Law and Order (dun dun)
While this term refers to the objective process of enforcing legal codes, policing is a broader concept involving order maintenance and community service.
What is law enforcement?
This traditional style of policing is characterized by responding to 911 calls after a crime has occurred, rather than seeking to prevent it.
What is reactive policing?
This metric focuses on output and speed, such as how quickly an officer responds to a call or how many citations they write in a shift.
What is efficiency?
This concept refers to the public’s belief that the police have the rightful authority to exercise power and are acting in a fair and professional manner.
What is police legitimacy?
This low-visibility power allows officers to choose between multiple courses of action, like giving a warning instead of a ticket.
What is police discretion?
This term describes the geographic area, person, or subject matter over which a police department has the legal authority to act.
What is jurisdiction?
This model, popularized by Wilson and Kelling, suggests that ignoring minor "signs of disorder" leads to an environment where more serious crime can flourish.
What is broken windows policing?
This computer-driven management tool, first used in NYC, uses crime mapping and data to hold precinct commanders accountable for crime rates.
What is CompSTAT?
For the public, this concept is vital for cooperation. For the police, it is vital for officer safety and consent-based policing.
Why does legitimacy matter?
While this term refers to simple violations of department policy, corruption refers to using one's position for personal or financial gain.
What is police misconduct (or deviance)?
Established in 1829 for the London Metropolitan Police, these core rules state that the police are the public and the public are the police.
What are the peelian principles?
Developed by Herman Goldstein, this model focuses on identifying the underlying causes of recurring incidents rather than just treating the individual symptoms.
What is problem-oriented policing (POP)?
This strategy involves flooding a small, high-crime geographic area with police presence to deter criminal activity.
What is hot-spots policing?
Factors such as race, age, and neighborhood, are the strongest predictors of how a citizen will view their local police department.
What are demographics?
This is the most controversial and high-stakes use of an officer's authority, often governed by the objective reasonableness standard.
What is use of force?
Modern American policing has roots in these early Southern systems, which were primarily designed to control and return enslaved people.
What are slave patrols?
This philosophy emphasizes building ties and working closely with members of the neighborhood to identify and solve local safety concerns.
What is community policing?
This unintended consequence occurs when policing a hot-spot doesn't actually stop crime, but simply moves it to a neighboring block.
What is displacement?
This is the process through which rookie officers learn the informal values, beliefs, and Us vs. Them mentality from veteran officers.
How is police culture created?
These are the two sides of a major policing debate: one side argues this allows for flexibility, while the other warns it can lead to bias and discrimination.
What are the pros and cons of discretion?
This specific federal agency is responsible for judicial security, transporting federal prisoners, and capturing fugitives.
What is the U.S. Marshals Service?
This high-tech strategy uses historical data and algorithms to identify "hot times" or likely future locations for criminal activity.
What is predictive (or smart) policing?
This specific type of study is used to understand the data of policing. It gathers the general public's opinions and trust levels.
What are public perception surveys?
Research shows that an officer's individual traits, like their level of education or years on the force, directly impact how they perceive this group.
Who is the public?
This concept refers to the legal and financial responsibility an officer or department faces when they violate a citizen's constitutional rights.
What is liability (or accountability)?
Provide a specific example of subject matter jurisdiction for a Federal Agency.
The DEA investigating a large-scale fentanyl distribution ring.
Describe a specific scenario using Problem-Oriented Policing (POP) to solve a recurring issue.
Instead of just arresting loiterers at a park, the police work with the city to install better lighting and fix broken benches to discourage crime.
Provide one specific example of an unintended consequence of hot-spots policing.
Crime displacement, where drug deals move one block over to an alleyway that isn't being patrolled.
Give an example of how a specific officer characteristic might influence their interaction with a citizen.
A highly educated officer using better communication skills to de-escalate.
Describe a scenario where an officer uses discretion to not make an arrest, even though a law was broken.
An officer stops a speeding car but lets the driver go with a warning because they are rushing a sick child to the hospital.
Provide a specific example of an agency housed under the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and its primary mission.
TSA ensures transportation and airport safety.
Contrast centralized vs. decentralized policing by giving an examples.
The U.S. has a decentralized system with thousands of local/county/state agencies.
Describe a scenario where a department is highly effective even if their efficiency numbers (like ticket counts) are low.
A department spends more time on community mediation and solving a gang dispute. Total arrests are down, but the violent crime rate in that zone drops significantly.
Effective = actual change
Efficient = #s
Provide an example of how an officer can demonstrate procedural justice during a standard traffic stop.
The officer explains exactly why they pulled the person over, allows the driver to speak/explain, and remains neutral and respectful throughout the process.
Give a specific example of an ethical dilemma where an officer's personal morals might conflict with department policy.
An officer's department requires a zero-tolerance arrest policy for a certain offense, but the officer believes arresting a specific individual would do more harm than good for the community.