1. Policing: Issues and Challenges8
Policing: Issues and Challenges

2. Police Subculture
The set of informal values which characterize the police force as a distinct community with a common identity
Informalization
Ongoing
May emphasize a different set of values compared to mainstream society
Often extends to personal lives

3. The Police Personality
Authoritarian
Cynical
Secret
Efficient
Suspicious
Hostile
Conservative
Prejudiced
Insecure
Loyal
Individualistic
Dogmatic
Honorable

4. Police Corruption
The abuse of police authority for personal or organizational gain
Behavioral deviation from an acceptable ethical standard
“Slippery slope” perspective
Knapp Commission
New York City Police Department in the 1970s

5. Categories of Corruption
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

7. Hierarchy of Police Corruption
Violent crime
Denial of civil rights
Criminal enterprise
Property crimes
Major bribes
Role malfeasance
Above inconvenient laws
Minor bribes
Playing favorites
Gratuities

8. Response to Issues of Police Corruption
Increased police professionalism
All levels
Hiring
Increased pay
Ethics training
Continuing education
Drug testing

9. Internal Review Committee
Internal affairs
The branch of a police organization tasked with investigating charges of wrongdoing involving members of the department
Police department bureau internally conducts the investigation into the allegations of wrongdoing
When necessary, an outside agency can conduct the inquiry

10. Internal Affairs Officers may invoke their Garrity rights,
which are protections that officers have
against self-incrimination in the face of questioning
Protect officers themselves when being questioned by representatives of their department’s internal affairs division or by their superior officers

11. The Dangers of Police Work
Police and alcohol
Influence of subculture on drinking
Police and family problems
Stress of job affects family members
Police and suicide
High suicide rate
Dealing with the stress of policing
Long-term stress

12. The Dangers of Police Work
Violence
Suspicious material
Human bites
Spitting
Urine/feces
Cuts/puncture wounds
Biological weapons
CPR/First aid
Body removal
Casual contact
Contact with blood or body fluids
Contact with dried blood

13. Stress Reduction Exercise and diet Meditation Abdominal breathing
Music
Prayer
Peer support

14. Police Use of Force
The use of physical restraint by a police officer when dealing with a member of the public
Reasonable and necessary
Guidelines determined by department

15. Use of Force
43.5 million people nationwide have face-to-face contact with the police over a typical 12-month period
Approximately 1.6%, or about 700,000, of these people become subject to the use of force or the threat of force
Matthew R. Durose, Erica L. Smith, and Patrick A. Langan, Contacts between Police and the Public, 2005 (Washington, DC: Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2007).

16. Police Use of Force Continuum
Officer presence
Verbal commands
Soft techniques
Hard techniques
Deadly force

18. Less-Lethal Weapons
Designed to disable, capture, or immobilize, but not kill
Stun guns
Tasers
Rubber bullets
Beanbag projectiles
Pepper spray
Snare nets fired from shotguns (in development)
Disabling sticky foam (in development)

19. Police Use of Force Excessive force Deadly force
Application of an amount and/or frequency of force greater than required to compel compliance from a willing/unwilling subject
Deadly force
Force likely to cause death or great bodily
harm
The intentional use of a firearm or other instrument resulting in a high probability of death.

20. Racial Profiling
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
Pre-9/11 vs. post-9/11

21. Police Liability for Constitutional Violations
Civil remedies
Criminal remedies
Non-judicial remedies
Exclusionary rule remedies

22. Civil Liability
Potential responsibility for payment of damages or other court-ordered enforcement as a result of a ruling in a lawsuit
Federal
State
Different from criminal liability

23. Common Sources of Lawsuits against Police
Assault
High media visibility
Most well-known
Battery
False imprisonment
Arrest without just cause
Malicious prosecution
Negligent or malicious actions

24. Federal Lawsuits 1983 lawsuit Bivens action
Denies 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