CH 10, QUIZ #4 - CRJU

Police Suicide - (Myths of Police Stress)

*1 of the most frequently cited indicators of stress is the suicide rate of police officers* - Relatively few studies have been conducted to examine the actual cause of police suicide - Some early studies concluded that officers suffer a higher rate of suicide than the general public - Research into police suicide *compared to other occupations* - 1 study of *36 occupations* found that policing had the *2nd highest* rate of suicide *Even though early research into this topic has for the most part concluded that there is a high rate among police officers, this MYTH of policing is beginning to change as researchers collect additional data and take a more critical look at the problem*

Drug and Alcohol Abuse (Relationship/Conclusion) - (Myths of Police Stress)

*Fairly strong evidence to support the extensive use of alc and drugs by officers, there is LESS support of a DIRECT CAUSAL relationship b/ween drug use and police stress* - An equally plausible explanation for the use of drugs and alc is that these substances are used for recreational purposes *If police stress were a substantial CAUSE of the abuse of these substances one would expect to find officers w/out histories of drug use turning to these substances only after experiencing the stresses of police work* - Police substance abuse seems to be more related to *culture* and *socialization* than it does to job stress - Alternatively, officers might engage in these behaviors out of boredom or peer pressure as much as from any stress inherent crime fighting

Drug and Alcohol Abuse (Drinking Studies/Facts) - (Myths of Police Stress)

*Higher rates of alcoholism and drug abuse are a product of occupational demands and a means by which police officers deal w stress* - 1st meaningful study of police misconduct specifically examining the use of alc by on-duty officers was conducted by *Albert Reiss in 1971* - Reiss found that drinking while on-duty occurred in all cities examined and that the extent of the on-duty use of alc ranged from *3.2% to 18.4%* - A later study indicated that *as many as 25% of ALL officers have a serious alc problem* - A *1988 study* found that approx. *20%* of officers in a single agency used illegal drugs while on-duty and that the rate of on-duty alc use among *veteran officers* reached nearly *20%* *Alc use among police is UNDERESTIMATED*

Police Suicide (Conclusion) - (Myths of Police Stress)

- A review of the existing literature and arguments surrounding stress and police suicide indicates that conceptual and methodological problems associated w conducting this type of research makes it *difficult to draw any firm conclusions* - There is no available research that conclusively proves that the rat of suicide experienced by officers is any greater than for populations w similar background characteristics - There is no conclusive evidence that work-related stress experienced by officers is the cause of suicide *It is largely a MYTH that police kill themselves bc of a level of stress greater than that experience by members of other occupations*

Crime Fighting - (Real Police Work)

*It is a myth to believe that the police spend the majority of their time involved in crime fighting activities* - As a general rule, most police work is quite mundane - They spend a considerable part of their time on such routine tasks as writing traffic citations, investigating automobile accidents, mediating disputes between neighbors and family members, directing traffic, and engaging in a variety go other service-related and order-maintaining activities - A variety of research techniques to study police workloads include: radio calls from dispatchers to patrol cars, telephone calls by citizens to the police, dispatch records, observational data, self-reports from police officers, and telephone interviews of citizens - These have all been utilized in an attempt to learn what the police actually do and how much time is spent on various activities - All studies determined that relatively little of an officer's day is taken up responding to crime-related activities and does not involve any contact with the public - Police spend many hours engaged in "preventive" patrol, running errands, and performing a # of administrative tasks

Police Mortality Rates - (Myths of Police Stress)

*MYTH prevalent among law enforcement officers is that they experience greater mortality rates from natural causes than do other citizens* - Myth of policing can be viewed as the culmination of stress-related myth of policing - When one links the "dangers", the "suicide rate," and the stress myths, it is a natural inference that police MUST experience a greater rate of work-related mortality - Myth has been extended to the perception that officers of not live long after retirement - Myths associated w police mortality have been given credence by *misreadings of research* and *unsupported statements in the police literature*

Deterring and Solving Crimes (Intro/Myth vs. Reality) - (Real Police Work)

*MYTH: 1 of the most pervasive myths of policing is that police deterrence prevents the commission of crime* - The image presented by the myth is one of police officers spending countless hours patrolling the streets of the US in order to make us safe from the criminal element - TV cops are routinely seen interdicting in criminal events or scaring off would-be criminals from their targets - Without the deterrent effect of police officers on the street, crime would be rampant! *REALITY:* - Routine patrol is ineffective in deterring criminal activity; patrol units seldom apprehend criminals in the act of committing crimes; and uncommitted patrol time tends to provide little benefit to the department or the community

Danger and Stress - (Myths of Police Stress)

*Regardless of the realities of the dangers of police work, officers still view danger as a source of stress* - A survey of officers conducted by *Violanti and Aron (1994)* asked officers to rank the most stressful work activities/situations in police work - Officers ranked *killing someone or the murder of a fellow officer* as the MOST stressful events - This may suggest that the perception of violence and danger rather than the reality of the dangers of police work may be the source of stress - The *disjuncture b/ween the REALITY of danger in police work and the officers PERCEPTION of stressors* is a sustained aspect of the job - *Garcia, Nesbary, and Gu (2004)* revisited the above study and found similar results...they split police stressors into 3 types: *occupational*, *job-related*, and *external stressors*...they still listed injury or death as being the most stressful aspect of their job *The consistency of this finding across studies of police stress despite changes in the actual level of dangers in police work suggests that the perception of danger by police is more of a cultural artifact than a reality of police work*

Personal Adjustment - (Myths of Police Stress)

*Stress as a problem of personal adjustment* - From this perspective officers have varying degrees of ability to cope w the demands made by their job - Certain officers are not capable of performing under the pressure - Stress affects the officers diff - *Personal needs*, *values*, *abilities*, and *experiences* affect how individual officers respond to the stress of their work environment

Structural Problem - (Myths of Police Stress)

*Stress as a structural problem that resides in the pathology of the police organization and the working environment* - Scholars examine such factors as *management style*, *role conflict*, and *other structural sources of stress* - If officers are unable to perform, if they are hindered or are having problems, the police organization and environment are at fault...NOT the individual officer

Domestic Violence Calls (Intro/Research) - (Real Police Work)

*The belief of the myth that the domestic violence (DV) call is the most dangerous for an officer is ingrained in most police brains* - The FACT is that the risk of felonious death is FAR LESS in DV situations than in many other types of assignments - This myth was seriously undermined by *David Konstatin (1984)* he found that ONLY 5.2% of the fatalities occurred in situations where officers had responded to domestic disturbances - This was SUBSTANTIALLY LESS than the % that died *intervening in robbery situations*, *pursuing suspects*, *making traffic stops*, *investigating suspicious persons*, or as a *result of assaults* - Although this analysis suggests that DV calls of not present a high level of risk, it is NOT definitive bc it does NOT take into account the relative amounts of time that officers spend performing various tasks - *Joel Garner and Elizabeth Clemmer* utilized several existing measures of police activity to calculate the risk of death that officers face when they respond to DV calls ...concluded that DV consistently ranks BELOW both *robbery and burglary* as a source of danger to police

Deterring and Solving Crimes (Criminal Investigators) - (Real Police Work)

*The myth image shifts to criminal investigators who unerringly ferret out criminals and bring them to justice using the considerable powers of science* REALITY: - Unlike the TV and movie versions of criminal investigators, detectives are very poor at solving crimes - Most crimes are solved bc of arrests made by patrol officers or through the victim being able to supply the name of the suspect to investigators - *RAND Corporation* that examined the investigative practices in 153 large police departments...researchers found that *detectives did not generally solve cases by hard work, inspiration, or science, rather, they focused on and solved EASY cases* - Stat examinations of how evidence affects case outcomes substantiates that cases are solved as a result of specific suspect info provided by victims and witnesses

Dangerous Occupation (Consequences of the Myth) - (Real Police Work)

*The myth that policing is a dangerous occupation has a # of consequences for law enforcement...* *1.* This misperception results in an increased level of public support; a belief that law enforcement routinely confront danger generally leads citizens to give the police the benefit of the doubt when it comes to various controversies involving the propriety (appropriateness) of certain actions *2.* The public perception that the police are armed and ready to deal w danger 24hrs a day can be beneficial when it is time to engage in contract negotiations *3.* The belief that being an officer is akin to the work of a soldier on the front lines can have deleterious effect on the officer's spouse *4*. The pervasive sense that their mission is dangerous affects the way that officers deal w the public

Police Shootings (Explanations for the Decline) - (Real Police Work)

*There are several explanations for this phenomenon (decline)...* 1. Almost all police departments that serve large communities have adopted firearms policies that prohibit the use of deadly force against certain fleeing felons 2. Training has improved and the level of discipline has tightened in many departments 3. There has been an explosion of civil litigation; municipalities now have a strong financial incentive to prevent unjustifiable incidents and thus avoid financial liability

Police Divorces - (Myths of Police Stress)

*There have been numerous reports on the high divorce rate that is believed to plague police marriages...the media, police, chaplains, departmental official, the wives of officers, and even some researchers have asserted that the stress in law enforcement results in a VERY HIGH level of divorce* - There are a # of features about police work that do place a strain on family life (ex. the work schedule, many opportunities for marriage infidelity, trauma and pain the officers witnesses, etc.) - The findings from various studies are *contradictory* and a # of methodological problems plague this body of research - Biggest drawback is that many studies do NOT distinguish between divorces that occurred *prior* to the time that the officer joined the department and those that occurred *afterwards* *Most comprehensive studies have concluded that police officers have a divorce rate that is NO HIGHER than the national average and that the majority of officers are family men who have stable marriages*

Police Suicide (Myth/Other Causes) - (Myths of Police Stress)

*While the stress of police work may contribute to suicide, a # of other factors offer a more likely explanation...* 1. Abuse of alc and/or drugs 2. Becoming involved in deviance and corruption 3. Ready access to firearms 4. Depression 5. Working in male-dominated organization 6. Family and economic problems 7. Alienation and cynicism associated w police culture 8. Role conflict in the occupation and social situations 9. Physical and mental health problems - Also evidence that suggests that some suicides by officers may be the result of the discovery of acts of corruption or deviance rather than any inherent stress (ex. NYPD's *"Buddy Boys"*...a corrupt police ring that was caught and some officers whose activities had been exposed committed suicide)

Police Shootings (Studies) - (Real Police Work)

- *"Vital Statistics"* complies that birth and death records collected by the US Public Heath Service bc they contain a category that notes deaths due to legal intervention, they have been useful to researchers studying this - According to them an average of *360 deaths* due to legal intervention in the US each yr b/ween 1970-1975 - *Study by Lawrence Sherman and Ellen Cohn (1986)* examining the rate of police killings during a 15yr (1970-84) period in the 50 largest US states...study found that these rare events are becoming even more infrequent; the # of persons killed by big-city police officers declined - Researchers found that there was little relationship b/ween police arrests for violent crime and the extent to which police officers killed citizens *Arnold Binder and Lorie Fridell (1984)* reviewed the various above studies and others and based on their review they concluded that approx. 30% of persons shot by the police would die

Police Subculture (Bravery, Autonomy, and Secrecy) - (Living the Crime Fighter Myth)

- *Bravery* is a central component of the social character of policing, it is related to the perceived and actual dangers of law enforcement; the *potential to become the victim* of a violent encounter, the *need for support by fellow officers* during such encounters, and the *legit use of violence to accomplish the police mandate* contribute to a subculture stress of bravery - *Autonomy*...as the entry point in the criminal justice process, officers make authoritative decisions about whom to arrest, when to arrest, and when to use force; they value their autonomy to make such decisions and resent department, judicial, or community standards designed to limit their discretion - *Secrecy* they protect the decisions made by coworkers from supervisors, the media, or other investigatory agencies who could apply sanctions and remove some of their decision-making abilities; secrecy protects the police from the intrusion of outsiders who do not understand the intricacies of policing

Domestic Violence Calls (HOW Did the Myth Dev.) - (Real Police Work)

- *Konstatin (1984)* offers a # of possible explanations...the most likely is that police officials and researchers misinterpreted the data provided by the FBI in its annual publication (*Law Enforcement Officers Killed - LEOK*) - This is bc the FBI still presents a heading for disturbance calls but includes 2 subheadings (*"family quarrels" and "bar fights, person w firearms, etc."*) leaving the possibility for misinterpretation - *Konstatin's other possible explanations:* *1.* The level of danger in the DV call may have been exaggerated; responding to family quarrels can be a traumatic experience for an officer; it is the only situation in which both the offender and the complainant may join forces against the officer *2.* It is possible that those who developed domestic crisis intervention training programs have overstated this danger in order to persuade police departments of the value of their programs *3.* Responding to family quarrels is likely to be perceived by police officers as "social work" bc these encounters take up so much of an officer's time, they may be viewed as demeaning to his/her image as a crime fighter and therefore in order to convince themselves that they are doing "real police work" they may have exaggerated the danger from this type of assignment

INTRO - Living the Crime Fighter Myth

- Behavior is often built around the myth and perception rather than reality - Meny of the *myths of policing* have contributed to the development of a group of perspective among members of the police occupation - This cognitive group orientation that they have is often referred to as a *"culture"* - Clearly officers in the US share the larger cultural heritage...speak the same language, operate under the same laws, and share many of the same values - Also certain myths and perceptions of the police subculture that make officers diff from other members of society - Therefore, some scholars have maintained that the *police are a unique occupational subculture*

Insiders and Outsiders (How the We-They Worldview is Created) - (Living the Crime Fighter Myth)

- Created for a variety of reasons, including the *danger myth* - The myth is reinforced in the *formal socialization processes* - Police undergo formal socialization when they enter the academy - Through these "war stories" in the course of field training and after graduation from the academy, *officers relearn and experience the myths of crime fighting* particularly the *potential for danger* - Police often picture the world as DANGEROUS...this leads them to see us citizens as *potential sources of violence* or even as *enemies* - This *crime fighting myth* fosters the *we-they* police worldview...police see themselves as a closely knit, distinct group, and *citizens as "outsiders"*

Real Police Work (Subtitles)

- Crime Fighting - Police Shootings - Dangerous Occupation - Domestic Violence Calls - Deterring and Solving Crimes

Drug and Alcohol Abuse (Drug Studies/Facts) - (Myths of Police Stress)

- In *1986 the NJ State Police* tested all 2,300members of its force for drug use...only *5 officers* in the agency tested positive for drug use - Similar results were found for the *NYPD* - The discrepancies among various studies are likely due to 1 of the 2 factors: *1.* the media has focused a great deal of attention on the use of police drug use so it is possible that officers are now very careful to avoid detection *2.* these drug-screening tests are often administered to the probationary employees w advance warning

Living the Crime Fighter Myth (Subtitles)

- Insiders and Outsiders - Police Subculture

Police Shootings (Intro) - (Real Police Work)

- It is not a straightforward matter to determine how many ppl are killed and/or wounded by police bullets each yr (bc there are no national stats published that address this question) - Researchers have to rely on data collected for other purposes and info that has voluntarily been supplied by police agencies

Police Mortality Rates (Studies) - (Myths of Police Stress)

- Officers appear to suffer from increased mortality risk from cancer of the colon and liver, diabetes and heart disease than people not involved in law enforcement (not proven) - *Danielle Hitz (1973)* reported a higher rate of cirrhosis of the liver due to alc use by officers - A *study of 2,376 officers in Buffalo, NY* concluded that the OVERALL mortality rate among officers for a variety of ailments was comparable to the general public BUT officers showed a significantly higher rate of mortality from certain forms of cancer - If one looks ONLY at the incidence of a particular disease and the profession of the subject w/out considering the larger context of health factors unrelated to the job, *one could reach a very mistaken conclusion about the cause of the disease* - *Richard Raub (1988)* has pointed outed out statements such as "Police officers do not retire well" are NOT supported by data; these and similar statements combined w pulling unfounded conclusions for the research literature reinforce the myth - *Raub found NO empirical support for the myth* he found that the length of time officers live after retirement matched mortality tables for the general public - Some police retirees may even live longer lives after retirement than other populations!

Dangerous Occupation (Reality vs. Myth) - (Real Police Work)

- Other crime myths tells us that our cities are plagued w gangs, drugs, and automatic weapons...obviously being a cop in such circumstances must be more dangerous than it was in years past -- *or so we are told* - *The Uniform Crime Reports (UCR) publishes data every yr w respect to the # of law enforcement officers who have been feloniously killed in the US - The data indicate that the killing of law enforcement officers is a rare event AND that these relatively rare events have declined dramatically in recent yrs - Noteworthy that the # of police killed has declined despite the restrictions that have been placed on police use of firearms, the myth of an increase in the rate of violent crime, the alleged proliferation of semi-automatic weapons on the streets of US cities, the war on drugs, and the increase in the level of gang-related violence that is said to have occurred in many areas - To some extent, *these stats on police killings mask the reduction in risk that has occurred bc the # of law enforcement personnel has increased substantially during this period*

Myths of Police Stress (Subtitles)

- Personal Adjustment - Structural Problem - Danger and Stress - Police Suicide - Drug and Alcohol Abuse - Police Mortality Rates - Police Divorces

Deterring and Solving Crimes (Case Records) - (Real Police Work)

- Police have a very poor record of "getting their man" and solving crimes - *8 of 10 crimes committed in the US are left unsolved* - Law enforcement agencies nationwide solved only *20%* of all reported index crimes - A case reported as cleared does NOT necessarily mean that an arrest and conviction has taken place - Arresting the wrong person for a crime counts as a cleared case; if 1 person is charged w 5 crimes then that is 5 cases cleared; these are stats that law enforcement agencies report to the federal gov, and the agencies are often under pressure to demonstrate their effectiveness so 1 can assume that any bias in the data favors a higher clearance rate by the police *It is a myth that the police are effective at solving crimes*

Deterring and Solving Crimes (Studies/Research) - (Real Police Work)

- Study of the effectiveness of routine preventive patrol *conducted by the police department in Kansas City, Missouri* w the assistance from the *Police Foundation during 1972 and 1973* - They examined 4 different types of variables: *victimization*, *citizen fear of crime*, *citizen attitudes towards the police*, and *police response time to calls for service* - There were no significant differences in any of the 3 areas in the amount of crime or citizen satisfaction...*police patrol appears to have little effect on deterring crime* - Other studies of police patrol confirm its failure to prevent crime even when police concentrate on specific crime problems - *Eric Fritsch, Tory Caeti, and Robert Taylor (2003)* conducted a study in *Dallas, TX* and came to the conclusions that police saturation patrol had little impact on crime reduction and that adding more officers was an ineffectual crime control strategy

Police Shootings (New Technologies Role) - (Real Police Work)

- Technology has changed the way police use force...the advent of less than lethal technologies (pepper spray, stun guns, etc.) has allowed the police to use force with less than lethal consequences - *It is a myth to believe that police have become less violent* - While the # of police killings have declined, the new technologies have allowed the police to expand their use of force both in terms of frequency of the use of force and the types of situations in which officer's use force - Ex: *Christopher Commission report* --> identified critical problem areas in the LAPD's use of force; soon after Christopher's was released, a NEW commission was released its findings on the progress made by the LAPD in implementing reforms...reported that there was a 36% reduction in use of force incidents b/ween 1990-1995; *however, the new commission never mentioned that the most dramatic decline came in the very yr that Rodney King was beaten and before the Christopher Commission released its findings and recommendations for reform* - The use of force by the LAPD has increased as much as their arrests have decreased

Police Subculture (Intro/Facts) - (Living the Crime Fighter Myth)

- The concept of *ethos* encompasses the fundamental spirit of a culture; it is a subculture's *sentiments*, *beliefs*, *customs*, and *practices* - 3 elements help define police behaviors: *an ethos of bravery, autonomy, and secrecy*...the MYTHS discussed earlier all contribute to these values - Officers are often unaware of the strong influences of the police subculture - The *intertwining of myth and ethos* can create *situations where police practices are unlawful* - Distinguish b/ween *corruption for personal gain* and *"noble cause corruption"* they point to crime fighting as the "noble cause" bc the officers are just making the world a safer place to live (through their own corruption!!)

Insiders and Outsiders - (Living the Crime Fighter Myth)

- The self-perception of being involved in a dangerous and violent profession combined w the legal monopoly police have on the sanctioned use of violence and coercion sets police officers apart - Bc of their perception of police work (*often based on myth*) officers dev a unique worldview - The police worldview categorizes the world into *insiders and outsiders* - The way police see the world can be described as a *"we-they"* or *"us-them"* orientation...tend to see it as *cops and "others"* - *Anyone who is NOT an officer is considered an "outsider" to be viewed with suspicion*

Police Shootings (Conclusion) - (Real Police Work)

- The view of *policing as a continual gun-battle w criminals* is a MYTH - It is EQUALLY a MYTH to *construct the police as less violent and prone to the use of force today than they were just a few decades ago* - Both myths generate a great deal of public support by constructing the police as brave, crime-fighting heroes on mean streets

Dangerous Occupation (Myth Believers Argument vs. Fact) - (Real Police Work)

- They argue that the dramatic decrease in police fatalities can be attributed to better emergency medical care, state of the art police training, and the increased use of protective equipment *REAL*: This argument can also be made for nearly every other occupation it would be logical to assume that all occupations have benefited from advances in emergency medical care - They argue that if policing is not the most dangerous profession in terms of fatalities, then it most definitely is dangerous in terms of assaults and injuries *REAL*: Assaults on officers are relatively rare events, as are serious injuries and deaths...yet police consider the potential for assault as one of the most stressful aspects of police work (the myth is in their heads)

INTRO - Myths of Police Stress

- While it is generally recognized that police stress exists there is little agreement regarding its cause, effect, or extent - There is little scientific research that points to a specific cause for the stress law enforcement officers experience - Instead scholars have developed several perspectives to explain the sources of police stress

Dangerous Occupation (Compared to Other Occupations) - (Real Police Work)

Another way to examine the question of danger is to compare the fatality rate of police with that of people working other occupations... - Police consistently face a lower fatality rate than persons employed in *mining*, *construction*, *transportation*, and *agriculture* - Farmers AND truck drivers were TWICE as likely to be fatally injured preforming their jobs and pilots and navigators were 6 TIMES more likely to be killed on the job than were police - This rate contains both fatal injuries that were the result of accidents as well as homicides - LESS THAN half od the total # of police who sustain fatal injuries on the job were the *victims of homicide* - Given the available research there is NO SUPPORT for the MYTH that policing is 1 of the MOST dangerous occupations, *at least in terms of job-related fatalities*

Dangerous Occupation (Myth Sources) - (Real Police Work)

One of the most widespread myths about police work is that it is a *dangerous occupation*... - Film and TV use scenes of officers attacked and killed by ruthless criminals as staples - Myth is also promoted by the police culture...*2002 FBI report on law enforcement officers killed* begins with "The duty of serving our nation as a law enforcement officer can be dangerous" - Police trade magazines echo the myth with statements like "The threat of assault and death constantly plagues the law enforcement officer" - Law enforcement bulletins provide tactical instructions in sensational language - These perceptions are reinforced by the *occasional* real-life incident in which a police officer is gunned down - Likely, the news story following (the above incident) includes a commentary to the effect that police officers are on the frontline in the war against crime, facing the possibility of death from a crazed assailant at any given moment - The medal that policing is a dangerous occupation is a routinely reinforced, and often the danger is portrayed as escalating dramatically

INTRO - Real Police Work

Police officers do considerably less "crime fighting" than one might imagine; citizens always associate police work w pursuing criminals

Domestic Violence Calls (Conclusion) - (Real Police Work)

The myth that domestic violence calls represent a high level of danger *results in less effective response by police officers to these situations*

Police Subculture (Conclusion) - (Living the Crime Fighter Myth)

The solidarity of police officers who feel isolated from the society that have a "duty to protect" yet *view w suspicion* can lead to cover-ups and the belief that *the law is for criminals, not those w the dangerous occupation of fighting crime* (they get the idea that they're above the law)