Assignment: Annotated Bibliography

p.23

Police Accountability

With accompanying changes in the political leadership, the hiring and firing of police chiefs in different communities continues, as do attempts on behalf of politicians to influence the daily activity of

police officers, chiefs, and sheriffs.31 Such attempts to control the police raise the issues of how to control the police in a democratic society, how to hold them accountable in ways that are not politically motivated, and how to ensure that they are responsive to the concerns of the citizens they are meant to serve and not beholden to the interests of politicians. (These issues are explored in more depth in Chapters 10 and 11.)

The suggestion that police agencies be directly supervised by elected municipal executives conjures up the image of police administrators beholden to various interests— including criminal elements—on whose continued support the elected mayor, their boss, may depend . . . is this not one of the costs of operating

under our system of government?32

■ THE REFORM ERA

Serious attempts to reform and professionalize the police began to materialize in the late 1800s and early 1900s, ushering in the Reform Era, or Re- form Movement. The Reform Era involved radical reorganization, including strong centralized administrative bureaucracy, highly specialized units, and substantial increases in the number of officers. Police professionalization was recognized as an important issue at least as early as 1909 by the father of modern police management systems, August Vollmer, who served as chief of police in Berkeley, California, from 1905 to 1932. In part because of the Depression, policing as a profession became more attractive to young men who in better times might have sought other employment, thus making it possible to recruit and select qualified police officers. Positive results began to show due to the efforts of Vollmer, Arthur Niederhoffer, William Parker, and O. W. Wilson, among others, to promote professionalism and higher education for police officers.

Various reform movements were under way also, the goal of which was to centralize police administration, improve the quality of police personnel, and

destroy the power of the political bosses.33

As reformers attempted to define policing as a profession, the service role of the police changed into more of a crime-

© Diannaa

August Vollmer, the father of modern

police management systems.

fighting role. The passage of the 18th Amendment in 1920 and the onset of the Great Depression in 1929 placed the police under a new public mandate for crime control and public safety. As a result, police stopped providing a wide range of services, including assisting the homeless, babysitting, and helping people locate employment.

Concern about the police reached a national level with the appointment by President Hoover of the Wickersham Commission in 1931. The commission was formed to investigate rising crime rates, and it directed police away from the service role, challenging them to become law enforcers and to reduce the crime rate.

p.24

Reformers adopted military customs and created specialized units, including vice,

juvenile, and traffic divisions.34 The historical development of large, bureaucratically organized police departments can be attributed in part to a larger movement by government to obtain legitimacy for their agencies by adopting the rational–legal formal structure that placed more emphasis on impersonal rules,

laws, and discipline.35 Reformers rapidly infused more technological advances into policing through improved record keeping, fingerprinting, serology, and criminal investigation. Training academies to teach these and other subjects became more common, and agencies emphasized promotion and selection based on merit (often through the use of civil service testing).

Video Link Can police reform happen in Phil- adelphia? CLICK TO SHOW

The onset of World War II and the Korean War made recruitment of well-qualified officers more difficult during the 1940s and 1950s. During this period, observers of the police, and sometimes the police themselves, seemed to equate technological advances and improved administration with professionalism.

■ THE ERA OF SOCIAL UPHEAVAL (1960s AND 1970s)

The 1960s proved to be one of the most challenging eras in U.S. policing. The crime rate per 100,000 persons doubled, the civil rights movement began, and antiwar sentiment and urban riots brought police

to the center of the maelstrom.36

At the same time, the social disorder of this period produced fear among the public, because it appeared that family, church, and the police were losing their grip on

society.37 One result of this fear was that legislators began to pass laws that provided substantial resources to police agencies. In the 1960s and into the 1970s, there was a rapid development of two- and four-year college degree programs in law enforcement and an increased emphasis on training. These changes were in large part due to the 1967 report of the President’s Commission on Law Enforcement and Administration of Justice, which was partially responsible for Congress passing the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968. This act established the Law Enforcement As- sistance Administration (LEAA) and provided a billion dollars each year to improve and strengthen criminal justice agencies. With funding available, social scientists began to test the traditional methods of police deployment, employee selection, and education and training and

to question the appearance of racial discrimination in arrests and the use of

deadly force.38

Audio Link Vietnam War Protests Speeches and Audios CLICK TO SHOW

Federal and state funding was available to police officers who sought to further their educations, and potential police officers began to see some advantage in taking at least some college-level courses. Although there were vast differences in the quality of college programs, they did create a pool of relatively well-qualified applicants for both supervisory and entry-level positions. These developments—coupled with improvements in police training, salaries and benefits, and equipment—helped to create a more professional image of the police. At the same time, police came under increasing scrutiny as a result of their roles in the urban disorders of the late 1960s and early 1970s. Challenges to both authority and procedure were common, and public criticism continued into the 1980s. The police were seen as partially responsible for continued high crime rates and civil unrest, and the number of complaints and civil actions brought against the police skyrocketed.

It is becoming ever clearer that underlying social and economic

conditions are spawning crime and that society’s unwillingness to do anything meaningful about them has really sealed the fate of the police effort to cope with the symptoms. Society wants to fight crime with more cops, tougher judges, and bigger jails, not through such scorned “liberal” schemes as social welfare programs. . . . Police executives believe that today’s unattended problems, concentrated in our urban centers, will only get worse, eventually resulting in riots and heightened

violence.39

p.25

There is clearly a discrepancy between what the public assumes the police can accomplish and what the police can actually accomplish. Although the expectation may be that more police will solve the problems referred to in the quote above, the reality is that merely increasing the numbers of police officers will not produce the desired result. The discrepancy was highly problematic and impacted not only police administrators’ decisions concerning operations, but also the type of personnel who applied for police positions and the type of preparations for the jobs they received. At the same time, collective bargaining and unionization in police departments considerably changed the complexion of

relationships between police administrators and rank-and-file officers. Though police unions have undoubtedly helped improve police salaries and working conditions, they remain controversial because of their emphasis on seniority and their opposition to reform.

Research on Police Effectiveness

This period saw a wave of bureaucratic responses, fueled in part by research on the police, the amount and quality of which improved drastically beginning in the 1960s. The 1967 President’s Commis- sion on Law Enforcement and Adminis- tration of Justice, the National Adviso- ry Commission on Civil Disorders in the same year, and the 1973 National Advi- sory Commission on Criminal Justice Standards and Goals represented major efforts to better understand styles of policing, police–community relations, and

police selection and training.40 Many other private and government-funded research projects contributed to the field. However, police still carry the burden of over 180 years of conflict and attempts at reform. Most chiefs continue to be selected against a political backdrop, which may be good or bad for the agency, as we have seen. There has been some consolidation and standardization of services, but not a great deal. In general, the U.S. police appear to have become more concerned about social responsibility, but they still

have difficulties interacting with some segments of society. Diversity remains the key characteristic of municipal police and local control the key to such diversity. Progress in policing has been made on many fronts. Progressive police chiefs, concerned academics, and other involved citizens have helped push the boundaries of traditional policing and shared their thoughts and findings at both national and international levels by publishing, teaching or training, and promoting exchange programs. Research on and by the police has increased dramatically in the past several years.

© Bettmann/CORBIS

Officers should show restraint even when

their personal beliefs differ from those of

the citizens they serve. Of course, as

illustrated here, not all officers act in

accordance with that philosophy.

p.26

Exhibit 2.3

Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies

A noteworthy development in policing occurred in 1979. In response to repeated calls for police professionalism, the Commission on Accreditation for Law En- forcement Agencies (CALEA) was established, through the efforts of the International Association of Chiefs of Police, the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives, the National Sheriffs’ Association, and the Police Executive Research Forum. CALEA became operational in 1983 and accepted applications for accreditation, conducted evaluations based on specific standards for law enforcement agencies, and granted accreditation. By 2012, one-quarter of law enforcement officers in the United States worked for agencies that have CALEA accreditation. Most states have their own agencies to oversee law enforcement standards. California is among the most professional and formalized of such

agencies. Many police departments have now been through a reaccreditation process, and numerous others are awaiting either accreditation or reaccreditation.

[P]olice leaders have been under considerable pressure to manage personnel and operations as efficiently as possible. This pressure may help explain why police administrators have apparently been even more willing than leadership in other criminal justice areas to question traditional assumptions and methods, to entertain the conclusions of research, and to test research

recommendations.41

“Essentially, what the [police] literature describes about the policing role in the United States is that it is unsettled, subject to ongoing societal change, and continually

evolving.”42 A panel of experts found that “the boundaries of the police are shifting

on a number of dimensions.”43 Those shifts were perceived to be in terms of intelligence and privacy, jurisdiction, engagement with other criminal justice agencies, cultural and normative dimensions, and reach of social control. In all of these areas, the shift was perceived in terms of an expansion of the police function. One of the major challenges confronting the police in the 21st century

involves dealing with these changes.

■ THE COMMUNITY-POLICING ERA (1980–2000)

The 1980s ushered in numerous technological advances in policing. Increased use of computers enabled departments to institute crime analysis programs to track crime incidents, analyze their common factors, make predictions concerning crime trends, and develop

strategies to apprehend offenders.44 Also during this time, departments began to use newly developed record management systems to store and retrieve information in addition to computer-aided dispatch and 911 systems. Together, these advances enabled communications personnel to receive calls for service, determine and dispatch the closest police officer, and inform the officer who was answering the call. As the use of computers and wireless communications grew, mobile data terminals allowed officers to immediately access information that the communication center had received and

relayed.45

p.27

Police administrators in the second half of the 1900s attempted to maximize the use of this technology, increase specialization, provide better training, and expand

educational opportunities in an attempt to enhance the image of the police and create a more effective police force. However, in doing so, they created some unanticipated problems, including increasing the proverbial gap between officers and the other citizens they served. One obvious example of this was the use of patrol officers who policed the streets in vehicles that served as offices on wheels. Patrol cars effectively isolated the officers from the public, and community members often did not know the officers patrolling their neighborhoods. Although understanding the need for speed and mobility, many citizens preferred to have recognizable officers walking the beat. Research on foot patrol suggested that it contributed to city life, reduced fear among citizens, increased citizen satisfaction with the police, improved police attitudes toward citizens, and increased the morale and job

satisfaction of police officers.46

Community relations programs, developed in the 1960s, were initially an experiment in bridging the gap between the police and the community. Such programs were later to become a revolution in policing.

Speaking at community centers and in schools was one of the first attempts to improve community relations. These programs eventually expanded to include neighborhood storefront

offices, ride-along programs, fear- reduction programs, police academies for citizens, cultural diversity training, police–community athletic programs, and Drug Abuse Resistance Educa-

tion (DARE).47

2 . 12 . 1

Commander Dan Koenig, LAPD Retired

For decades, the Hollenbeck area of Los Angeles was home to most of the city’s Mexican American community. Many of its residents were undocumented immigrants who avoided contact with the police at any cost. Hollenbeck also had four public housing developments where many of the community’s gang members lived. Officers had always suspected that the gang members were victimizing the immigrants, but there was no way to know for sure the extent to which it was occurring.

In 1968, Captain Rudy DeLeon was assigned as the Hollenbeck commanding officer. Rudy had grown up there and was well aware of the problems facing the law-abiding, albeit undocumented, community. Rudy soon opened up a storefront on

Brooklyn Avenue, which was the community’s main thoroughfare. He named the storefront Estofadores and staffed it with officers fluent in Spanish. Soon, members of the immigrant community began stopping in to report crimes, which allowed us to address their crime problems. But Rudy wasn’t willing to settle for that success. Soon he decided to assign foot beats to each of the housing developments. The foot beats were not well received by the gangs, who believed they “owned” the developments, and there were several violent confrontations. But after a while, the officers could walk the beats safely and eventually became welcome members of the communities they served.

This was the first time a “walk in” satellite police station had been tried in a major U.S. city, with the goal of encouraging undocumented immigrants to report crime. From this flowed a policy at the Los Angeles Police Department not to inquire into a person’s immigration status when he or she is reporting a crime. That was a big deal when it was adopted in Los Angeles. Because it was effective, most major cities soon followed suit.

p.28

By the early 1980s, there was a gradual movement away from the crime-fighting model and toward a community-policing model. By the mid-1980s, it was clear that the police by themselves were unable to deal with increasing crime and violence. Recognizing that performance in the areas of crime control and order maintenance could only improve with public cooperation, progressive police administrators turned to community- oriented or community-based policing as a possible solution to their problems. Community policing was intended to counter enhanced technology, specialization, and paramilitary organization and restore relationships that the police had lost with the citizenry they

were sworn to serve and protect.48 This move represented a return to the principles of policing originally specified by Sir Robert Peel. However, embedded in the more modern version of Peel’s principles was enhanced professionalism and better communication with neighborhood residents.

At the same time, problem-oriented policing began to attract increased attention. This approach to policing emphasized the interrelationships among what might otherwise appear to be disparate events. For example, police officers often report that the same families continue to account for many crimes over the years and across generations. Rather

than dealing with all of these calls as separate incidents to be handled before clearing the calls and going on to other calls, problem-oriented policing focuses attention on the underlying difficulties

that create patterns of incidents.49 It allows officers to take a holistic approach, working with other citizens and other agency representatives to find more permanent solutions to a variety of police and neighborhood problems. Both community-oriented and problem- oriented policing emphasize the importance of the police–community relationship and the fact that police work consists in large measure of order maintenance through the use of negotiations among the police and other citizens. Police education programs should emphasize the consideration of value choices and ethical dilemmas in policing and should “include comprehensive treatment of the most commonly performed police work, which falls outside

of the criminal justice system.”50

Audio Link Wisconsin City Serves as Model for Community Policing CLICK TO SHOW

Policing organized around perspectives that not only emphasize crime control and order-maintenance, but also emphasize more diverse

approaches such as crime prevention, proactive policing, community problem-solving, improvement of police–community relations by reducing the social distance between the police and the public through increased police accountability and improved service to the public, empowerment of front-line officers, and a flatter organizational power structure that promotes team work

and a collectivist spirit among all.51

In a study of some 281 municipal departments that serve populations of 25,000 or more, researchers found that police departments that prioritize homeland security planning are associated with fewer officers devoted solely to community policing and smaller or static

departmental budgets.52 Nonetheless, homeland security planning was positively associated with community-policing programs and activities. And, police departments that emphasize community policing are more likely to have a website, to exhibit greater transparency in the display of data, and to provide more

opportunities for citizen input.53 Not all observers of the police see a continuing role for community policing. Some predict a return to the professional model of policing driven by centralization, technology, and sophisticated

surveillance.54 Even though some argue

that community policing has taken a backseat to other policing strategies, it continues to play an important role. Many of the more recent strategies in policing could not be effective without strong police–community partnerships.

■ THE HOMELAND SECURITY ERA (2001–PRESENT)

The terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, set in motion a new era of policing in the United States called “the era of

homeland security.”55 The nation responded to 9/11 by launching a “war on terrorism” and enacting the USA PATRIOT Act (discussed in Chapters 9 and 14). Many other countries also strengthened their antiterrorism legislation and expanded law enforcement powers.

p.29

Police in the era of homeland security have to be more familiar with information technology and the gathering, processing, and disseminating of information. The police also need enhanced skills that pertain to weapons of mass destruction (nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons), events involving mass casualties, and methods of preventing

terrorism.56

Although all law enforcement agencies

have a more heightened awareness of homeland security in this new era, it is mostly federal law enforcement agencies and police in larger metropolitan areas that have concentrated their investigative efforts and resources on homeland security. It is debatable whether such investigations—and the interrogations and detention that sometimes result—are the most effective means of protecting the country from further terrorist attacks. It is certain, however, that infringing inappropriately on the civil rights of certain target groups can lead to hostility among those groups, whose assistance with developing intelligence concerning possible terrorists is essential. Collecting intelligence was a standard aspect of local policing that disappeared in most respects during the 1960s and 1970s, largely as a result of the fear of abuse of powers by the police. Bringing back this intelligence- gathering component means that safeguards need to be put in place to protect against the abuse of authority. It was for this very reason that intelligence gathering was eliminated. Undoubtedly, the risk to civil liberties still exists, and safeguards are necessary to protect against such abuse.

Video Link Are We Safer? CLICK TO SHOW

It is therefore critical that police officers

treat targeted groups with respect, help ensure that their liberties are not unduly trampled on, and help them to maintain

their sense of dignity.57 Community- oriented policing efforts that develop partnerships with diverse groups in the community represent perhaps the best way of accomplishing these goals. Communication between police administrators and line officers, lateral communication between the police and other governmental agencies, and communication among local, state, and federal agencies is critical in this new era of policing.

A summary of these four eras is included in Table 2.1.

Table 2.1 ■ The Four Eras of Policing

Source: National Institute of Justice

p.30

■ SOME CONTEMPORARY POLICING STRATEGIES

As the review of the history of policing indicates, policing is dynamic and constantly changing. Based on analysis of the effectiveness of past police practices, numerous contemporary strategies have emerged. Time and evaluation will help determine the relative effectiveness of each of these strategies, which are briefly mentioned here and discussed in more detail in Chapter 7.

Intelligence-Led or Intelligence- Based Policing

Intelligence-led or intelligence-based policing is a policing model that originated in Britain and focuses on risk assessment and risk management. The approach involves identifying risks or patterns associated with groups, individuals, and locations to predict when and where crime is likely to occur. Many agencies now conduct crime analyses on a regular basis, thus identifying reported crime patterns. An effective records management system allows frontline officers to easily obtain this information on a timely basis prior to or while responding to a call. This may assist officers in proactively identifying and anticipating problems they may encounter rather than reacting to them at the scene. The approach has gained momentum globally following the

September 11 terrorist attacks on the

United States.58

Terrorism-Oriented Policing

As previously mentioned, the events of 9/11 led to new duties and strategies for police at all levels in the United States. Now, in contrast to much of the history of policing, some of the public wants to trust the government and the police as agents of government to protect them from criminals both domestic and foreign. Terrorism and homeland security are among many important issues that currently face police agencies, but homeland security issues are of such extreme concern that agencies must question whether their existing strategies

are adequate to the task.59 What might be termed terrorism-oriented policing requires changes at all levels of policing, most of which add new duties and strategies to existing ones.

For example, “the workload of already busy departments has significantly expanded to include identifying potential terrorists, protecting vulnerable targets,

and coordinating first response.”60 In addition, whether the police are operating in a small town or a large city, it is now their “responsibility to ensure that plans are in place to prevent attack and to

respond quickly should an attack occur.”61

© AP Photo / Matt Gentry

Today, police have found that crime

mapping and other technology-based

methods have a significant impact on the

prevention and investigation of crime.

p.31

2.22.2

In March 2009, the Peoria Police Department launched a crime- mapping program known as “CrimeView Community.” The service, developed by The Omega Group, is billed as “intelligence-led policing.” CrimeView enables law enforcement agencies to map and analyze their own data for a more informed approach to police functions such as

investigations, deployment of officers, and emergency management. It allows public web users to check crime trends for 90- day periods in user-designated areas of the city. Such programs are already in hundreds of departments and in most states.

It is believed that the program will help the public make educated decisions about crime in the areas in which they live, work, go to school, and shop. When users log on to CrimeView in Peoria, they will be able to search 16 different types of crime by location within the city. The website is scheduled to be updated daily.

1. What are the advantages and disadvantages to “CrimeView Community” and other programs that map and analyze neighborhood crime data?

2. Do you think that access to crime data may cause citizens to be unnecessarily fearful of becoming crime victims?

3. Is it possible for criminals to use programs like “CrimeView Community” to their benefit? How?

Source: From “Tool tracks city crime,” by

G. Childs, 2009, Journal Star, pp.

A1, A8.

Some observers insist that partnerships with citizens and problem-solving principles are essential to successful and sustainable crime-reduction and terrorism-prevention strategies that are consistent with U.S. democratic values. Community partnership and problem solving in policing are as relevant and

modern as the war on terror.62 In addition, terrorists often commit ordinary crimes such as robbery, drug dealing, and fraud to sustain themselves. Thus, “from a policing point of view, there is much to be said for regarding terrorists as criminals with

political motives.”63

Exhibit 2.4

How the Long Beach Police Department Has Adapted to the Terrorism Threat

• Created a counterterrorism unit and appointed terrorist liaison officers.

• Reassigned officers to assess and protect critical infrastructure, such as the port, airport, and water treatment facilities.

• Sent officers to train in new skills, such as WMD [weapons of mass destruction] response and recognizing signs of terrorism.

• Established a port police unit equipped with small boats.

• Reassigned officers to respond to areas with high population growth.

• Increased visibility and response times by switching officers from two- to one-person cars.

• Reduced staffing on lower priority programs, such as Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE).

• Reduced foot patrols and staffing in the narcotics division.

• Requested additional resources to cover demand, both from the city for local needs and from the federal government for national needs.

Source: Raymond, B., Hickman, L.,

Miller, L., and Wong, J. (2005). Po-

lice personnel challenges after

September 11: Anticipating ex-

panded duties and a changing la-

bor pool. Santa Monica, CA: RAND

Corporation.

p.32

“Local police can identify potential terrorists living or operating in their jurisdictions, they can help protect vulnerable targets, and they can coordinate the first response to terror attacks. These are heavy new responsibilities that significantly expand the workload of already busy

departments.”64 However, “counterterrorism has to be woven into the everyday workings of every department. It should be included on the agenda of every meeting, and this new role must be imparted to officers on the street so that terrorism prevention becomes part

of their everyday thinking.”65

The potential for loss of life from a terrorist attack makes prevention a critical goal. Consequently, the police have had to increase security at major events and increase patrols at ports, bridges, and other potential targets. They might also need to conduct security surveys or to give

advice for protecting vulnerable sites.66

Undoubtedly, this requires additional and appropriate training.

■ POLICING IN THE PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE

History has shown us that policing has

evolved and adapted over time as the police attempt to meet the needs of society. In earlier times, police personnel could be recruited from almost any walk of life, because the nature of crime did not generally require great technical police expertise. In the new millennium, communication is instantaneous, crime can be global in scope, and technology continues to increase in sophistication. Effective policing demands that police expertise be sufficiently sophisticated as well to deter and apprehend (for example) individuals who are involved in transnational crime, who use the most advanced technologies to prey on their victims, who traffic in human beings across borders, and who threaten to spread terror and chaos.

All of these and other activities often require direct intervention into the lives of citizens. The debate rages over the balance between the needs of law enforcement for information and the public’s democratic right to privacy. Democracy represents consensus, freedom, participation, and equality; the police represent restriction and the imposition of authority of

government on the individual.67 The police and the community must share in controlling crime. In exchange for greater legal leeway to do so, the police may need to be more transparent and raise their standard for accountability. Community service may require better training in the

theory and practice of total crime

prevention.68

2 . 12 . 1

Police Bolster Attack on Cybercrime

British police, in a response to the growing threat of online attacks, are bolstering their campaign against cyber criminals with the formation of three new regional e-crime control centers.

These centers are designed to “provide an enhanced ability to investigate this fast growing area of crime and provide an improved internet investigation capability.”

“Cyber crime has been identified by law enforcement agencies as a ‘tier- one’ national security threat, putting it on a par with international terrorism, an international military crisis, or a natural disaster.”

1. How much freedom should the government be given to “spy” on private emails, text messages, and phone records to detect and to prevent threats to national security?

2. Would you be willing to subject your personal emails, text messages, and phone records to government scrutiny in the name of “safety”?

Source: Warrell, H. (2012, Feb. 7). Police

bolster attack on cyber crime. Fi-

nancial Times (London, England).

Retrieved from FT.com. Record

Number: 13CCD7F5AD08C730.

p.33

Policing has changed immensely over the past 50 years in response to the demands imposed on it by an increasingly diverse, technological, urbanized, globalized, mobile, sophisticated, rights-conscious,

and knowledge-based society.”69 Agencies must decide how best to use their limited budgets. They must determine how much specialized training they should require of officers to be effective in the complex world of international terrorist conspiracies and rapidly changing technologically sophisticated crimes, all on a finite budget. They must balance a centralized and sophisticated organization with the need to have close ties with the community, while maintaining accountability, transparency, and respect for individual rights.

Exhibit 2.5

2

Exhibit 2.5

Contemporary Police Issues

• New strategies in policing

• Concerns with continuing education and training

• Recruitment and selection of officers

• Police accountability

• Exercise of discretion

• Ethical issues

• Police misconduct

• Policing in a multicultural society

• Police officer stress

• Changing technology and cybercrime

• Globalization, terrorism, immigration, and homeland security

• Privatization

CHAPTER SUMMARY

The manner in which organized and professional police agencies operate today has been influenced greatly by their

historical development from English origins over the last 200 years. Police officers of the early days had little to no training, and there were no formal educational requirements. The system of night watchmen over time evolved into a more militarily organized system of police under government control. The close ties of officers to the communities they served gave them great problem-solving abilities, but also left the door open to bribery and corruption. There was considerable political influence on police officers, some of which was unprofessional at best, including unethical and unlawful acts at the behest of the politicians who controlled them. Although politics still play an important role in policing, there are many other and perhaps more pressing and complicated influences.

Important technological advances gave the police more options in fighting crime, but changes in standards, development of ethical codes, education and training provided by those outside policing, and other indicators of professionalism were largely lacking. To be sure, some important changes had occurred. Reformers had identified inappropriate political involvement as a major problem in

U.S. policing. Civil service successfully removed some of the patronage and ward influences from police officers. Law and professionalism were established as the bases of police legitimacy. Under these circumstances, policing became a legal and technical matter left to the discretion of professional police executives. Eliminating all political influence from policing is unlikely and, if we wish to maintain civilian control of the police, perhaps undesirable.

p.34

The political and social environment of each decade has had its influence on how the police operate, the degree of the connection they have with their communities, and how the public perceives them. Numerous policing strategies have been implemented and tested over the years in an attempt to satisfy the goals of various segments of the U.S. public. Inattention to the will of diverse minorities has often been the basis of strained police–community relations.

During the last three decades, the police began to reconsider their fundamental mission, as well as the nature of the core strategies of policing, and the nature of their relationships with the communities

Review key terms with eFlashcards.

they serve.70 In spite of numerous innovative programs initiated in recent years and the research needed to evaluate them, the evidence related to police performance and implementation associated with these innovations on crime reduction and

community satisfaction is limited.71

Some of the newest policing strategies are based on the tenets of community- and problem-oriented policing and operate in response to various global issues that now affect local police operations. The increasing complexities of policing, coupled with the technology-based nature of the world in which we live and work, demand vigilant, cooperative, and proactive forms of policing to effectively address a wide variety of issues.

KEY TERMS

■ Professionalism 17

■ Night watch system 17

■ Sir Robert Peel 18

■ Patrick Colquhoun 18

■ Pendleton Act 21

■ Sheriff 21

■ Reform Era (Reform Movement) 23

■ Law Enforcement Assistance Administration (LEAA) 24

■ Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies (CALEA) 26

■ President’s Commission on Law Enforcement and Administra- tion of Justice (1967) 25

■ National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders (1967) 25

■ National Advisory Commission on Criminal Justice Standards and Goals (1973) 25

■ Community relations programs 27

■ Drug Abuse Resistance Educa- tion (DARE) 27

■ Community policing 28

■ Problem-oriented policing 28

■ Intelligence-led or intelligence-

Test your understanding of chapter content. Take the

practice quiz.

based policing 30

■ Terrorism-oriented policing 30

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

1. Briefly discuss the evolution of the U.S. police and the problems they currently confront.

2. How did the need for police arise?

3. What problems confronting the police are inherent in democratic societies?

4. What are the positive and negative effects of the interaction between politics and the police in our society?

5. Discuss some of the most recent policing strategies and their potential effectiveness.

INTERNET EXERCISES

1. Using your favorite search engine, go online and see what you can

find out about the history of policing. What two or three websites did you find most interesting? What kinds of information did these websites contain?

2. Go to the Internet and search for articles dealing with current police corruption. In light of the articles you found, do you believe there is still a need for reform in policing? If so, what types of reform would you like to see?

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2 . 12 . 1

Accreditation is briefly introduced here in chapter 2 and is discussed again in chapter 3. An accredited law enforcement agency is officially recognized as meeting essential requirements set forth by the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement (CALEA). Without knowing what these essential requirements are, one might not be impressed by the credentials.

According to the CALEA Standards Manual (1999), the

goals of law enforcement accreditation are to: “(a) improve crime prevention and control capabilities, (b) formalize management procedures, (c) establish fair and non- discriminatory personnel practices, (d) improve service delivery, (e) improve inter- agency cooperation and coordination, and (f) increase confidence in the law enforcement agency” (CALEA, 1999, xiii).

1. If you could implement one standard or rule that police agencies had to follow, what would that be?

2. In general, do you trust officers from an accredited agency more than those working for one that is not accredited? Why or why not?

Suggestions for addressing these questions can be found on the Student Study Site: e d g e . s a g e p u b . c o m /c ox -e d g e . s a g e p u b . c o m /c ox - p o l i c i n g 3 ep o l i c i n g 3 e

STUDENT STUDY SITE

e d g e . s a g e p u b . c o m /c ox p o l i -e d g e . s a g e p u b . c o m /c ox p o l i -

c i n g 3 ec i n g 3 e

S h a r p e n yo u r s k i l l s w i t hS h a r p e n yo u r s k i l l s w i t h S AG E e d g e !S AG E e d g e !

SAGE edge for Students provides a personalized approach to help you accomplish your coursework goals in an easy-to-use learning environment. You’ll find action plans, mobile-friendly eFlashcards, and quizzes as well as videos, web resources, and links to SAGE journal articles to support and expand on the concepts presented in this chapter.