Chapter 8 Power Point

Criminal Justice Today
An Introductory Text for the 21st Century
CHAPTER 8
Policing: Issues and
Challenges
Criminal Justice Today: An Introductory Text

Copyright © 2017 by Pearson Education, Inc.
for the 21st Century, 14e
All Rights Reserved
Frank Schmalleger
Police Subculture
• The set of informal values which

characterize the police force as a
distinct community with a common
identity
• Process of informal socialization plays a
larger role than formal training in
determining how rookies come to see
police work

All Rights Reserved
Frank Schmalleger
The Police Personality
• Authoritarian
• Cynical
• Secret
• Efficient
• Suspicious
• Hostile
• Conservative
• Prejudiced
continued on next slide
All Rights Reserved
Frank Schmalleger
The Police Personality
• Insecure
• Loyal
• Individualistic
• Dogmatic
• Honorable

All Rights Reserved
Frank Schmalleger
Corruption and Integrity
• Corruption
 The abuse of police authority for
personal or organizational gain
• Nature of policing creates opportunities
for corruption.
• "Slippery slope" perspective
• Deviance vs. corruption

All Rights Reserved
Frank Schmalleger
Figure 8-1 Types and Examples of Police Corruption
Source: Pearson Education, Inc.

All Rights Reserved
Frank Schmalleger
Types of Corrupt Officers
• Grass eaters
 Accept bribes or goods in exchange for
not issuing tickets, making arrests, etc.
 Do not initiate, but don’t refuse offer.
• Meat eaters
 Solicit bribes or take a share of the
drugs they confiscate to sell for their
own profit, etc.
 Initiate activity
All Rights Reserved
Frank Schmalleger
Money: The Root of Police Evil?
• Low salaries received by officers may

be a critical ingredient of the corruption
mix.
• Combine this with moral dilemmas
produced by unenforceable laws that
provide basis for criminal profit.

All Rights Reserved
Frank Schmalleger
Building Police Integrity
• Emphasize ethnics training.

• Reduce conflicts between written and
unwritten policies.

All Rights Reserved
Frank Schmalleger
Building Police Integrity
• Internal affairs divisions

 Investigate charges of wrongdoing
against officers
 Garrity rights protect officers during
questioning.
• Drug testing policies focus on
combating drug use by officers.

All Rights Reserved
Frank Schmalleger
Professionalism and Ethics
• Police professionalism
 Increasing formalization of police work
and the accompanying rise in public
acceptance of the police
• Places important limits on officer
discretionary activities
• Increasing training in police ethics is a
key element of professionalism.

All Rights Reserved
Frank Schmalleger
• Education and training

 Improved law enforcement education
and training requirements help raise
policing to a more professional level
 Increased emphasis on formal education
as well as training

All Rights Reserved
Frank Schmalleger
• Recruitment and selection

 Emphasis on setting high standards for
recruits
 Wide variety of screening methods used

All Rights Reserved
Frank Schmalleger
The Dangers of Police Work
• Policing is, by its very nature,

dangerous.
• Violence in the line of duty
 Most officers who are shot are killed by
lone suspects armed with a single
weapon.
• Risk of disease and infected evidence
 Biological weapons

All Rights Reserved
Frank Schmalleger
• Stress
 Long-term stress may be the most
insidious and least visible threat.
 Stress is a natural component of police
work.
 Stress reduction and managing stress is
key.

All Rights Reserved
Frank Schmalleger
• Fatigue
 Fatigue can affect police performance.
 Departmental practices can affect
fatigue.

All Rights Reserved
Frank Schmalleger
Figure 8-3 Stress and Fatigue among Police Officers

All Rights Reserved
Frank Schmalleger
Police Use of Force
• Use of physical restraint by an officer

when dealing with a member of the
public
 Police–citizen interactions rarely require
officers to use force.
 Police authorized to use reasonable
force

All Rights Reserved
Frank Schmalleger
Police Use of Force
• Excessive force
 Application of an amount and/or
frequency of force greater than required
to compel compliance from a
willing/unwilling subject
 May be symptomatic of problem police
officers

All Rights Reserved
Frank Schmalleger
Figure 8-5 Police Use of Force Continuum
Source: Charlie Mesloh, Mark Henych, Ross Wolf, “Less Lethal Weapon Effectiveness, Use of Force, and Suspect &
Officer Injuries: A Five-Year Analysis,” Report to the National Institute of Justice, 2008.
Note: “CEW” listed in Level 4 is an abbreviation for “Conducted Energy Weapon.”

All Rights Reserved
Frank Schmalleger
Deadly Force
• Force likely to cause death or great

bodily harm
• Non-justifiable use of deadly force a
major area of potential civil liability
• Key cases
 Tennessee v. Garner
 Graham v. Connor

All Rights Reserved
Frank Schmalleger
Deadly Force
• Relatively few officers ever fire a

weapon at a suspect during their
career.
• Suicide by cop

All Rights Reserved
Frank Schmalleger
Less-Lethal Weapons
• Designed to disable, capture, or

immobilize suspect, but not kill
• Possible solution to suicide by cop
problem
• Less-lethal weapons are not always
safe.
 Some risk of death when using them

All Rights Reserved
Frank Schmalleger
Discretion and the Individual
Officer
• Police discretion
 The exercise of choice by law
enforcement officers in carrying out
their official duties
 Decision to investigate or apprehend
 The disposition of suspects
 The carrying out of official duties
 The application of sanctions

All Rights Reserved
Frank Schmalleger
Discretion and the Individual
Officer
• Widest exercise of discretion is in
routine situations involving less serious
law violations.

All Rights Reserved
Frank Schmalleger
Figure 8-6 Discretion and the Individual Officer

All Rights Reserved
Frank Schmalleger
Racial Profiling and Biased Policing
• When police officers act on a person’s

race, ethnicity, or national origin
instead of the person’s actions or
information that identifies the person
as a suspect
• Different from behavioral profiling
because it uses personal characteristics
as the main factor in determining
criminal intent or culpability
All Rights Reserved
Frank Schmalleger
Racial Profiling and Biased Policing
• Practice widely condemned

 Contrary to basic ethical principles

All Rights Reserved
Frank Schmalleger
Police Civil Liability
• Potential responsibility for payment of

damages or other court-ordered
enforcement as a result of a ruling in a
lawsuit
• May be brought in state or federal court

All Rights Reserved
Frank Schmalleger
Common Sources of Civil Suits
• Most common sources

 Assault
 Battery
 False imprisonment
 Malicious prosecution
• Lawsuits also brought against officers
whose actions are negligent.
 High-speed vehicle pursuits

All Rights Reserved
Frank Schmalleger
Common Sources of Civil Suits
• Training and regulations can help

protect departments from lawsuits.

All Rights Reserved
Frank Schmalleger
Federal Lawsuits
• 1983 lawsuit
 Claims officer denied others their
constitutional right to life, liberty, or
property without due process of law.
• Bivens action
 A civil suit brought against federal
government officials for denying the
constitutional rights of others

All Rights Reserved
Frank Schmalleger

Chapter 8 Power Point

Uploaded by

Document Information

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Chapter 8 Power Point

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Criminal Justice Today

An Introductory Text for the 21st Century

Criminal Justice Today: An Introductory Text

• The set of informal values which

Criminal Justice Today: An Introductory Text

Criminal Justice Today: An Introductory Text

Criminal Justice Today: An Introductory Text

Criminal Justice Today: An Introductory Text

• Low salaries received by officers may

Criminal Justice Today: An Introductory Text

• Emphasize ethnics training.

continued on next slide

• Internal affairs divisions

Criminal Justice Today: An Introductory Text

continued on next slide

• Education and training

continued on next slide

• Recruitment and selection

Criminal Justice Today: An Introductory Text

• Policing is, by its very nature,

continued on next slide

continued on next slide

Criminal Justice Today: An Introductory Text

Criminal Justice Today: An Introductory Text

• Use of physical restraint by an officer

continued on next slide

Criminal Justice Today: An Introductory Text

Criminal Justice Today: An Introductory Text

• Force likely to cause death or great

continued on next slide

• Relatively few officers ever fire a

Criminal Justice Today: An Introductory Text

• Designed to disable, capture, or

Criminal Justice Today: An Introductory Text

continued on next slide

Criminal Justice Today: An Introductory Text

Criminal Justice Today: An Introductory Text

• When police officers act on a person’s

• Practice widely condemned

Criminal Justice Today: An Introductory Text

• Potential responsibility for payment of

Criminal Justice Today: An Introductory Text

• Most common sources

continued on next slide

• Training and regulations can help

Criminal Justice Today: An Introductory Text

Criminal Justice Today: An Introductory Text

You might also like