...Police brutality has been around for hundreds of years, back when racism was a huge problem. Blacks and whites were not considered equal in the eyes of the government and law. White policeman would beat black men, women and children for no reasons at all many of times. Police brutality is the excessive use of force beyond what is necessary to handle a situation. Many people might say Police brutality is not just a racism, which could possibly be true but you see mainly white policeman killing African American men on the news everyday. You cannot just throw out racism as if it does not exist anymore. In the article Excessive or reasonable force by police, the writers John Wihbey and Leighton Walter Kile talks about excessive of the U.S. police...
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...enhance a peaceful and progressive society. To be able to run such a program, communal groups are supposed to oversee and execute the relevant policies that promote the idea. This has seen community policing units formed to run the administration and operations of law and order enforcement in a society. They played a great role in developing the social and economic wellbeing of the communities they serve. One of the community policing programs that has been formed in the past, is the Virtual County Police Department. Virtual County Police Department The agency was started by Virtual County community 55 years ago where it was headed by a Chief with an assistant leading small numbers of police officers who relied on farming as their economic activity. Over the last two decades, the initiative has been able to become the primary policing agent in the County (Virtual County Police Department, 2009). This has been a major achievement since it has ended the problems it had with the State Police in carrying out its operations. In addition, the personnel have grown from the initial small figure of officers to more than 400 officers and 170 assisting civilian staff members in its operation. This is a milestone step towards maintaining law and order in this area. In executing its operations, the department is run by two commands which comprise of operation command and administration command. The two commands are assisted to execute and implement the rules and policies of the agency by several...
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...Police Department Organization Paper Kathee Kathee CJA/214 November 17th, 2011 Todd Larson The police department is important to community. There are several departments and agencies designed to keep the people safe from drugs, homicide, armed robbery, rape, and many other crimes. There are various acts of violence that take place in America but police are practicing safety precautions to keep our streets safe. In this paper, will be addressing the various types of police agencies at local, state, and federal levels. It will also address the roles and functions of police operations and their role as it applies to the law. Finally, I will identify the major organizational theories associated with policing. There are just under 18,000 law enforcement agencies in the United States. This includes 12,656 local police, 3,061 sheriff’s departments, 49 state police agencies, 1,376 special police agencies, and 45 federal agencies. At the local level, they have municipal police, county police, and county sheriffs. Also there are the constables, coroners, special district police, and the tribal police. Local Police Agencies Municipal police: Municipal or city police are the most important component of American law enforcement. In 2000 they represented 71% of law enforcement agencies and employed 62% of all sworn officers. Municipal police play a more complex role than any other type of law enforcement agency. The external environment heavily influences all agencies...
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...SAN MARCOS POLICE DEPARTMENT The San Marcos Police Department is the primary general service law enforcement agency of San Marcos, Texas. The department is currently comprised of 95 sworn officers and 35 full time administrative staff members. On the law enforcement front, it is here at the local level that the major advances against the problems of crime and order maintenance goes on. This paper will serve to explain several key administrative concepts related to the operations of the San Marcos Police Department. In particular, this paper will examine the organizational structure within the department, in addition to, motivation and leadership components. STRUCTURE The accepted patterns of police organizations follow closely those to be found in military service (Leonard, 1969). This appears to be a very logical development since a police organization is semi-military in character. Police departments tend to be organized with rank structures, utilize the usage of uniforms and incorporate many of the various artillery of the armed forces, designed in large measure to set cops apart from civilians and signal obvious membership in an organization that exerts the immediate force of the government (Crowper, 2000). Furthermore, within an organizational dimension, police departments fall under the classification of mechanistic organizations (Stojkovic, Kalinch & Klofas, 2008). This type of organization is commonly regarded by its traditional bureaucratic foundation, characterized...
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...Broken windows theory was thought to be very successful theory during the reform era for police officers, the community did not adjust to this idea and ended up causing major issues. Broken windows theory was designed to enforce and regulate the minor offenses and not to ignore them such as; fixing a broken window, vandalism, or even littering a cigarette butt on the ground. This theory was introduced by James Wilson and George Kelling, which utterly failed due to the citizen’s response to this idea. The broken window theory led to zero-tolerance policing tactics also. Zero-tolerance policing was used aggressively, targeting minor crime to send a signal that such behaviors will not be tolerated. It was believed that these two strategies would...
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...“giving specific racial breakdowns of every aspect of police behavior”(MacDonald). She feels that the New York City Police Department is unable to do their job without having to face allegations of racial disparity. Ms. MacDonald indicates that the reason crime rates are higher amongst minorities than whites is not because of racial prejudices. She says it’s because the vast majority of crimes occur in minority neighborhoods by minority criminals against minority victims. Therefore, this drives police officers to those areas to arrest the individuals committing crimes. In 1994, under the New York Police Department Commissioner William Bratton and Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, the proactive policing revolution began. The idea was to remain visible in so called hot spot areas to help prevent crime from occurring. This gave police officers the authority to question anyone that appeared suspicious. According to MacDonald, due to the implementation of this policy “over 10,000 black and Hispanic males are alive today who would have been dead,” but this type of information does not make front page news. It appears that information concerning the positives associated with proactive policing is another issue Ms. MacDonald feels is not being reported by the New York Times. She claims the Times reporter did not ask minority supporters their opinion on the proactive policing policy. She declares minorities are asking for more police assistance in their neighborhoods. But why do they need...
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...Case Study: Police Corruption and Its Prevention Management Human Resources (CRJ535) TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Title Page 1 Table of Contents 2 Abstract 3 CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY Introduction and Background to the Problem 4 Definition 4-5 Prevention Begins With Leadership 5-7 CHAPTER TWO: REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE Psychology and Social Perspectives 7-9 Theories to Analyze Police Behavior 9-15 CHAPTER THREE: DISCUSSION Implications of Police Corruption and Conclusion 15-18 REFERENCES 19 Abstract Society has a responsibility to respect the community and of course, the police officers that protect the community. More often than not, society’s respect of police officers is nonexistent due to the constant media reports of police corruption and brutality. Police corruption has been around since its conception, but is now being publicized more heavily. As a result, mistrust of police officers has increased. Solutions to the mistrust must be discovered and implemented. Even more important than solution is prevention of police corruption and practices that will make the police reputation and actions more ethically sound. With appropriate discipline and prevention practices in place, integrity will be established within the organization and public trust will be established within the community. CHAPTER ONE Introduction and Background Police Corruption takes place when a police officer engages in an...
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...partial fulfillment of the requirements of Bachelor Science in Criminal Justice Charleston Southern University December 2011 ABSTRACT Many police agencies have developed a community policing style approach to fighting and preventing crime. This has worked for some and not so much for others. I have developed a program that interacts with the community and helps fight crime. This project not only reduces crime in an area but may continually keep crime at a low by getting the community to be more involved in day to day activities. You cannot expect the police to do all the crime fighting and then blame them whenever your vehicle gets broken into or your property gets stolen from your front yard. Mount Pleasant Police Department has been around for several years and has always taken the approach to policy community style or community policing. They believe policing this way will help reduce crime and get the community involved. They want officers to walk businesses, patrol neighborhoods, and be social able to show the community we are all nice and to call us for whatever reason. I believe this has back fired because the community calls on us to fix every single problem they have and most are not related to law enforcement at all. I have developed a new program which takes community policing to a new level. Mt Pleasant Police Department has a crime prevention program already implemented. The program seeks to reduce the offender’s perceived opportunity to commit illegal...
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...Organizational Theories of Policing Rashika S. Bowden CJS/210 9/72010 Instructor-Mark Morrison Response to Organizational Policing People explore the organizational theories as ways to explain plus help individuals see structure and simples ways the police agencies work. The tree theories of policing are 1) Resource Dependency, 2) Contingency, 3) Institutional. Resource dependency is often used for recognizing that organizations must find ways to survive, and engage in exchange with other organizations is their environment. Up holding an external social and political environment, contingency theory believes that it can and will create structure and achieve specific goals. “Last but not least institutional theories hold and place organizations under a category to operate with relations so they can improve their social and external political beliefs” (Walker & Katz, 2008). Agencies and police organizations try to operate according to the theories that were listed above. Often times as I have seen in numerous cases, if gang activity is a consistent problem in or around different communities, the agencies and police organizations will eventually form or call in the special gang unit. “However, not all resource dependent departments are awarded funding for their community issues; departments that struggle with gang-related problems may not have the resources to form a special gang unit. Each theory can explain the structures and operational strategies of most police organizations...
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...Organizational Theory Angele Muhammad February 5, 2014 Assistant Professor Darren Gil Southern University at New Orleans Abstract I will discuss the basis of an organizational theory as it applies to the criminal justice system. I am discussing and giving a clear understanding of the criminal justice system as an organization of a bureaucratic management system with hierarchies and processes of inputs, processes, and outputs within one aspect of the criminal justice system i.e. police, within one city. I will also discuss how New Orleans Police Department was created throughout history and what organizational theory has been implemented. This is a brief history of the New Orleans Police Department and why a bureaucratic management system is the basis for this organization. Organizational Theory Understanding that Organizational theory is the study of organizations in the aspect of design, structure, the relationship of the organization and the external and internal environment including the behavior of the hierarchy within the organization. The police, courts and parole, which are the criminal justice agencies, fit the description of being an organization. They consist of having a process of input, processing and outputs. This system desires to process and close cases that will stay closed within a hierarchy frame. They all have sets of written rules and specialized training within a hierarchy of authority that desires the bureaucratic structure to become...
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...Organizational theories argue that police attitudes and values are shaped by the organizational and working culture of policing and the demands placed upon officers by their police colleagues. These theories, sometimes referred to as behavioral management theories, emphasized the importance of looking at what police officers actually do and acknowledging just how complex the modern police department had become. Researchers had observed that while many police departments were organized along similar lines, they often adopted very different approaches to basic policing problems and their relationship with the public (Walker & Katz, 2007). The watchman style is based primarily on the use of the uniformed police patrol, this approach places great emphasis on order maintenance and individual officer discretion. Police departments adopting this style rarely engage in research or systematic planning and tend to suffer from problems of discriminatory arrests and corruption, because there are few effective restraints on the activities of individual officers (Walker & Katz, 2007). The legalistic style is a style of policing which emphasizes the importance of law enforcement and maintaining clear and impartial legal standards for both the police and public alike. Police departments organized along legalistic lines tend to be bureaucratic, use performance indicators as a means of promoting professional standards, and place considerable importance on research and planning. Looked at historically...
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...during illegal searches from trials. Weeks v. United States (1914) held that the exclusionary rule was a part of the Fourth Amendment, and any illegally seized evidence cannot be used against the defendant. The decision made the exclusionary rule a constitutional requirement, but it did not bind states. Incorporating the rule to the state level was initiated in 1961 by way of the opinion of Mapp v. Ohio. The Fourth Amendment Exclusionary Rule became binding to the states under the Due Process Clause, which protects civilians from the denial of life, liberty, or property (Zalman, 2011). The primary goal of the Exclusionary Rule was to combat police misconduct that violates constitutional rights, which possibly could lead to civil and federal lawsuits against police and municipalities for ongoing wrong. The Exclusionary Rule encourages police officers to adhere to the rights outlined in the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. This...
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...Criminal Justice System Mackenzie CJA/204 November 15, 2014 Erica Veljic Criminal Justice System The criminal justice system has many parts that emphasize the importance of following and abiding the law. Crime is a large problem throughout the world and is attempted to be controlled by local and governmental officials. The parts of the criminal justice system are supposed to work as a “well-oiled machine” in receiving justice for crimes committed. Unfortunately it seems that although all agencies of the criminal justice system have the same goal, none work in sync to solidify criminal justice as a system. Crime According to The Free Dictionary Online (2014), crime is “a violation of a law in which there is injury to the public or a member of the public and a term in jail or prison, and/or a fine as possible penalties”. Crime is punishable by the legal sanctions. The relationship between crime and law is without the strict enforcement of the law crime cannot be prevented. The two most common models of how society determines a criminal act include consensus and conflict models. Through the consensus model, society shares the same morals even though communities are quite diverse. The crimes that violate this morally valued system are deemed harmful to society. The conflict model holds that because society is so diverse people are constantly engaged in a power struggle. Those within the dominate groups will codify their beliefs and values into hard law (Thomas, Cage, &...
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...Evaluating the Moral Justification of Force in the UK Police Consequentialism and the Use of Deadly Force Among Police Personnel in the UK Against a backdrop of a democratic society, the use of deadly force by the police in countries such as the UK seems implausible for human rights activists. First, police officers are expected to uphold the human rights of every individual hence, civilian rights are always preserved even in criminal cases where the due process of law is considered to be the golden standard in the judicial system. Thus, threading the line between regulations and policies of the agency as well as the ethical and moral dilemma in the use of deadly force predisposes police officers to question the legitimacy as well as the moral justifications in their use of deadly force. While several philosophical theorists have argued for different justifications through philosophical theories, the theory of consequentialism appears to be the one that closely justifies the use of deadly force among the police. Before examining the moral and ethical arguments for the use of deadly force using the consequentialist paradigm, let us first examine the important aspects of deadly force and the use of it by the UK police. First, deadly force as defined by Geller and Scott (23) pertains to the force reasonably capable of causing death or bodily harm. According to this definition, an act that can kill should be consumated before it can be considered as a deadly force hence; threats...
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...THEORIES OF POLICE ORGANIZATION The theories that are associated with policing are the organizational theory and the management theory. The organizational theory is designed to achieve specific goals that are set to be acheived by the police departments. The organizational theory can be used by a police depart to control a specific rate of crime for example drug dealing can be combatted using the organizational theory. The police department can add bodies to the area affected the most by this crime or change the amount of times a patrol car comes through the area in order arrest more of the offenders in an attempt to stop the problem from escalating or spilling out into others areas of the City. Therefore possibly reducing the rate of this crime The management theory is the process in which police officers are distributed through the department. Through the management theory the head of police department, such as the chief or captain and/or Lutinenant can place the officers in the proper roles in the departments. This theory is used to make sure that the police departments place the proper officers in the proper communities. This is designed to make sure that communities the police officers that with police them are matched in order to keep police/community relationships on a level that is effective in the overall goal to keep crime rates down and make the community members feel safe. These theories are essential to all police departments in connection with the...
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