1. Introduction to Criminal Justice
Chapter 6: Policing: Roles, Styles, and Functions

2. The Roles of the Police
What we expect from the police depends on how we view their role in society.
Different people have different role expectation for the local police.
When the public’s expectations differ from the official police role, officers may suffer role conflict.

3. The Role of the Police
The majority of perspectives consider that the police:
Are community leaders in public safety
Possess broad discretion
Solve sociological and technological problems for people on a short-term basis
Occasionally serve in a hostile or dangerous environment

4. Characteristics of Police Work
Quick decision-making
Working independently
“Dirty work”
Danger

5. Operational Styles
After police officers are trained and begin to gain experience, it is believed they develop operational styles.
If these styles actually exist, it means a department has not been successful in its effort to systematically train and deploy officers with the same philosophy and practical approach.

6. Operational Styles
One of the earliest scholars to report on the existence of policing styles was James Q. Wilson. He found three styles:
Legalistic: an emphasis on violations of law, and the use of threats or actual arrests to solve disputes.
Watchman: an emphasis on informal means of resolving disputes.
Service: an emphasis on helping the community, as opposed to enforcing the law.

7. Police Functions
The list of functions that police are expected to carry out is long and varies from place to place.
There are some similarities in major police departments.

8. Patrol “Backbone of the department”
Most time-consuming and resource-intensive task officers undertake
Patrol duties include
Responding to burglar alarms
Investigating traffic accidents
Caring for injured people
Trying to resolve domestic disputes
Responding to radio calls

9. Preventive Patrol
Traditionally, police officers use the time between radio calls to participate in preventive patrol.
Preventive Patrol: Patrolling the streets with little direction.
Between responses to radio calls, officers are “systematically unsystematic” and observant in an attempt to both prevent and ferret out crime.
Also known as random patrol.

10. Directed Patrol Another strategy is directed patrol.
Directed Patrol: Patrolling under guidance or orders on how to use patrol time.
Evidence shows directed patrol can reduce the incidence of targeted crimes such as thefts from autos and robberies.

11. Crime Mapping Directed patrol can be aided by crime mapping.
This technique is called Geographic Information Systems (GIS) crime mapping.
Crime mapping makes it possible to keep a closer watch on crime and criminals through the generation of crime maps capable of displaying numerous fields of information.

12. Aggressive Patrol
A strategy that can result in arrests for both minor and serious offenses is aggressive patrol.
This strategy has drawbacks:
Innocent citizen are inconvenienced by random traffic stops and field interrogations.
It is often difficult to get all officers motivated to use aggressive tactics.

13. Foot Patrol
The practice of having officers patrol their beats on foot has regained popularity.
While foot patrols have not been proven to be a significant deterrent to crime, they have significantly improved relationships between citizens and officers.

14. Introduction to Criminal Justice
Chapter 6: Policing: Roles, Styles, and Functions

15. Criminal Investigation
Criminal investigation has been defined as:
a lawful search for people and things to reconstruct the circumstances of an illegal act
apprehend or determine the guilty party
aid in the state’s prosecution of the offender
Two parts:
Preliminary Investigation
Follow-up investigation

16. Investigative Functions
In any type of investigation, investigators must:
Locate witnesses and suspects.
Arrest criminals.
Collect, preserve, and analyze evidence.
Interview witnesses.
Interrogate suspects.
Write reports.
Recover stolen property.
Seize contraband.
Prepare cases and testify in court.

17. The Role of the Detective
Detectives in the police department seem to have a number of advantages over patrol officers:
They do not have to wear uniforms.
They have anonymity during work hours if they choose it.
They have steady work hours, often during daytime hours with weekends off.
They have offices and desks.
They enjoy the prestige associated with the position.
In many agencies, detectives receive higher compensation and hold a higher rank.
They have more freedom than patrol officers.

18. DNA Profiling
DNA profiling can identify a suspect or victim’s unique genetic profile from blood, hair, semen, or other bodily substances.
DNA profiling is used for:
Linking or eliminating suspects to a crime.
Identifying “cold hits” by matching a sample from a crime scene to a database.
Clearing convicted rapists and murderers.

19. Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS)
An expensive but invaluable tool in criminal investigation is the Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS).
This technology allows investigators to sort through thousands of sets of fingerprints for a match.

20. Cybercrime
Cybercrime is of increasing concern to law enforcement officials, with related losses totaling $10 billion each year.
Cybercrime can be very easy to commit, particularly sex crimes and illegally accessing and destroying data.
At present, most law enforcement agencies are ill prepared to detect, investigate, and prosecute cybercriminals.

21. Traffic
Each year, nearly twice as many people are killed in automobile accidents on the streets and highways of America as are murdered.
Many deaths are alcohol-related.
Traffic enforcement and accident investigation is so important some agencies have traffic accident investigation crews.

22. Drug Enforcement
Over the last several decades, drug enforcement has become an increasingly important responsibility of police departments across the nation.
Although the war on drugs is a priority of state and federal law enforcement agencies as well, it has been at the local level that many of the battles have been fought.

23. Drug Enforcement
To fight the war on drugs, many local law enforcement agencies use the following strategies:
Street-level enforcement.
Midlevel investigations.
Major investigations.
Crop eradication.
Smuggling interdiction.
Problem-oriented and community policing.
Drug demand reduction.
Asset forfeiture.

24. Introduction to Criminal Justice
Chapter 6: Policing: Roles, Styles, and Functions

25. Criticisms of the War on Drugs
None of the strategies previously mentioned has had much of a long-term effect on the United States drug problem. Furthermore, critics claim:
The government has exaggerated the dangers of illegal drug use.
That the war on drugs is racist.
The illegal trade in the United States has corrupted many law enforcement personnel.
The war on drugs is hugely expensive and diverts resources from more important projects.

26. Community Policing
For decades, police followed the professional model, which rested on three foundations:
Preventive patrol
Quick response
Follow-up investigation

27. Community Policing
In a theory called “broken windows,” James Q. Wilson and George Kelling proposed that if the “signs of crime” are not taken care of, more serious and more costly crime problems are likely to occur.
Wilson and Kelling concluded that to help solve the crime problem in a neighborhood and to reduce the fear of crime, police officers must be in close, regular contact with citizens.

28. Community Policing
With community policing, citizens share responsibility for their community’s safety.
Citizens and the police work collectively to:
Identify problems.
Propose solutions.
Implement actions.
Evaluate the results.

29. Community Partnership
The first component of community policing is establishing and maintaining mutual trust between citizens of a community and the police.
Building police-community partnerships involves:
Talking to local business owners.
Visiting residents in their homes.
Supporting neighborhood watch groups.
Ongoing communication with residents.

30. Problem Solving
For problem solving to work effectively, the police need to devote time and attention to discovering a community’s concerns, and they need to recognize the validity of those concerns.
In community policing, a four-step process known as SARA is often used:
Scanning—identifying problems.
Analysis—understanding underlying problems.
Response—developing and implementing solutions.
Assessment—determining the solutions’ effect.

31. Definitions and Types of Terrorism
The FBI defines terrorism as, “the systematic use of terror or unpredictable violence against governments, publics, or individuals to attain a political objective.”
The FBI divides terrorism into two broad categories:
Domestic terrorism.
International terrorism.

32. Domestic Terrorism
Is the unlawful use, or threatened use, of force or violence by a group or individual based and operating entirely within the United States or its territories without foreign direction committed against persons or property to intimidate or coerce a government, the civilian population, or any segment thereof, in furtherance of political or social objectives.

33. Domestic Terrorism The FBI further divides domestic terrorism into:
Right-wing terrorist groups – these groups generally oppose government in general and government regulations in particular.
Left-wing terrorist groups – these groups believe in revolutionary socialist doctrine and seek radical change outside the established political process.
Special interest terrorist groups – these groups generally are fringe elements of antinuclear, environmental, pro- life, animal rights, and other movements.
Individual or “lone wolf” terrorists – these terrorists operate alone or in small groups and defy detection.

34. International Terrorism
Involves violent acts dangerous to human life that are a violation of the criminal laws of the United States or any state, or that would be a criminal violation if committed within the jurisdiction of the United States or any state.
These acts appear to be intended to intimidate or coerce a civilian population, influence the policy of a government by intimidation or coercion, or affect the conduct of a government by assassination or kidnapping.

35. International Terrorists
State sponsors of terrorism
For these countries, terrorism is a tool of foreign policy.
Formal terrorist organizations
Are autonomous, generally transnational, and have their own personnel, infrastructures, financial arrangements, and training facilities.
Loosely affiliated extremists and rogue international terrorists