Understanding the
Criminal Justice System
CJUS 101
Chapter 5: Police and Policing
1.
Police in America
- largest / most visible
- enforce laws / keep the peace
- investigators / traffic enforcers
- social services
a. “Thin blue line”
- 90% = non-criminal
- reporting / patrol / public relations
(1) History of policing
- 9th century
-
Alfred the Great
preparing for war
civil policing
mutual pledge
10’s / 100’s
(a) Constable
- reported to “Reeve”
- in charge of “Shire”
- Reeve of the Shire
- Shire’s Reeve
- sheriff
(b) 17th century England
- people were the police
- “hue and cry”
- start = paid policing
- “thief takers”
(2) London police
- beginning of modern policing
- horse patrol
- river police
(a) Sir Robert Peel
- Metropolitan Police – 1829
- City of London Police
(b) First professional departments
- uniforms / badges / name tags
- training
b. Colonial America
- followed English tradition
- large criminal population
(1) Movement west
- constables = eastern states
- sheriff = southern states
- sheriff / marshal = western territories
(a) Sheriff
- first elected enforcement officer
- county wide office
(b) Marshal
- policed towns
- enforcement in town limits
- town ordinances
(2) Law of the gun
- vigilante justice
(a) Posse comitatus
- all able bodied men
- rode with sheriff / marshal
(b) Texas Rangers – 1823
- first territorial police
- first state police
(c) Arizona Rangers
- second state police
(d) US Marshal
- federal court officer
- served civil papers
- transported federal prisoners
- tracked wanted federal felons
c. Modern police agencies
- over 50,000 federal / state / local
(1) Federal
- enforce federal laws
- assist state / local police
(a) Department of Justice
- FBI / DEA / INS / US Marshal
- ATF / White House Police
(b) Department of Homeland Security
- Secret Service / Customs
- Border Patrol / Coast Guard
- Immigration Service
- Transportation Security Admin.
(c) Department of the Treasury
- IRS
(d) US Postal Service
- postal inspectors
(e) Department of Agriculture
- National Park Police
- US Fisheries
- US Wildlife
(2) State
- independent state agencies
(a) Pennsylvania State Constabulary
- first modern police force – 1905
(b) Function under different names
- Washington State Patrol
- Oregon State Police
- California Highway Patrol
- Arizona Department of Public
Safety
- various functions / activities
(c) Washington state
- state patrol
- liquor control
- gambling commission
- wildlife
- park rangers
- public lands
- attorney general
(d) Several miscellaneous agencies
- parole officers
- internal investigators
(3) County / municipal law enforcement
- county sheriff
- city police
(a) Sheriff
- chief law enforcement officer
- sheriff / coroner / tax collector
- criminal function / civil function
- county corrections
(b) Police
- city agency
- patrol / traffic / investigations
- city jail (corrections)
(c) Mutual aid agreements
- cooperation of agencies
- cities / surrounding counties
(4) Private police
- stores / business security / banks
- private patrol of neighborhoods
- Pinkerton = private eye
- Wells Fargo = stage coach
(5) Auxiliary police
- reserve police officers = sworn
- volunteers in policing (VIP’s)
(6) American vigilante
- extralegal actions
- lynch mobs / Guardian Angels
- neighborhood patrols
d. Police agencies in Washington state
- 214 city police
- 39 county sheriff departments
- 6 university / college police agencies
- 24 tribal police
- 8 state police
2.
Enforcing the law and keeping the peace
- enforcer / protector / investigator / mediator
- social worker / psychologist / attorney
- peace keeper / minister
a. Primary function
- keep the peace
- law enforcement / traffic enforcement
(1) Peacekeepers
- keep people moving
- intervene = verbal disputes
- breakup unlawful gatherings
(2) Obligation / responsibility
- key factor
- separates citizen from police
(a) Police = obligation
- intervene when necessary
- take action when required
(b) Police = responsibility
- must protect
- must take action
b. How do police protect?
- words / actions / force / weapons
(1) Use of force
- minimal force / necessary force
- policy manual / state – federal laws
- continuum of force
- levels that are used
(1) Level I
(a) Physical presence
- just being there
(b) Words / commands
- verbal direction
- telling people what to do
(c) Touching / out muscling
- moving apart
- separating people
(2) Level II
(a) Hair / hand holds
(b) Irritant spray
- pepper spray
(3) Level III
(a) Baton
- use of the nightstick
- reasonable / necessary
(b) Stun gun
- taser
- electric shock
(c) Firearm
- deadly force
- last resort
(2) Training received
- firearms = handgun / shotgun /
automatic rifle
- defensive tactics
- pepper spray
b. Police organization
- quasi-military function
- structure similar to military
- uniforms / titles / insignias
(1) Bureaucracy
- division of labor
- chain of command
(a) Rules / regulations to follow
- disciplinary procedures
(b) Enforcing rules
- difficult
- alone in vehicle
- radio to contact
(2) Functions of policing
(a) Patrol services
- response to calls
- process of observation
(b) Traffic enforcement services
- citations for infractions
- arrests for criminal traffic
- accident investigation
- school patrol
(c) Investigative services (detectives)
- investigation of crimes
- specialists = specific crimes
- generalists = all crimes
(d) Administrative services
-
training program
planning unit
school resources (DARE / SRO)
internal investigations
(e) Support services
- communications (department)
- records: reports / photos / prints
- property room / evidence room
- city jail
(f) Specialized services
-
drug enforcement (task force)
crime lab (Washington = state)
Special Weapons and Tactics
bicycle patrol
undercover operations
(3) Police assimilation
- hiring policies
- requirements
- acceptance
(4) Police discretion
- most important
- action taken = left to officer
- law / policy guides
(5) Training
- firearms
- defensive skills
- civil rights / protections
(6) Police subculture
- cohesive group
- socialize / dependent
- “police personality”
(7) Police cynicism
- distrustful of people
- motivated by evil / selfishness
- on / off the job
c. Operational styles
- develop own style of policing
(1) Enforcer
- after everybody
-
maintains order
no breaks given
longs for the “good old days”
becomes cynical
(2) Idealist
- does the job required
- insures due process
- treats people fairly
- protects their rights
- starts out virtuous
- becomes cynical
(3) Realist
- does the job / nothing more
- does not take the job home
- looks at it as only a job
- becomes cynical
(4) Optimist
- looks for good in everything
- people oriented
- becomes less cynical
d. Doctrine of Sovereign Immunity
- states could not be sued without consent
(1) Police protected
- no lawsuits filed against government
- could only sue officer
(2) Overturned = US Supreme Court
- necessary / reasonable force
- justifiable acts
- governments can now be sued