, resources, and activities in the service of crime prevention, the apprehension of criminals, the recovery of stolen property, and the performance of a variety of regulatory and helping services.

Police Organization and Structure Law enforcement agencies are formally structured among divisions and lines of authority. Roles within policing generally fall into one of the following categories: Line operations—field or supervisory activities directly related to daily police work. Staff operations—include support roles, such as administrators and trainers.

Chain of Command Police agencies are organized according to a quasi-military hierarchical chain of command. Clarifies who reports to whom Establishes unity of command Span of control—the number of personnel or units supervised by a particular commander.

Policing Epochs

History of American Policing There were four distinct eras of American policing, each distinguishable by the dominance of a particular approach to police operations. Political Era (1840s–1930) Reform Era (1930–1970s) Community Policing Era (1970s–today) Homeland Security Era (2001–today)

Police Epochs

Police Styles Nearly all municipal police agencies can be characterized according to one of three police styles, depending on how that agency sees its purpose and chooses the methods to fulfill it. Watchman style Legalistic style Service style Some agencies are a mixture of two or more styles.

The Watchman Style The watchman style of policing: Is typical of lower-class communities Is concerned primarily with order maintenance Sometimes uses informal police intervention to keep the peace

The Legalistic Style The legalistic style of policing: Is committed to enforcing the strict letter of the law Routinely avoids involvement into social issues that do not involve breaking the law

The Service Style The service style of policing: Is concerned more with helping than with strictly enforcing law Makes use of community resources Seeks citizen involvement in identifying issues that may need police attention

Police-Community Relations (PCR) The PCR movement became popular in the 1960s and 1970s. Based on the idea that police derive their legitimacy from the community they serve Recognized the need for the community and the police to work together Increasse efforts to have greater police-citizen interaction

Team Policing Team policing is an extension of the PCR movement. With team policing, officers are assigned semi-permanently to particular neighborhoods. Officers become more familiar with the people and the issues. Crimes are often solved at the local level. Patrol officers are given considerable authority to process complaints.

Policing as Corporate Strategy Some suggest that police departments operate like corporations, and that community policing is the newest strategy. Other strategies are strategic policing and problem-oriented policing.

Community Policing Community policing emphasizes the idea that police must partner with the community to help fulfill the community needs. Police actively work with citizens and with social services to help solve problems.

Community Policing Community policing involves at least one of four elements: Community-based crime prevention Reorientation of patrol activities to emphasize non-emergency services Increased police accountability to the public A decentralization of command, including greater use of civilians at all levels of police decision making

Critique of Community Policing Some criticize community policing, citing problems such as: Too abstract of a concept Hard-to-measure success Difficult to conceptualize and quantify “citizen success” Not readily accepted by all police officers or managers Difficulty coming to a consensus with regard to what’s considered a “community problem”

Community Policing and Antiterrorism The September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks changed the role of police departments, but the core mission has not changed. Close community-police interaction and communication remains important.

Community Policing and Intelligence According to the Office for Domestic Preparedness (ODP) of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security community policing can: Raise community awareness of suspicious activities, behaviors, and events Organize meetings emphasizing prevention strategies and vigilance Inform the community on the means and processes for relaying information to the police Encourage crime prevention, proactive policing, and close-working relationships between the police and the public

Scientific Police Management The LEAA dedicated a lot of money to preventing and reducing crime. The LEAA spent $8 billion. The LEAA was abolished in 1982, as the spending did not seem to impact the growing crime rate. The LEAA started a tradition of scientific police management—applying social science techniques to the study of police administrating in order to: Increase effectiveness Reduce citizen complaints Enhance efficiency

Exemplary Projects The LEAA’s Exemplary Projects Program recognized outstanding innovative efforts to combat crime and to provide victims with assistances. Exemplary Projects served as examples to other police departments. Examples: Street Crimes Unit (NYC) The Hidden Cameras Project (Seattle) The Kansas City Experiment

The Kansas City Experiment The Kansas City Experiment tested the use of preventive patrol on crime rates and citizens’ fear of crime. The experiment revealed that: Crime rates were not impacted by preventive patrol. Preventive patrol does not impact fear of crime. Directed patrol is a better way to productively use patrol officers. Involves analyzing patrol techniques in light of scientific analysis

Recent Studies Recent studies include: Operation Ceasefire A national evaluation of Weed-and-Seed programs Kansas City Gun Experiment Minneapolis Domestic Violence Experiment Studies like these show the value of scientific evaluation and accumulation of knowledge. They help establish the use of evidence-based policing.

Discretion and the Individual Officer Even as police agencies adapt to threats posed by terrorism, individual officers still retain a considerable amount of discretion. discretion = choice

Factors Influencing Discretion Several factors may influence the discretionary decisions of individual officers. Background of officer Characteristics of the suspect Department policy Community interest Pressure from victims Disagreement with the law Available alternatives Personal practice of the officer