Police
Overview
History
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Early “policing” informal, watch
systems, volunteers, few paid personnel
Or, military
Professionalized police forces with the
advent of the Industrial Revolution
Urban migration, unrest
Structure
History
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Police officers tended to be poorly
trained with little check on power
Often used to break up labor disputes
Corruption was visible and common
Resented by the poor, particularly
immigrants
Wickersham commission
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1931—lack of efficiency, honesty,
discipline, lack of equipment
Recommended education and training,
job security
IACP had been developed in 1892,
became the leading voice for reform in
the 20th century
IACP
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Development of civil service, removal of
political control, central organizational
structure, development of record
keeping systems, specialized units
Vollmer, O. W. Wilson—argued for a
professionalized force, tough, trained,
rule-oriented, paramilitary force
1960s and 1970s
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Turmoil and crisis
Civil rights movement, Supreme Court
decisions, riots and demonstrations
Growing crime rate
Consequences: increased spending on
technology, federal funding
LEAA, LEEP
Police role
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Functions of police
Crime fighter vs. order maintenance
Styles of policing (crime fighter,
watchman, public servant, legalistic)
Considerable disagreement over these
roles
Major issues
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How many police are needed?
When there are no police, there is often
chaos (the thin blue line)
Although not always—the most recent
blackout
Faster response times
More detectives
Issues
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Targeting career criminals
Eliminating technicalities
Increasing arrest rates
Using problem solving techniques
Using the results of deterrence research
to deter criminals
Adding police
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KC patrol experiment
Why wasn’t patrol effective?
Patrol is spread thinly in the best of
circumstances
Many would-be criminals do not see it
as a threat
Nor do they always act rationally
Adding police
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Majority of murders and assaults, about
50% of rapes occur between people
who know each other, in the heat of
passion and often indoors, where police
presence will have no effect
Outdoor crimes theoretically could be
impacted by more police
Adding police
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About 100,000 officers were added as a
result of the Violent Crime Control Act
of 1994
Not much effect—why?
Crime is concentrated in large cities,
which received only 23% of the funding
Many hired had desk jobs
Faster response time
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Commonly believed that faster response
times will catch more criminals
About 75% of crime-related calls
involve crimes that occurred some time
ago (“cold” crimes)
About 25% of crime-related calls
involve a confrontation
Faster response time
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Even then, it frequently does not make
a difference
People often delay before calling the
police.
Victims compose themselves, call a
family member
Witnesses often hesitate (cell phone
might make a difference)
Faster response time
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Response time might make a difference
in a small number, perhaps 3% (Police
Executive Research Forum).
Commercial robberies
Faster response time may improve
public relations
Too much hurry could result in danger
to others
More detectives
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Police clear about 21% of all index
crimes
Belief that we could clear more with
more detectives
Most crimes that are cleared are easily
solved, such as acquaintance crime
60-80% of arrests made by patrol
rather than detectives
More detectives
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Information about the suspect most
important
A study in LA indicated that police
cleared 86% of cases in which a
suspect was immediately identified
Cleared 12% cases without an
identification
More detectives
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Skills or training help clear a case only
where there is evidence
Of course, lack of training can hurt a
case
Targeting career criminals
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Following high rate offenders
(Wolfgang’s research)
Repeat Offender Project
High rate offenders placed under
surveillance
Highly intensive
Targeting career criminals
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58% of the target group were arrested
within a year
Conviction rate 37%
Questions about the cost-effectiveness
of the program
Eliminating technicalities
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Rationale: police have been restricted
in their efforts to catch criminals
Exclusionary rule
Motion to suppress: <5% of cases
Successful in .69% of the total
More likely to make a difference in
cases involving drugs and weapons
Technicalities
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Other types of cases often cleared
through other means, primarily
information about the suspect
One study found that 70% of cases
where evidence was suppressed were
convicted on other charges (small N)
Technicalities: Miranda
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Rate of confessions has declined by
16% (Cassell)—however, was declining
prior to Miranda
Estimated that confessions needed in
24% of cases
Some of those cases get convictions
anyway
Technicalities: Miranda
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Many suspects waive their rights—2/3
in one study, 80% in another
Police confronted them with evidence
and/or appealed to their self-interest
about 80% of the time
About 1/4 appealed to suspect’s
conscience
Increasing arrests
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Arrests should increase certainty of
apprehension
Arrests take police off the streets,
decreasing visibility
Effects of arrest and patrol presence
have not been systematically compared
Increasing arrests
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Avoidance of arrests, “peacekeeping”
Arrests as escalation of a dispute
Whether arrests are effective may be
situational
Problem oriented policing
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Risk analysis: determining where the
problems and problem areas are and
focusing resources on those areas
Minneapolis Hot Spots Patrol
Experiment
Showed statistically significant effects
POP
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Frequent rotation of personnel in this
study was more effective
Longer the police stayed, the longer the
hot spot was crime free, up to a point
(about 10 minutes in this study)
Merely driving though had little effect
What police do at a hot spot may be
important
POP
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Look at problems in areas—hot spots
Repeat criminals
Repeat victims
Repeat calls for service
POP: examples
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Crackdowns: most successful in the
short run, only a few studies show
displacement
Must be unpredictable to avoid
displacement
Residual deterrence and the “phantom”
effect
POP
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Effect of field interrogations positive, if
done correctly
A Kansas City study found that
aggressive gun seizures reduced violent
crime
Gun tips and buybacks did not
Use of trespasser laws
Risk analysis and risk control
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Analyzing the problem, and then
constructing barriers in high risk
situations
Analogy to driving—safety devices
Ad hoc nature of these efforts
Risk analysis and control
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Deterrence theory indicates that
perceptions of certainty of apprehension
most likely to have an effect
Analyze high risk areas
Control high risk situations by
constructing barriers
Risk control
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Analogous to care safety devices
Altering physical environment
Natural surveillance, establishing
territoriality
Studies indicate that these factors
affected by another variable, i.e.,
willingness of those surveying to
intervene
Other efforts
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Better lighting, barriers and cul-de-sacs
Results ambiguous, apparently
community dependent
Broken windows
Policing disorder and incivility