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...
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
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
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.
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
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
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.
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”
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
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.
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
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
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
The early years of the police professionalization movement coincided with major conflict between the police and African American communities across the country.
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
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
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
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
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.
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.”
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
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).
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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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
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.
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
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
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
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
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
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!
Before we get started with Unit 02, I wanted to check in how the course is progressing for you so far. Now that we've got one unit under our belt, how is online learning treating you?
Good MORNING Criminology fans, I'm here in the home office, excited to get started talking about the #MeasurementOfCrime, who else is feeling the return to work after the long weekend?