Good morning, friends! It might be snowing, but now reason we cannot deep dive into the history of policing. Join me at 9:30am, cst.
What event would you argue single-handedly changed policing as we know it today?
What would you add to the list? #CRJ201 #HistoryofPolicing
Good morning, it's Criminal Justice from the kitchen! Got the drive way cleared ... for now. Today we are going to examine some of the "Then & Now" aspects of American Policing. I hope you follow along...
#CRJ201
Please let me first know a little about you, what is your interest in following along this morning?
#CRJ201 #HistoryofPolicing
THINKING CHALLENGE: Can & do people change?
#CRJ201 #AmericanPolicing
THINKING CHALLENGE: Can & do organizations change?
#CRJ201 #AmericanPolicing
The day the first American police officer went out on patrol in 1838, he had received
~no training,
~patrolled on foot,
~had no two-way radio,
~could not be dispatched through a 911 system, and
~carried no weapon
#CRJ201 #AmericanPolicing
The police officer in 1950s worked in a very different situation. He probably
~had a high school education;
~was definitely male,
~had only a few African American or Hispanic colleagues, if any
#CRJ201 #AmericanPolicing
THINKING CHALLENGE: Based on this quick snapshot, would you argue that policing has changed ...
#CRJ201 #AmericanPolicingo
Just the Facts: The History of Policing in America | Crime by the Numbers | @AETV
#CRJ201 #AmericanPolicing
American policing is a product of its English heritage.
#CRJ201 #AmericanPolicing
This heritage included
~the English common law,
~the high value placed on individual rights,
~the court systems and forms of punishments, and
~different law enforcement agencies.
#CRJ201 #AmericanPolicing
Robert Peel is the “father” of modern policing.
An important political leader in England, he saw a serious decline in public order and fought for more than 30 years to improve law enforcement
#CRJ201 #AmericanPolicing
THINKING CHALLENGE: In your assessment, of Peel's contributions to policing, which has the most lasting impact on modern policing?
#CRJ201 #AmericanPolicing
Who created the Metropolitan Police? | Bobbies, Peelers or Blue Devils?
#CRJ201 #AmericanPolicing
When the first English colonists in America created their own law enforcement agencies, the three important institutions were the sheriff, the constable, and the watch
#CRJ201 #AmericanPolicing
The sheriff was the most important law enforcement official, a broad role that included law enforcement:
~collecting taxes,
~supervising elections,
~maintaining bridges and roads, and
~other miscellaneous duties
sheriffs.org/about-nsa/hist…
@NationalSheriff @DeKalbSheriff
In practice, ordinary citizens played a major role in maintaining order through informal social control: a comment, a warning, or a stern rebuke to friends, neighbors, or strangers.
#CRJ201 #AmericanPolicing
Did American Slavery impact modern policing?
#CRJ201 #AmericanPolicing
There's some interesting arguments on the discussion ...
via @TheRoot
#CRJ201 #AmericanPolicing
THINKING CHALLENGE: Is the current debate regarding critical race theory relevant to the history of policing?
#CRJ201 #AmericanPolicing
The first modern American police forces were established in the United States in the 1830s and 1840s
#CRJ201 #AmericanPolicing
As in England, the old system of law enforcement broke down under the impact of urbanization, industrialization, and immigration.
Despite the breakdown in law and order, Americans moved slowly in creating modern police forces.
#CRJ201 #AmericanPolicing @PoliceOne
Americans borrowed most of the features of modern policing from London:
~mission of crime prevention,
~strategy of visible patrol over fixed beats,
~quasi-military organizational structure.
The structure of political control of the police, however, was very different
Politics influenced every aspect of American policing in the nineteenth century, and the period from the 1830s to 1900 is often called the “political era”
#CRJ201 #AmericanPolicing
Police departments in the political era had no personnel standards as one understands them today. Officers were selected entirely on the basis of their political connections
#CRJ201 #AmericanPolicing
Routine police patrol in the political era was hopelessly inefficient.
The telephone did not exist, and so it was impossible for citizens to call about crime and disorder.
And with no patrol cars, officers could not have responded quickly, if at all
#CRJ201 #MoraineValley
This was not the “golden age” of American policing in which the police were friendly, knowledgeable about their neighborhoods, and enjoyed good relations with the public.
There were so few police officers that they could not possibly have known many people on their beats.
As crime and violence increased in the late 1800s, however, officers began to carry firearms as standard equipment.
The role of the police was very different in the political era from what it is today. The police were a major social welfare institution.
If Robert Peel was the father of the modern police, August Vollmer was the father of American police professionalism.
#CRJ201 #AmericanPolicing
First, the reformers defined policing as a profession.
This meant that the police should be public servants with a professional obligation to serve the entire community on a nonpartisan basis
#CRJ201 #AmericanPolicing
THINKING CHALLENGE: What was Vollmer's most significant contribution to modern policing?
cityofberkeley.info/police/history…
#CRJ201 #AmericanPolicing
Professionalization progressed slowly but did achieve a number of important gains in terms of the quality of policing
#CRJ201 #AmericanPolicing
There was no discussion in any of the reform literature of police use of force, both deadly force and physical force; discrimination against African Americans or Hispanics; or abusive treatment of the unemployed or radical political groups
#CRJ201 #AmericanPolicing
THINKING CHALLENGE: Which of the challenges of the Professional Era are still a tremendous issue today?
#CRJ201 #AmericanPolicing
Despite these failures, the professionalization movement reformers achieved some important successes. The idea of professionalism was established as the goal for modern policing. Reformed departments also became models for other cities
#CRJ201 #AmericanPolicing
Alice Stebbins Wells became the leader of the police women’s movement.
She joined the Los Angeles Police Department in 1910, and was soon active at the national level.
#CRJ201 #AmericanPolicing
The professional era saw an increase of the influence of female police officers
cops.usdoj.gov/html/dispatch/…
#CRJ201 #AmericanPolicing @COPSOffice
The Baltimore Police Department celebrates Women's History Month: Women In Policing
#CRJ201 #AmericanPolicing @BaltimorePolice
In the years before World War I, two important new law enforcement agencies appeared in the United States: the state police and the Bureau of Investigation
#MoraineValley #CRJ201 #HistoryOfPolicing
The early years of the police professionalization movement coincided with major conflict between the police and African American communities across the country.
#MoraineValley #CRJ201 #HistoryOfPolicing
Conflict between the police and the African American community remained a serious problem in all parts of the country, but it did not receive any serious attention until the riots of the 1960s
#MoraineValley #CRJ201 #HistoryOfPolicing
How would you define your political leanings?
#MoraineValley #CRJ201 #HistoryOfPolicing
Technology revolutionized policing: the introduction of the patrol car, the two-way radio, & the telephone.
#MoraineValley #CRJ201 #HistoryOfPolicing
The result was a complete transformation of routine patrol work, the dynamics of police-citizen contacts, public expectations about the police, and the supervision of officers
#MoraineValley #CRJ201 #HistoryOfPolicing
THINKING EXERCISE: What technological advance has had the greatest impact on policing today?
#MoraineValley #CRJ201 #HistoryOfPolicing
The patrol car first appeared just before World War I and by the 1920s was in widespread use across the country. The police adopted it in part because they had to keep up with citizens and criminals who were now driving cars
#MoraineValley #CRJ201 #HistoryOfPolicing
THINKING EXERCISE: The patrol car offered advantages, but had unintended consequences.
Which hindered police work most?
~ Isolated officers from community
~ Cars were seen as an "occupying force"
~ Reduced informal communication
#MoraineValley #CRJ201 #HistoryOfPolicing
The two-way radio developed slowly as a result of improvements in radio technology, finally becoming widespread in the late 1930s. This technology had two important consequences for routine policing
#MoraineValley #CRJ201 #HistoryOfPolicing
First, it allowed departments to dispatch officers in response to citizen calls for service.
Second, it revolutionized police supervision by allowing the department to maintain continuous contact with patrol officers
#MoraineValley #CRJ201 #HistoryOfPolicing
The murder of Kitty Genovese is credited as a factor that pushed the emergency 911 system into place, after NYC officials joined in a national effort involving officials in other cities.
iheart.com/podcast/105-st…
#CRJ201 @SYSKPodcast
In 1931, the Wickersham Commission report Lawlessness in Law Enforcement created a national sensation with “the third degree,the inflicting of pain, physical or mental, to extract confessions or statements . . is extensively practiced.”
#MoraineValley #CRJ201 #HistoryOfPolicing
The Wickersham Commission had been created by President Herbert Hoover in 1929 to study a wide range of issues in the American criminal justice system, and the report on police lawlessness was one of its 14 reports in 1931
#MoraineValley #CRJ201 #HistoryOfPolicing
Remember our earlier discussion of August Vollmer?
#MoraineValley #CRJ201 #HistoryOfPolicing
Vollmer’s most famous protégé, emerged as the leader of police reform from the late 1930s through the early 1960s
#MoraineValley #CRJ201 #HistoryOfPolicing
Wilson made his greatest impact through his two textbooks on police management: the International City Manager’s Association’s Municipal Police Administration and his own Police Administration (1950).
#MoraineValley #CRJ201 #HistoryOfPolicing
Despite the progress in professionalization, the reformers did almost nothing to improve relations with racial and ethnic minority communities
#MoraineValley #CRJ201 #HistoryOfPolicing
The 1943 Los Angeles riot brought attention to growing conflict between the police and the Latino community. Often referred to as the Zoot Suit Riots, the violence was the product of many factors
#MoraineValley #CRJ201 #HistoryOfPolicing
The most important new figure in American law enforcement in the 1930s was the director of the Bureau of Investigation, J. Edgar Hoover
#MoraineValley #CRJ201 #HistoryOfPolicing
Hoover developed a mastery of public relations, and skillfully manipulated the media to project an image of the FBI agent as the paragon of professionalism: dedicated, honest, well-trained, and relentlessly efficient
I strongly encourage ANYONE interested in the formation of the FBI to give listen to @ahtellers episodes on J. Edgar Hoover, @lindsayagraham
is a phenomenal researcher & story-teller
#MoraineValley #CRJ201 #HistoryOfPolicing
What have been some of the best portrayals of J. Edgar Hoover in film?
#MoraineValley #CRJ201 #HistoryOfPolicing
The introduction of the UCR, the development of the Ten Most Wanted list, and the creation of the FBI crime lab all served to emphasize the crime-fighting role of the police
#MoraineValley #CRJ201 #HistoryOfPolicing
In Miranda v. Arizona (1966), the Court overturned his conviction and ruled that police officers had to advise suspects of their right to remain silent and their right to an attorney before being interrogated
#MoraineValley #CRJ201 #HistoryOfPolicing
The Miranda decision was only one of several famous cases in which the Supreme Court established constitutional standards. The Supreme Court’s decisions related to the police had an enormous impact on searches & seizures & interrogations
#MoraineValley #CRJ201 #HistoryOfPolicing
As civil rights protests rose, the white police officer in a black neighborhood became a symbol of white power and authority.
#MoraineValley #CRJ201 #HistoryOfPolicing
On the night of July 16, 1964, James Powell, an African American, was shot and killed by a white off-duty New York City police officer. The ensuing riot was the first of many over the next four years
#MoraineValley #CRJ201 #HistoryOfPolicing
Civil rights groups protested unjustified shootings by police officers, excessive force, inadequate police protection in their neighborhoods, the lack of effective citizen complaint procedures, and racial discrimination in hiring
#MoraineValley #CRJ201 #HistoryOfPolicing
President Lyndon Johnson responded by appointing the Kerner Commission to study the riots and make recommendations for reform.
In response to the crisis, police departments established special police–community relations (PCR) units
Image
The President’s Commission on Law Enforcement and Administration of Justice (known as the President’s Crime Commission) (1965–1967) conducted a comprehensive study of the entire criminal justice system, including the police, and sponsored some important police research
Both the Kerner Commission and the President’s Crime Commission found that procedures for handling citizen complaints were completely inadequate
#MoraineValley #CRJ201 #HistoryOfPolicing
The President’s Crime Commission & the Kerner Commission expressed concern about the low personnel standards for officers that existed.
Chief William Parker of the LAPD illustrated the commission’s point about how aggressive crime-fighting aggravated police–community relations
In 1973, the @abaesq published its Standards Relating to the Urban Police Function. Most important, the Standards recommended administrative rulemaking involving policy guidelines to control the exercise of police discretion.
#MoraineValley #CRJ201
The research revolution produced a substantial body of knowledge about all aspects of policing:
~patrol work,
~the exercise of discretion,
~officer use of force,
~criminal investigation,
~police officer attitudes
#MoraineValley #CRJ201 #HistoryOfPolicing
The Kansas City Preventive Patrol Experiment (1972–1973), tested the effect of different levels of patrol on crime. Increased patrol did not reduce crime, reduced patrol did not lead to an increase in crime or public fear of crime
#MoraineValley #CRJ201 #HistoryOfPolicing
THINKING CHALLENGE: Does your local department highlight & discuss their history on the web page or social media?
#MoraineValley #CRJ201 #HistoryOfPolicing
Dramatic changes in policing continued to accelerate from the 1970s to the present
#MoraineValley #CRJ201 #HistoryOfPolicing
The profile of the American police officer changed significantly beginning in the 1970s
The length of training increased from an average of about 300 hours in the 1960s to more than 1,000 hours in many departments by the 1990s
#MoraineValley #CRJ201 #HistoryOfPolicing
The control of deadly force was one of the most important reforms. The administrative rule-making model for controlling police discretion, which was the basis for the new rules on the use of deadly force, was soon applied to other aspects of policing
#MoraineValley #CRJ201
Unions had a dramatic impact on police administration. They won significant improvements in salaries, fringe benefits, and pensions for officers, along with grievance procedures that allowed an officer to challenge unfair treatment
#MoraineValley #CRJ201
Citizen oversight of the police spread beginning in the 1980s, and by 2015, it was estimated that there were between 100 and 200 oversight agencies
#MoraineValley #CRJ201
The most important new development in policing in the 1980s and 1990s was the advent of community policing (#COP) and problem-oriented policing (#POP). Advocates of community policing hailed it as a new era in policing
#MoraineValley #CRJ201
We briefly touched on some of the aspects of modern policing, but we have 14 more weeks to deep dive into Policing as a profession today.
What would you like to hear more about?
#MoraineValley #CRJ201
I'm always eager for feedback, how would you grade today's discussion?
#MoraineValley #CRJ201
I'd like to give a huge SHOUT OUT to @CPD1617Scanner for retweeting some of the discussion today, your followers always spark interesting ideas!
#MoraineValley #CRJ201
Next week, we will take a look at contemporary issues in law enforcement, I welcome all feedback, questions, constructive criticism. The best way to support this thread is RT our poll questions, thanks!
#MoraineValley #CRJ201
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