The Police: Organization, Role, and Function Chapter Six

Learning Objectives ➤ Explain the organization of police departments ➤ Differentiate between the patrol function and the investigation function ➤ Discuss various efforts to improve patrol ➤ Discuss key issues associated with the investigative function ➤ Explain the concept of community policing

Learning Objectives ➤ List several challenges associated with community policing ➤ Discuss the concept of problem-oriented policing ➤ Define intelligence-led policing and explain ways in which it occurs ➤ Explain the various police support functions ➤ Identify some of the cost-saving measures that may be employed to improve police productivity

The Police Organization ➤ Independent organizations ➤ No two exactly alike ➤ Hierarchical with a chain of command ➤ Problems are not uncommon, nor are they unique to policing agencies ➤ Personnel changes ➤ Internal reorganization

Organization of a Traditional Metropolitan Police Department

The Police Organization ➤ The time-in-rank system ➤ Requires that before moving up the administrative ladder, an officer must spend a certain amount of time in the next lowest rank ➤ Prohibits departments from allowing officers to skip ranks ➤ Sometimes prevents them from hiring an officer from another department and awarding him/her a higher rank

The Police Role ➤ Real police work ➤ Minor disturbances ➤ Service calls ➤ Administrative duties

The Patrol Function ➤ Patrol officers are the most highly visible components of the entire criminal justice system ➤ Patrol activities ➤ Deter crime ➤ Maintain public order ➤ Respond quickly ➤ Identify and apprehend law violators ➤ Provide aid ➤ Facilitate the movement of traffic and people ➤ Create a feeling of security in the community

Improving Patrol ➤ Aggressive patrol ➤ An aggressive law enforcement style in which patrol officers take the initiative against crime instead of waiting for criminal acts to occur ➤ Broken windows policing ➤ The role of police as maintainers of community order and safety ➤ Rapid response ➤ Improving police response time

Improving Patrol ➤ Procedural justice ➤ Concern with making decisions that are arrived at through procedures viewed as fair ➤ Feel as if you have a voice ➤ Respected (dignity) ➤ Neutrality (System was unbiased) ➤ Understanding (you understand how the decision was made) ➤ Helpfulness (perception that the system cared about your issue) ➤ Use of technology ➤ Technologies such as CompStat to help guide patrol efforts

Improving Patrol

The Investigation Function ➤ Investigative work is less visible than patrol work ➤ Work closely with patrol officers to provide an immediate investigative response to crimes and incidents ➤ Many police departments maintain separate units, squads, or divisions of detectives who investigate crimes ranging from vice to homicides

How Do Detectives Detect? ➤ Specific focus ➤ Interview witnesses, gather evidence, record events, and collect facts ➤ General coverage ➤ Canvass the neighborhood and make observations, conducts interviews with friends/family/associates, contacts others for information regarding victims/suspects, construct victim/suspect time lines to outline their whereabouts

How Do Detectives Detect? ➤ Informative data gathering ➤ Use technology to collect records of cell phones, computer hard drives, notes, and other information

The Investigation Function ➤ Sting Operations ➤ Organized groups of detectives who deceive criminals into openly committing illegal acts or conspiring to engage in criminal activity ➤ Undercover Work ➤ Pose as criminals or as victims ➤ Considered a necessary element of police work, although it can prove dangerous for the officer ➤ May pose psychological problems for the officer

The Investigation Function ➤ Evaluating Investigations ➤ Creates considerable paperwork and is relatively inefficient in clearing cases ➤ Improving Investigations ➤ Patrol officers should have greater responsibility at the scene ➤ Specialized units can bring expertise ➤ Collection of physical evidence is important ➤ Using Technology ➤ Streamlines and enhances the investigative process

Thinking Point ➤ Recall a recent television show you have watched that deals with policing or detective work. ➤ What type of impression of policing or detective work did you get from the television show? ➤ How does this correspond with what you learned in this chapter? ➤ How can you explain the differences?

Community Policing ➤ Community Policing ➤ Consists of a return to an earlier style of policing in which officers on the beat had an intimate contact with citizens ➤ Can be a specific program or a philosophy ➤ Key components: ➤ Community partnerships ➤ Organizational transformation ➤ Problem solving

The Challenges of Community Policing ➤ Defining community ➤ Defining roles ➤ Changing supervisor attitudes ➤ Reorienting police values ➤ Revising training ➤ Reorienting recruitment ➤ Reaching out to every community

Overcoming Obstacles ➤ Can fit well with traditional forms of policing ➤ Credited with helping reduce crime rates in large cities ➤ Has become a common part of municipal police departments

Thinking Point ➤ Look at the website of your community police department for evidence of community policing programs, or contact your local police department to inquire. ➤ What types of community policing initiatives do you believe are present in your community? ➤ Have you seen any evidence of such initiatives? ➤ Do you believe these programs are beneficial? Why or why not?

Problem Oriented Policing ➤ A style of police management that stresses proactive problem solving instead of reactive crime fighting ➤ Requires police agencies to identify particular long-term community problems and to develop strategies to eliminate them ➤ Supported by the fact that a great deal of urban crime is concentrated in a few hot spots

Criminal Acts, Criminal Places ➤ Combating auto theft ➤ Use of technology to reduce car thefts ➤ Reducing violence ➤ Operation Ceasefire was formed to reduce youth homicide and youth firearms violence ➤ Displacement occurs when criminals move from an area targets for increased police presence to another that is less well protected

Intelligence-Led Policing ➤ The collection and analysis of information to generate an “intelligence end product” designed to inform police decision making at both the tactical and the strategic level ➤ Relies heavily on: ➤ Confidential informants ➤ Offender interviews ➤ Analysis of crime reports ➤ Suspect surveillance ➤ Community sources of information

Intelligence-Led Policing

Intelligence and the Intelligence Process ➤ Tactical Intelligence ➤ Gaining or developing information related to threats of terrorism or crime and using this information to apprehend offenders, harden targets, and use strategies that will eliminate or mitigate the threat ➤ Strategic Intelligence ➤ Information about the changing nature of certain problems and threats for the purpose of developing response strategies and reallocating resources

Intelligence-Led Policing ➤ Fusion Centers ➤ Support for a range of law enforcement activities ➤ Help for major incident operations and support for units charged with interdiction and criminal investigations ➤ Provide the means for community input, often through “tip lines” ➤ Assistance to law enforcement executives

Thinking Point ➤ ILP is both tactical and strategic. ➤ How would you use Intelligence-Led Policing in your neighborhood to reduce crime? ➤ Do you see ILP as the main tactic of policing in 10 years? 20 years? Why or why not?

Police Support Functions ➤ Personnel Service ➤ Internal Affairs Division ➤ Administration and Control of Budgets ➤ Maintenance and Dissemination of Information ➤ Dispatch ➤ Training ➤ Citizen Police Interactions ➤ Forensics ➤ Planners

Improving Police Productivity ➤ Consolidation ➤ Informal Arrangements ➤ Sharing ➤ Pooling ➤ Contracting ➤ Service Districts ➤ Civilian Employees ➤ Multiple Tasking ➤ Special Assignments ➤ Differential Police Responses