Policing in America
Police officers are the gatekeepers of criminal justice. They are the ones that initiate criminal
proceedings against those accused of crimes and send them on their journey through the criminal
justice system. Policing has evolved immensely over the centuries. Since the inception of
policing in 1066, we have seen a transformation from ill-equipped, untrained, corrupt, and
unsupervised watchmen to the highly trained and supervised police agencies we see today.
Question 1: Using Chapter 4, "Police in Society: History and Organization," of your textbook,
complete the table below.
History of the
Police
Time Period
1066–1600
(example)
1800–1900
Overview of the
Time Period – What Defined
It
Policing initially began as
villages protecting each other
from thieves and marauders.
This system was overseen by a
constable, appointed by the
local nobleman. This system
expanded into the watch
system that patrolled larger
cities and towns. Watchmen
patrolled at night to protect
against robberies, burglaries,
and fires. They reported to a
constable making up a sort of
primitive police agency.
Strengths of
This Time Period
Citizens were responsible for
keeping their cities and
villages safe. Giving citizens
this responsibility made it
tougher for criminals to
commit a crime undetected.
Weaknesses of
This Time Period
(li
While the people of the
1. B
village were responsible for
k
reporting crimes, there was no
la
formal training involved and
a
no oversight to ensure that
s
those responsible for
w
preventing crimes were not
d
the same ones committing
2. In
crimes.
P
ro
e
re
th
in
s
w
In the 1800s policing was
anything but white- collared.
capabilityo
1900–1960
1960–1980
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History of the
Overview of the
Police
Time Period – What Defined
Time Period
It
1980–present
(Community Policing
period)
Strengths of
This Time Period
Weaknesses of
This Time Period
Question 2: Which time period do you believe has had the greatest impact on policing, and
why? Be sure to include your rationale
1960s for me had the greatest impact on policing. Why? The 1960s were an unstable time when
the community were full of protests about delicate issues, and pressure were high. In the 1960s
police officer were not known for being unbiased. Police action were vicious which damaged the
reputation of police officer, considerably, diminishing the faith between police officers and
citizens. And when you add to that assassination of Martin Luther King jr., and John F. Kennedy.
There was an era of total fear and all most trust in the capability in the policing of the police.
Question 3: Social media and technology have greatly affected policing in the past ten years.
Please review the links provided for this week on technology and policing along with Chapter 4
in your textbook as you prepare to discuss how technology affects policing in the 21st century.




How Technology Is Changing Law Enforcement.
Social Media's Impact on Incidents Involving Police Use of Deadly Force.
How Cell Phone Video Impacts Police Work [Video].
The Benefits (and Limitations) of Body Cameras on Police Officers [Video].
Choose one of these three—cell phones, social media, or police body cams—and explain how it
affects policing in today’s society. Describe the pros and cons and provide examples.
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and may not be copied, further distributed, or otherwise disclosed in whole or in part, without the expressed written permission of
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(li
My choice was the body camera. I think police cameras raises police responsibility and
decrease reports of misconduct by police officers. Body cameras gives visual and audio that
can be used for proof of exoneration. I also think that when police officer wear they body
camera the use of force by police officers may now be justified if we are allowed to see the
being to the end not just middle that we see sometime from cell phone videos. Especially if
the officers’ keep their body camera recording through their whole shift.
Pros. Body camera was used to find the truth in a shooting. For, example: In Texas when a
police officer was involved in a shooting of unarmed male youth. The officer statement did
not match the footage on the officers’ body camera he wore, when the incident occurred,
showed that the officer told a lie. He was fired and sentence to 15 years in prison.
Another Pros. about body cameras protected a police officer from being falsely accused.
example, a police officer in San Diego, California was being accused of misconduct by a
civilian. The officer body camera provided proof that officer was telling the truth.
Cons. The police department has found that body cameras are too expensive, and
undependable for many police department. Here is an example: In Edmonton California, the
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and may not be copied, further distributed, or otherwise disclosed in whole or in part, without the expressed written permission of
Strayer University.
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police department found that the battery life of the body camera did not last during the
policing whole shift, especially in the cold weather.
Another Cons. Body camera can cause injuries to police officers if the body camera is not
working proper. Another example on October of 2018 police office policing Staten Island, in
New York was patrolling when his body camera exploded and then burst into flames
fortunately the police officer did no get hurt. The police department had to recall thousands of
body cameras.
© 2020 Strayer University. All Rights Reserved. This document contains Strayer University Confidential and Proprietary information
and may not be copied, further distributed, or otherwise disclosed in whole or in part, without the expressed written permission of
Strayer University.
CRJ100 Template for Assignment (08/06/2020)
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