Chapter 6
Investigation in the second main function of police, along with patrol. Whereas patrol is primarily preventive, investigation is
reactive
Police officers may use deadly force if they have probable cause to believe that the fleeing suspect poses a threat of
serious injury or death to officers or others
According to the US Bureau of Statistics, policing is one of the ten most
stressful occupations in the country
The united states set the limits for the use of deadly force by law enforcement officers in
tennessee v. garner (1995)
Police cynicism is characterized by a rejection of ideals of truth and justice the very values
that an officer is sworn to uphold
The blue curtain, also known as the "blue wall of silence" or simply "the code". This separates the police from
the civilians they are meant to protect
Police corruption can be defined as the misuse of authority by a law enforcement officer
"in a manner designed to produce personal gain"
Four years after Garner v. Tennessee, the court tried to clarify this concept in Graham v. Connor (1989), stating that the use of any force should be judged by the
"reasonableness of the moment"
Honesty
Of course, honesty is a critical attribute police officer. A law enforcement officer must make hundreds of decisions a day, and most require him or her to be honest in order to properly do the job
Loyalty
The choice often sets loyalty against ethics especially if the officer does not condone the violence
In most states, the use of non-deadly force is regulated by the concept of reasonable force, which allows the use of force when
a reasonable person would assume that such force was necessary
Rookies begin the process of socialization, in which they are taught the values and rules of police work. This process is aided by a number of rituals that are common to the law enforcement experience. They are:
a) attending the police academy b) working with a senior officer,who passes on the lessons of police work and the life to the younger officer c) making the initial felony arrest d) using force to make an arrest for the first time e) using or witnessing deadly force for the first time f) witnessing traumatic incidents for the first time
Traditional forms of corruption include
a) bribery b) shakedowns c) mooching
They further identify four categories of ethical dilemmas, involving
a) discretion b) duty c) honesty d) loyalty
Pollock and Becker define an ethical dilemma as a situation in which law enforcement officers
a) do not know the right course of action b) have difficulty doing what they consider to be right c) find the wrong choice very tempting
There are two kinds of force
a) non-deadly force b) deadly force
Four general categories of daily routine patrol activities are
a) preventive patrol b) calls for service c) administrative duties d) officer-imitated activities
Two areas of the police subculture that help created the police subculture and must be only understood if they cynical nature of police subculture is ever to be changed are
a) the danger of police work b) the need for officers to establish and maintain authority
The basic purposes of the police patrol have changed very little since 1829 when Sir Robert Peel founded the modern police department. These purposes include
a) the deterrence of crime by maintaining a visible police pressure b) the maintenance of public order c) the twenty-four-hour provisions of services that are not crime related
It is generally accepted that not only is police use of force inevitable but that police officers who are unwilling to use force in certain circumstances
cannot do their job effectively
Most police work, in contrast, is done on General Patrol, during which officers make the rounds of a specific area where purpose of
carrying out the various patrol function
The police code of conduct is self evident. A police officer will not engage in acts of
corruption or bribery
Police officers are ____ for any crimes they might commit, and the city and state governments can be held _____ for wrongdoing by their officers
criminally liable civilly liable
Every organization has a subculture, with values shaped by the particular aspects and pressures of that organization. In the police subculture those values are formed in an environment characterized by
danger, stress, boredom, and violence
The responsibility of finding "who dunnit" is delegated to the investigator, most commonly known as the
detective
Deadly force is force that an objective police officer realizes will place the subject in
direct threat of serious bodily injury or death
The police working environment -rife with or full of lying, cheating, lawbreaking, and violence - often
does not allow for ethical absolutes
corruption is intricately (closely) connected with the ethics of law enforcement officers. Ethic has to do with the fundamental questions of the
fairness, justice, rightness, or wrongness of any action
The average life expectancy of a police officer is _______ compared to seventy one for the general public
fifty seven years
A statistic that can be attributed to police officer's top ranking among professions in rates of
heart disease, hypertension, and diabetes
The social isolation officers must deal with also leads to one of the
highest divorce rates of any job
The mechanism for these investigations within a police department is the
internal affairs unit (iau)
One of the greatest ironies of the police organization is that the people lowest on the hierarchal ladder - the patrol officer - are considered the
most valuable member of the force
According to the US Department of Justice, police have the most dangerous job in the united states, with 261 of every 1,000 officers targets of
nonfatal violence each year
In other aspects, it is idealistic, perhaps unreasonably so; "officers will never allow
personal feelings, animosities, or friendships to influence official conduct
This type of activity is a Directed Patrol. Such patrols are specifically designed to deal with crimes that commonly occur in certain locations and under circumstances that
provide police with opportunity for preparation
Duty
the concept of discretion is linked with duty, or the obligation to act in a certain manner. Society, by passing laws, can make a police officers duty more clear and eliminate discretion from the decision making process. But, an officer's duty will not always be obvious, and ethical considerations can often supplement "the rules" of being an law enforcement agent
Discretion
the law provides rigid guidelines for how police officers must act and how they cannot act, but it does not offer guidelines for how officers should act in many circumstances. Officers often use discretion to determine how they should act, and ethics play an important role in guiding discretionary actions
Police subculture is a term used to describe the basic assumptions and values that permeate law enforcement agencies and are taught to new members of a law enforcement agency as
the proper way to think, perceive, and act