Who and when created the first professional, salaried police force in England?
In 1798, the West India Trading Company created London’s first professional, salaried police force, the
Thames River Police.
Who and when created the first permanent public police force in England?
Sir Robert Peel convinced the British government to pass the Metropolitan Police Act in 1829 which created a permanent public police force.
Which 3 enduring features of American policing are borrowed from England?
- Limited Police Authority
- Local Control
- A Fragmented System
What difference did Miller note between policing in New York and London?
The authority of officers in London rested on
discretion granted by the government.
New York City officers had more discretion, with a
personal basis for authority
What did Pendleton Civil Service Act of 1883 do away with and what did it introduce?
Basically, it formed a civil service system that dispensed with patronage and administered employment and promotions based on merit rather than political connections.
What movement did August Vollmer contribute to?
What are his specific contributions in terms of recruitment, classes, and technological innovations?
The Police Reform Movement
- Among the first police chiefs to recruit college grads
- Organized the first police-science courses at the University of California
- Introduced an emphasis on technology to help police to do their job (like the patrol car, improved communications, advanced record keeping techniques, and the creation of crime-analysis laboratories)
What are 3 differences between police and military - especially in discretion?
The differences are visibility, authority, and discretion which is vested in the individual police officer.
Soldiers are typically allowed very little discretion in the course of their work. Policing, especially in the patrol division, is characterized by significant amounts of discretion.
What do we know about jurisdiction and concentration of federal and local law enforcement agencies?
Federal: Agencies have nationwide jurisdiction but
concentrate on specific offenses.
Local: Handle most crime. Most local police forces are operated by municipalities.
What did the Kansas City Patrol Experiment find about impact of routine patrol on crime?
marked police cars have little value in preventing crime or making citizens feel safe and that resources normally allocated to these activities could safely be allocated elsewhere
What are 3 goals of police patrol?
- To deter crime
- Enhance feelings of public safety
- Make officers available for service
Examples of police peacemaking
- Domestic disputes
- Crowd control
- Vice
- Mental illness
- Juveniles
- First response
- Use of force
Do police make an arrest every time they are legally authorized to do so?
No (discretion) - The criminal justice system could not effectively deal with so many cases.
The most serious offenders would be obscured by the mass of cases.
What does the 4th amendment say - what are citizens protected from?
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.
Are most searches conducted with or without a warrant?
Without
What are the 4 major exceptions to the warrant requirment?
- Arrests
- Consent searches
- Exigent-circumstances searches or emergency searches (DUI stop in itself is not exigent)
- Vehicle searches
What are the “special-needs” searches? Do they require a warrant, and which individuals are searched?
Most searches-no warrant required
1. Impound inspections/inventory searches
2. Border searches
3. Airport searches
4. Searches of inmates/probationers/parolees
5. Searches of students
6. Employee drug testing
What is ‘reasonable suspicion’
Reasonable suspicion occurs when any reasonable officer might suspect a crime.
Is reasonable suspicion higher or lower reasonableness standard than “probable cause?”
Lower
The main difference between probable cause and reasonable suspicion is that probable cause means there is concrete evidence of a crime and that any reasonable person might suspect criminal activity.
Based on the class discussion, what % of stop-and-frisks in NY was of innocent people in 2022 and 2013?
2022: 65%
2013: 88%
What are the goals and tactics of community policing?
- Recalls the watchman style
- Attempts to harness community resources and residents in stopping crime and maintaining order
- Covers a vast array of activities
What are the goals and tactics of problem-oriented policing?
- Related to community policing
- Expands the officer’s role from reaction to proactive problem solving
- Allows agencies to address crime on a more systemic level than traditional policing
What are the goals and tactics of zero-tolerance policing?
- A refinement of problem-oriented policing
- Based on broken-windows perspective
- If every infraction of the law is punished, offenders will not commit more serious offenses.
What do we know and not know about police use of force?
Know:
1. Police use force infrequently
2. Use of force occurs at the lower end of the pysical spectrum, involving grabbing, pushing, handcuffing, or shoving
3. Use of force typically occurs when a suspect resists arrest
Do not know:
1. The incidence of wrongful use of force
2. The effect of differences in police organizations including administrative policies, hiring, training, discipline, and use of technology on excessive and illegal force
3. Influences of situational characteristics on police use of force and the transactional nature of these events
When can deadly force be lawfully used?
To use deadly force, the officer must believe the suspect to be a threat to others.
Deadly force may be used only if the suspect poses a threat to the lives of police officers or bystanders.
