Chapter 5
Law
Enforcement
Today
RESPONSIBILITIES of
POLICE
 The basic responsibilities of police
include:
1. To enforce laws
2. To provide services
3. To prevent crime
4. To preserve the peace
Enforce Laws / Provide
Services
Enforce Law:
 Crime fighter role (perceived by police officer
and society)
 Seek out and apprehend those who violate the
law
 Truth is half of a police officer’s time is spent
dealing with crime
Providing Services:
 Duty to “serve and protect” the community
 Numerous services include non- enforcement
duties
 First to arrive at disasters – search and rescue
Prevent Crime
Prevent Crime:
 Police’s most controversial responsibility
 Response to rising crime rate
 Punished convicted criminals stronger laws
and more severe penalties
 Demand police “ do something” to prevent
crime in the first place
 Police can prevent crime on a limited basis
by the deterrent effect
Preserve the Peace
 Related to Preventing Crime
 Can use arrest powers and force in
situations where no crime may have
occurred, but might occur in the immediate
future
 “ handling the situation “
EARLY POLICING
 Modern societies depend on law enforcement
 Early policing had little to do with law
enforcement
 Night watch system – volunteers
 Philadelphia -1833 first day/night
 Boston 1838 – first organized Police
Department ( 6 full time officers )
 New York City 1844 – day and night watches
under one single police chief
EARLY PROBLEMS
Early police officers were hardworking, honest
and devoted to serving and protecting the
public
They were of poor quality because the
recruitment and promotion of police officers
were tied into the politics of the day
Police officers received their jobs as a result of
political connections, not because of their skills
and knowledge
POLITICAL ERA
 The Political Era of policing :
 1840-1930 – corruption was rampant
 Police salaries were low – Police saw it as a
opportunity to make extra income through
illegal activities
 Called the patronage system or the “spoils”
system – to the political victor went the
spoils
 Bribery and political corruption are the
hallmark of the era
THE REFORM ERA
 In 1929, the Wickersham Committee focused
on two areas of American policing that were
in need of reform:
 Police brutality
 The corrupting influence of politics
 Commission reported that reform was needed –
higher personnel standards, centralized police
administration, and increased use of
technology – initiating the progressive or
reform era of policing
REFORM ERA
Professionalism
 Vollmer ( Chief of Police – Berkeley Ca. ) –
emphasized technology
 O.W. Wilson –
1. professionalism by removing politics from
policing;
2. stressed the need for efficiency through
bureaucracy and technology
3. Chiefs appointed mid-level managers
4. Large areas of police under one ward
REFORM ERA
Administrative Reforms – chiefs took control
 Reorganized Police Departments in major
cities
 Appointed Assistant Chiefs
 Developed/Implemented crime fighting
strategies
 Police officers more closely supervised
 Consolidated power – large areas under local
control
TURMOIL in 60’s and
70’s
 Reform area increased efficiency and had a
negative effect on Police – Community relations
 Police were looked at as intruders in some areas
 60’s one of the most turbulent decades
 Civil Rights/ Vietnam/ Rising Crime Rate
 Helplessness and impoverishment in
African/American neighborhoods
 Race riots
COMMUNITY ERA
 Government Initiatives in 1968
 Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act
– gov’t gave cities money to create a wide
variety of police – community programs
 1970’s - police administrators were forced
to combine community relations and crime
fighting
 Community Policing – interaction between
Police and citizens and developing a
partnership to prevent and fight crime
Intelligence Led
Policing
 Known as predictive policing
 Relies on data concerning the past crime
patterns to predict future ones.
 Administrators will know where to
disperse more effective small forces
instead of using a blanket system.
 Seemingly random events can be
predicted by police.
POLICING TODAY
 Better understand crime patterns
 Intelligence – led policing known as predictive
policing relies on intelligence concerning past
crime patterns to predict future crime patterns
 Administrators will know where to disperse
more effective small forces instead of using a
blanket system.
 Seemingly random events can be predicted by
police.
 Challenges of anti-terrorism – 90 % of local and
county agencies have anti – terrorist plans
 Most police agencies gather intelligence to
prevent terror attacks from occurring
POLICE RECRUITMENT
 Background checks and tests – include:
 Drug tests
 Credit checks
 Interviews with neighbors, spouse, employers
 Background search
 Polygraph
EDUCATIONAL
REQUIREMENTS
 Educational level of recruits is higher than
ever
 82% require at least a high school diploma
 9% require some college
 Education requirement debate
POLICE TRAINING
 The Academy
 Run by police agencies and is a controlled
military environment. This is where recruits are
taught all the proper technique
 Probationary period can last 6 to 8 months
depending on department ( NYPD 18 mos.)
 During probation the police candidate can be
fired without cause
 Academy training is run by the state or by a
police agency and provides a controlled ,
militarized environment for recruits
POLICE TRAINING
 The Field
 Candidate is removed from the classroom and
placed on the beat
 Not as controlled of an environment as before
 Lasts from 6 to 8 months
 Supervised by a field officer
 Where the officer actually learns how to be an
officer.
WOMEN AND MINORITIES
IN POLICING
ANTIDISCRIMINATION LAW and AFFIRMATIVE
ACTION
 In the last 30 years the situation of low
representation of women and minorities has
been addressed
 Civil rights act and other external forces have
driven this movement
 Affirmative action has been instituted to
increase the diversity of employees ( consent
decrees)
 Recruiting challenges
CHALLENGES FACING
WOMEN
 Only within the past thirty years has the
situation of low representation of women have
been addressed (12% women)
 Few women leadership positions being held
 Women are perceived as soft by their male
counter parts
 Male officer often deny female officers the
chance to protect themselves
 Tokenism – belief that women are hired simply
to fill the diversity requirements
 Sexual Harassment or a pattern of unwelcome
sexual advances or obscene remarks in the
workplace
MINORITIES
 Increase in minorities in police work to 25%
of police forces since 1980’s
 Problem with double marginality
Double Marginality :
 White PO’s believe that minority officers
favor their own
 Minorities Po’s face hostility from their own
communities – viewed as traitors to their
own race and ethnicity
MINORITY MAKE UP OF
PD’s
LAW ENFORCEMENT
AGENCIES
 There are approximately 11,400 law
enforcement agencies employing 577,000
people in the United States
 They operate on three different levels: local,
state and federal
 They are said to be “ multilayered “ consisting
of a wide network of all three agencies
MUNICIPAL LAW
ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES
 Have the broadest authority to apprehend
criminal suspects, maintain order and
provide services to the community
 Responsible for a large spectrum of duties
(noise complaints to homicides)
 Criticism of local police : too underpaid or
poorly trained to handle various
responsibilities
 50% of local PD’s have 10 or less officers
SHERIFFS and COUNTY
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Sheriff is the primary law enforcement officer in a
county, usually elected to the post by a popular
vote.
 Important law enforcement figure
 Almost all counties have one
 Elected – some are politicians
 Tends to a high degree on instability and
personnel turnover ( a weakness )
 Duties: ( violent crime, drug crime, county jails,
civil processes and taxes, court officers)
CORONER
Coroner:
 Elected official on the county level
 Also referred to as the medical examiner
 Is responsible to investigate “ all sudden,
unexplained, unnatural or suspicious deaths “
 Determines the cause of death
 Performs autopsies and assists in homicide
investigations
STATE POLICE AND
HIGHWAY PATROLS
 Created for three reasons:
1. Assist local police agencies
2. Investigate criminal activities that crossed
jurisdictional boundaries
3. Provide law enforcement in rural areas without
local PD’s
 Have statewide jurisdiction and are authorized
to perform a wide variety of law enforcement
tasks
 State highway patrol have limited authority by
jurisdiction or by offenses
LIMITED PURPOSE LAW
ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES
 Alcohol Beverage Control Commissions
 Fish and game warden organizations
 Motor vehicle compliance agencies
FEDERAL LAW
ENFORCEMENT
 Does not make up a large part of the nation’s
law enforcement force
 Agencies do have substantial influence
 Many agencies authorized by Congress to
take care of specific crimes or situations
HOMELAND SECURITY
 The Department of Homeland Security (DHS):
 Created by Bush in 2002
 Functions as a cabinet level department to protect
the U.S. against international and domestic
terrorism
 22 existing agencies moved under (DHS )
 U.S. Customs and Border Protection (BCP)
 U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)
 The U.S. Secret Service
HOMELAND SECURITY
U.S. Customs and Border Protections – polices flow
of goods and people across international borders
(Mexico and Canada)
 To keep illegal immigrants, drugs and drug
traffickers from crossing the border
 Facilitate the smooth flow of legal trade and
travel
Border Patrol
 20,000 agents guard sectors along the border
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement
 CBP covers borders and ICE covers everything
else
 Aggressive with deporting illegal immigrants
HOMELAND SECURITY
U.S. Secret Service
 Created in 1865 to combat currency
counterfeiters
 1901 – added the responsibility of protecting
president, VP, president elect and former
presidents
 Responsible for protecting political figures
 Directs two uniformed groups of police officers:
 Secret Service Uniformed Division
 Treasury Police Force
DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
 Created in 1870 – primary law enforcement
agency in the country
 Responsible for enforcing federal criminal
law and federal prisons
 Agencies include FBI, DEA, ATF and
Marshalls
FBI
 The Federal Bureau of Investigation:
 One of the primary investigative agencies in the
United States
 Has jurisdiction over nearly 200 federal crimes
including kidnapping, extortion, numerous white
collar crimes, and bank robbery
 Has agents across the nation and the world –
terrorism and drug trafficking
 The FBI crime laboratory is the largest in the
world
 National Crime Information Center
DEA
 One of the fastest growing law enforcement
agencies in the country
 Primary mission is to combat illegal drugs and
enforce domestic drug laws
 Assist other federal agencies in illegal drug
trade on an international level ( Mexico)
 Attack and assist on a local level
 Share some of responsibilities with FBI
 Diversion Groups – prescription drugs
U.S. MARSHALLS
 Oldest federal law enforcement agency
 Initially charged to protect A.G.
Today :
 Provide security at federal courthouses
 Control seized property
 Witness protection
 Transport federal prisoners
 Investigate federal fugitives
DEPARTMENT OF
TREASURY
 Founded in 1789
 Responsible for all financial matters in the
Federal Government
 Pays government bills, borrows money,
collects taxes, mints coins and prints paper
currency
 IRS is their largest bureau – concerned with tax
law violations and regulations
PRIVATE SECURITY
 Over $100 billion
spent each year
 Over 10,000 U.S.
private security
firms
 1.1 million people
employed in security
each year
 The function of
private security is to
deter crime rather
than stop it
 Security officers
only report crimes,
and in some cases,
make citizens’
arrests.