Assignment: Police Militarization
Ethical Dilemmas and Decisions in Criminal Justice
Joycelyn M. Pollock
9th EDITION
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Chapter 5
The Police Role in Society
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2
Chapter Objectives
Describe the two different missions of law enforcement in a democracy.
Explain the types of control that police have at their disposal.
Provide the justification for police power and the basic ethical standards that derive from this justification.
Identify the differences between the formal ethics of law enforcement and the values of the police subculture.
Describe recent research findings on the police subculture.
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3
Discuss…
What are the duties of police officers?
How would you categorize these duties?
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Crime Fighter or Public Servant?
Packer’s crime control model:
Repression of criminal conduct is most important function
Failure of law enforcement means breakdown of order
Criminal process is positive guarantor of social freedom
Efficiency is a top priority
Emphasis is on speed and finality
A conveyor belt is model for system
There is a presumption of guilt
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Crime Fighter or Public Servant?
Packer’s due process model:
There is a possibility of error
Finality is not a priority
There is insistence on prevention and elimination of mistakes
Efficiency is rejected if it involves shortcuts
Protection of process is as important as protection of innocents
The coercive power of the state is always subject to abuse
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Discuss
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-TgFz3qmE9U
Which role did the officer play in this video, crime control or public servant, or
both?
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Crime Fighter or Public Servant?
Or is it a spectrum?
Crime Fighter
Public Servant
Social Enforcer: Police address day-to-day problems using coercion
and force when necessary
Emergency Operator: Police offer emergency
assistance clearing the way for
other professionals
Social Peacekeeper: Cross between a crime fighter and
public servant
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Crime Fighter or Public Servant?
Current focus on moving perception of policing from “warrior” model to that of “guardian”
Warrior vs. Guardian Mindsets in Policing - https://youtu.be/MgbfBnSPhqA
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Militarization
Current focus is on demonizing the crime fighter role, particularly militarization of police
Peter Kraska
Police have been increasingly militarized over last 30 years
Studies increase in SWAT teams and SWAT deployments
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Militarization
Radley Balko
Policing has swung too far toward a military model
War on terror and war on drugs are both strategies that contributed to growth of militarization
Feels 1033 program is dangerous
Limited during Obama administration, ban lifted under Trump administration
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=styv8_GQPqc
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Discuss Militarization
North Hollywood Shootout
https://youtu.be/I_1IvZFwj0M
Ferguson Incident
https://youtu.be/KUdHIatS36A (6:15 to end)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NQAOfNXwAGA&t=55s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MciowYcyFCU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-Tim5DQNDQ
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Discuss…
Why has the idea of “militarization” transitioned from properly equipping officers and the evolution of crime to aggression and force?
What does “militarization” really mean?
Benefits of militarization?
Critiques of militarization?
Consequences of militarization
Federalizing police
Turning police into formal government agents
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History of Policing
From Public Servant to Crime Fighter
Early origins of law enforcement = model of service
Move toward police professionalism started in 1920s
1930s to 1960s – “Red Squads” (infiltrators)
1960s to 1970s – antiwar groups (infiltrators)
Church Committee (investigated government “spying” on citizens)
Patriot Act
International policing
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Discuss Future of Policing
Where is the trajectory of policing headed?
What is going to be the role of police in the future?
What if you could determine the future of policing? Where would you take it?
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Future of Policing
Preventive policing, problem-solving policing, predictive policing, intelligence-led policing all exist in a confused mix of approaches
Problem-solving = community-based policing
Predictive = sophisticated data gathering and analysis
Intelligence-led = managerial philosophy where data analysis and intelligence are used to make objective decisions designed to prevent crime
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Power and Discretion
Klockars describes police control as consisting of:
Authority: Entitlement to unquestioned obedience that derives from fulfilling a specific role.
Power: Power is the threat behind the authority.
Persuasion: The use of signs, symbols, words, and arguments to induce compliance.
Force: Physical coercion.
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17
Authority
Where does police authority come from?
Social Contract (Hobbs): People give up certain liberties in civilized societies in exchange for protection against others
ORS 161.195: Justification
(1)Unless inconsistent with other provisions of chapter 743, Oregon Laws 1971, defining justifiable use of physical force, or with some other provision of law, conduct which would otherwise constitute an offense is justifiable and not criminal when it is required or authorized by law or by a judicial decree or is performed by a public servant in the reasonable exercise of official powers, duties or functions.
(2)As used in subsection (1) of this section, "laws and judicial decrees" include but are not limited to:
(a)Laws defining duties and functions of public servants;
(b)Laws defining duties of private citizens to assist public servants in the performance of certain of their functions;
(c)Laws governing the execution of legal process;
(d)Laws governing the military services and conduct of war; and
(e)Judgments and orders of courts. [1971 c.743 §19]
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Power
Where do police get their power?
ORS 133.235: Arrest by a Police Officer
(1)A peace officer may arrest a person for a crime at any hour of any day or night.
(2)A peace officer may arrest a person for a crime, pursuant to ORS 133.310 (Authority of peace officer to arrest without warrant) (1), whether or not such crime was committed within the geographical area of such peace officer’s employment, and the peace officer may make such arrest within the state, regardless of the situs of the offense.
(3)The officer shall inform the person to be arrested of the officer’s authority and reason for the arrest, and, if the arrest is under a warrant, shall show the warrant, unless the officer encounters physical resistance, flight or other factors rendering this procedure impracticable, in which case the arresting officer shall inform the arrested person and show the warrant, if any, as soon as practicable.
(4)In order to make an arrest, a peace officer may use physical force as justifiable under ORS 161.235 (Use of physical force in making an arrest or in preventing an escape), 161.239 (Use of deadly physical force in making an arrest or in preventing an escape) and 161.245 ("Reasonable belief" described).
(5)In order to make an arrest, a peace officer may enter premises in which the officer has probable cause to believe the person to be arrested to be present.
(6)If after giving notice of the officer’s identity, authority and purpose, the officer is not admitted, the officer may enter the premises, and by a breaking, if necessary.
(7)A person may not be arrested for a violation except to the extent provided by ORS 153.039 (Stop and detention for violation) and 810.410 (Arrest and citation). [1973 c.836 §71; 1981 c.818 §1; 1999 c.1051 §67]
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Persuasion
How do officers get their powers of persuasion?
Uniforms
https://www.policeone.com/police-products/apparel/uniforms/articles/99417-The-psychological-influence-of-the-police-uniform/
http://lawofficer.com/leadership/why-the-soft-uniform-is-dangerous/
Verbal judo
More on this in police and community
https://youtu.be/_KOHYAsHw94
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Force
Where do officers get the power to use force?
ORS 161.235
ORS 161.239
ORS 161.260
https://www.oregonlaws.org/ors/161.235
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Discuss…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nmVVZRtrY5g
What aspects of power and discretion at displayed in this video? What ethical issues
are involved?
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Power and Discretion
Each of us should be able to feel protected
Police power should be circumscribed to the minimum necessary to meet goals of protection
Police ethics are inextricably linked to their purpose
Fair access
Public trust
Safety and security
Teamwork
Objectivity
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Power and Discretion
Discretion: the authority to make a decision between two or more choices
Duty: required behavior or action, that is, the responsibilities that are attached to a specific role
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Discretion and Power
ht tps://www.policeone.com/investigations/articles/6878880-Do-police-officers-have-too-much-or-too-little-discretion/?utm_content=buffer366fd&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=buffer
Review and discuss discretionary factors
Policing styles/typologies (pg 124-126)
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Discuss ethics…
Is there a way to screen for ethical police applicants?
Academy Instruction—how are ethics taught?
Are ethics offered as advanced officer training (AOT)?
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Formal Ethics for Police Officers
A code of ethics helps engender self-respect in individual officers
An agreed-upon code is a unifying element
Oregon
http://www.oregon.gov/DPSST/SC/docs/F-11.pdf
http://www.oregon.gov/osp/pages/code_conduct.aspx
International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP)—Law Enforcement Code of Ethics and the Canons of Police Ethics
IACP endorsed Oath of Honor
http://www.theiacp.org/codeofethics
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The Police Subculture
Police typically form a homogenous social group
Police have a uniquely stressful work environment
Police participate in a basically closed social system
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Themes and Value Systems
Van Maanen (1978)
Police operate with stereotypes of the people with whom they come into contact
Sherman (1982)
Loyalty to colleagues is absolute; the public are the enemy
Real policing vs “garbage calls”
Herbert (1996)
Six concepts of normative orders: law, bureaucratic control, adventure/machismo, safety, competence, morality
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The Cop Code
Officers are taught through informal socialization that is quite different from the formal code of ethics
Examples:
Call dodging
Going 10-6
Traffic dodging
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Police Culture and “Noble Cause”
Noble-cause corruption: the “end” of crime fighting justifies the “means”
What if you could achieve a greater good by breaking the rules? Would you do it?
Examples:
Interrogation tactics
Stretching or fishing for PC
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Police Culture, Loyalty, and the Blue Curtain of Secrecy
Code of silence/blue curtain of secrecy: the practice of officers to not come forward when they are aware of the ethical transgressions of other officers
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s-6T11fVxZA
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Police Culture, Loyalty, and the Blue Curtain of Secrecy
You and your partner stop in at a gas station during shift. While you chat with the cashier and pay for your snacks, you observe your partner pick up a candy bar and walk out of the gas station. What would you do?
You and your partners are executing a search warrant on a suspected drug dealers residence. Your team finds illegal drugs and a large amount of money in the house. As your team is securing the contraband in the appropriate evidence bags, you observe one team member place some of the money into his pocket. What would you do?
You are investigating the illegal coping and selling of videotaped movies. While interviewing the owner of one of the suspected video stores, he offers you several free rentals. What would you do?
You and your partner sit down to breakfast toward the end of your midnight shift. You both order food, eat and have coffee while the call load has slowed for the morning. As you prepare to leave, the waitress advises “It’s all taken care of, have a safe day. Thank you for your service.” What would you do?
You respond to a domestic disturbance call reported by an anonymous neighbor who overhears fighting coming from the house next door. When you arrive on scene, you realize it is the home of a fellow officer. What would you do?
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Police Culture Today
Increasing diversity of police recruits
Police unions
Civil litigation
Increasing police accountability
Encouraging whistle-blowers
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Practice
Ethical Dilemmas
Pgs 144-145
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