Michelle Skelton Profile picture
Criminal Justice professor, avid reader, budding artist, aspiring yogi, tattoo aficionado, coffee drinker, football & color guard Mom, TedX, she/hers

Feb 9, 2022, 71 tweets

Good early evening, all. Please join me tomorrow at 10:30am, cst, today to take a look at Contemporary Policing. #CRJ201

THINKING CHALLENGE: Is there a national, identifiable police culture?

#CRJ201 #Policing

Welcome, policing fans, policing critics, policing students, & everyone in between, this morning we are going to take an introductory look at Contemporary Policing. Thank you for the RT @CPD1617Scanner

#CRJ201 #Policing

So tell me a little about you, what draws your attention to our discussion today?

#CRJ201 #Policing

THINKING CHALLENGE: Who is ultimately responsible for police protection?

#CRJ201 #Policing

Several basic features characterize the law enforcement industry. Most important is the tradition of local political control.

#CRJ201 #Policing

THINKING CHALLENGE: From your experience, what level of police have you had the most contact with?

#CRJ201 #Policing

The primary responsibility for police protection rests with local governments: cities and counties.

There is no formal, centralized system for coordinating or regulating all the different agencies

#CRJ201 #Policing

THINKING CHALLENGE: Should there be a formal, centralized national system for coordinating police agencies?

#CRJ201 #Policing

Police services are provided by four different levels of government: city, county, state, and federal. Agencies at each level have different roles and responsibilities.

Within each category, moreover, there is tremendous variety

#CRJ201 #Policing

An industry perspective on American law enforcement provides a comprehensive picture of all the different producers of police services in a particular area

#CRJ201 #Policing

There are about 18,000 law enforcement agencies in the United States.

Today, there are about 785,000 full-time sworn law enforcement officers employed by local and state law enforcement agencies

#CRJ201 #Policing

Civilianization is the process of replacing sworn officers with non-sworn personnel for certain positions.

They free up sworn officers for critical police work that requires a trained & experienced officer. They possess needed expertise in areas as computers or data analysis.

THINKING CHALLENGE: Visit the website of an agency in your region, and find out (a) the total number of employees who are authorized to work for the agency

morainevalley.edu/police/ @morainevalley

#MoraineValley #CRJ201

THINKING CHALLENGE: How many sworn officers work for the department?

#MoraineValley #CRJ201

The industry approach also provides a consumer’s perspective on policing. On a typical day, the average citizen receives police services from several different agencies.

#MoraineValley #CRJ201

The standard measure for the level of police protection in a community is the police–population ratio.

This is usually expressed as the number of sworn officers per thousand residents

#MoraineValley #CRJ201

The national average for local agencies is 2.1 sworn officers per thousand.

The ratio for large cities with populations of 250,000 or more is 2.3.

Small cities (population 50,000 to 99,999) have the lowest ratio (1.6 per thousand)

#MoraineValley #CRJ201

THINKING CHALLENGE: Would you want to work in an environment in which you & one other colleague were responsible for 1,000 people?

#CRJ201 #Policing

THINKING CHALLENGE: Does hiring more cops reduce crime?

#CRJ201 #Policing

There is no clear relationship between the police–population ratio and the crime rate.

In many respects, instead of higher levels of police protection producing lower crime rates, higher crime rates lead to the employment of more police.

#MoraineValley #CRJ201

Law enforcement is an extremely expensive enterprise.

Each year local government agencies spend a total of $64.1 billion on police services

#MoraineValley #CRJ201

THINKING CHALLENGE: In your community, does your municipality/county pay ______________ for public safety?

#CRJ201 #Policing

Law enforcement is a labor-intensive industry. Personnel costs, including salaries and fringe benefits, consume about 85 to 90 percent of an agency’s budget

#MoraineValley #CRJ201

The efficiency of a police department depends heavily on how well it manages its personnel and what percentage of officers it places in patrol and investigative units.

#MoraineValley #CRJ201

Municipal or city police are the most important component of American law enforcement.

They represent 70 percent of all law enforcement agencies and employ 60 percent of all sworn officers

#MoraineValley #CRJ201

Municipal police play a more complex role than any other type of law enforcement agency.

They are also responsible for difficult order maintenance problems and are asked to provide a wide range of emergency services.

#CRJ201
@OakLawnPD @Prof_357
@Palosparkpolice

Among all municipal police departments, a few very large departments play a disproportionately important role

#MoraineValley #CRJ201

The big departments dominate public thinking about the police. The typical municipal police department is in a small town.

#MoraineValley #CRJ201

A few areas are served by county police departments. They are essentially municipal police that operate on a countywide basis but do not have any of the non-law-enforcement roles of the county sheriff

#CRJ201 @cobbpolice1
@GwinnettPd
@AACOPD

The county sheriff’s office is unique among American law enforcement agencies, in terms of both its legal status and its role.

#CRJ201
@LakeCoILSheriff
@CCSOPIO

The legal status of the sheriff is unique because in 37 states it is a constitutional office, whose responsibilities are defined in the state constitution.

#MoraineValley #CRJ201

Sheriffs have a unique role in that they serve all three components of the criminal justice system:
~law enforcement,
~courts,
~and corrections

#MoraineValley #CRJ201
@CCSOPIO

We have recently heard cries of defunding the police, but Prof. Lawrence Sherman has a different take:

Less Prison, More Police



#MoraineValley #CRJ201
@PolicingWorks

Like the sheriff, the constable is an office whose roots can be traced back to colonial America. There are few constables left in the United States today

#MoraineValley #CRJ201

The office of the coroner, or medical examiner, is often considered a law enforcement agency because it has the responsibility to investigate crimes

#MoraineValley #CRJ201

I have to give recognition to my favorite medical examiner @KenoshaCounty's own, Patrice Hall, doing amazing work (and a fellow @UofAlabama alum!)

fox6now.com/news/kenosha-w…

#MoraineValley #CRJ201

Special district police agencies serve particular government agencies or special geographic boundaries. Many airports and parks, for example, have their own police forces

#MoraineValley #CRJ201

A unique aspect of the criminal justice in the United States is that many Native American tribes maintain their own separate criminal justice systems, including tribal police departments, on their reservations

#MoraineValley #CRJ201

The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) provides police services to more than one reservation and many tribes are not entitled to their own police departments

#MoraineValley #CRJ201

The most common administrative arrangement is for the tribe’s police agency to be created under the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act of 1975

#MoraineValley #CRJ201

The second most common administrative arrangement in Indian country is for the BIA to assume policing responsibilities

#MoraineValley #CRJ201
@BIAOJS

A less popular administrative arrangement is self-governance. Under this model, Indian nations contract with the BIA for policing services

#MoraineValley #CRJ201

The Fragmentation Issue, according to critics, is a lack of coordination between agencies in the same geographic area

#MoraineValley #CRJ201

Some experts argue that small agencies should be consolidated into larger ones.

The National Advisory Commission on Criminal Justice Standards and Goals recommended the consolidation of all agencies with 10 or fewer sworn officers

#MoraineValley #CRJ201

Rather than consolidation of law enforcement services between multiple towns, cities, and/or counties, other communities have opted to consolidate services within the same jurisdiction, referred to as public safety consolidation

#MoraineValley #CRJ201

Some experts believe the fragmentation problem may not be as serious as others have argued

#MoraineValley #CRJ201

THINKING CHALLENGE: Do you believe fragmentation is a critical issue to policing today?

#MoraineValley #CRJ201

State law enforcement agencies fall into three categories:
~ state police,
~ highway patrols,
~ and state investigative agencies

#MoraineValley #CRJ201

Highway patrols are defined as agencies having “statewide authority to enforce traffic regulations and arrest non-traffic violators under their jurisdiction.”

#MoraineValley #CRJ201

There is considerable variation in the administrative structure of state law enforcement agencies. Several states have an umbrella agency containing a number of different departments responsible for various services.

#MoraineValley #CRJ201

Is it even really a question?

#MoraineValley #CRJ201

Did you know that the @Illinoistrooper @ILStatePolice are hiring? You do NOW!



#MoraineValley #CRJ201

The federal component of the law enforcement industry is relatively small but more complex than generally recognized

#MoraineValley #CRJ201

After September 11, 2001, President George W. Bush led a substantial movement to alter the organizational structure of federal law enforcement, into two departments: the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Justice

#MoraineValley #CRJ201

On November 25, 2002, the Homeland Security Act was passed, creating the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), a new cabinet-level department that is responsible for activities pertaining to homeland security

#MoraineValley #CRJ201

In 1870, Congress established the Department of Justice with the attorney general as its administrative head. Although the structure of the Department of Justice has changed, its fundamental mission has remained the same

#MoraineValley #CRJ201

Private security is an important part of American law enforcement. It is estimated that there are as many as 90,000 private security organizations that employ more than 2 million people

#MoraineValley #CRJ201

Did you know that you can become certified to work armed & unarmed security right here at
@morainevalley

morainevalley.edu/academics/acad…

#MoraineValley #CRJ201 #SecurityAndLossPrevention

Well aren't YOU in luck? And I'm in pretty good with the coordinator, I'll put in a good word with her for you!

morainevalley.smartcatalogiq.com/2020-2021/Cata…

Psst, it's me! #MoraineValley #CRJ201 #SecurityAndLossPrevention

Today, private security firms are responsible for patrolling and providing protection at public and private housing complexes, gated communities, business parks, malls, office complexes, power plants, and airports

#MoraineValley #CRJ201 #SecurityAndLossPrevention

Private police organizations display several characteristics that differentiate them from the public police

#MoraineValley #CRJ201 #SecurityAndLossPrevention

The 9/11 Commission noted that 85 percent of the nation’s critical infrastructures are protected by private security organizations and roughly 5 percent of all private police are responsible for guarding and protecting a critical infrastructure or asset

#MoraineValley #CRJ201

Unlike most other countries, the United States does not have a national police system. There is no federal agency responsible for supervising local agencies or ensuring minimum standards

#MoraineValley #CRJ201

The most important set of national standards are the decisions of the U.S. Supreme Court related to police procedures

#MoraineValley #CRJ201

State governments also set minimum standards for police in a number of areas

#MoraineValley #CRJ201

A final approach to establishing minimum national standards in policing is through accreditation.

Accreditation is a process of professional self-regulation, similar to processes that exist in medicine, law, education, and other occupations

#MoraineValley #CRJ201 @CALEA_org

The major weakness with accreditation is that it is a voluntary process. There is no penalty for a police department’s not being accredited

#MoraineValley #CRJ201

THINKING CHALLENGE: Should police departments face penalties for failure to become accredited?

#MoraineValley #CRJ201

As always, I welcome feedback on our discussion today. What grade would you give on our look at Contemporary Policing today?

#MoraineValley #CRJ201

Thanks for following, please send me any & all questions about anything policing related. I'm here to help!

Don't forget #CRJ201, our first due date is this Sunday by 11:59pm.

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