Keyterms:
- Racial Profiling – Alleged practice whereby police stop and search minorities for minor violations significantly more often than whites.
- Police Stress- Emotional pressure that is produced by the nature of police work such as public apathy, exposure to criminals, and injury to fellow officers.
- Cynicism- A belief that human conduct is motivated entirely by self-interest. A cynical person attributes all actions to selfish motives and has a pessimistic outlook on human behavior.
- Anomie- A “normlessness” or lack of attachment felt by some people toward their society.
- Socialization Model- The view that holds that police officers learn their attitudes and values from socializing experiences such as education and experience on the job.
- Predispositional Model- The view that the attitudes and values the police officers are developed prior to entry into the law enforcement profession.
- Authoritarianism- A tendency to favor blind obedience to authority.
- Police Discretion- The ability to choose between arrest and nonarrest solely on the basis of the officer’s judgment.
- Selective Enforcement- A unwritten policy in which police are not required to fully enforce all laws as written.
10. Police Pursuits- Police chases of suspects immediately after a crime has been committed.
11. Clearance Rate- The proportion of open crime cases that are solved through the arrest of a suspect by police.
12. Police Corruption- Illegal acts or omissions of acts by police officers who, by virtue of their official position, receive (or intend to receive) any gain for themselves or others.
13. Nonfeasance- A form of police corruption involving failure to perform a legal duty.
14. Misfeasance- A form of police corruption involving failure to perform a legal duty in a proper manner.
15. Malfeasance- A form of police corruption involving commission of an illegal act.
16. Deviant Police Subculture Hypothesis- The view that some police departments have groups of officers who place loyalty to each other above obedience to the law.
17. Deadly Force- The use of lethal force by police against a suspect.
18. “Fleeing felon” Rule- The now obsolete common-law rule that police can use deadly force against any felon who flees the scene of a crime.
19. Police Brutality- Use of excessive physical force by police in carrying out their duties.
Questions for Review
1. What is meant by selective enforcement?
1. What is meant by selective enforcement?
- An unwritten policy in which police are not required to fully enforce all laws as written.
2. Why is it difficult to formulate a clear policy to guide police decision making?
2. Why is it difficult to formulate a clear policy to guide police decision making?
- It is difficult to balance the competing goals of protecting the community and avoiding undue interference in the lives of citizens.
3. What are the key findings of research on police cynicism?
3. What are the key findings of research on police cynicism?
- Police officers often are viewed as cynical, that is as believing that human conduct is motivated entirely by self-interest.
4. What factors were identified by skolnick as leading to the development of police attitudes?
4. What factors were identified by skolnick as leading to the development of police attitudes?
- It appears from these and other studies that police officers acquire their attitudes from their work environment and that people who choose a police career do not differ from the general population in personality characteristics.
5.Why has the predisposition hypothesis been discredited as an explanation of the formation of the police personality?
5.Why has the predisposition hypothesis been discredited as an explanation of the formation of the police personality?
- Other personality screening devices have been unable to predict the on-the-job success of police applicants.
6. In what way does college education influence authoritarianism in police officers?
6. In what way does college education influence authoritarianism in police officers?
- Authoritarianism attitudes are more likely to be found in officers without a college education who have been on the job a long time. Officers with less education have also been found to be more dogmatic than those with higher levels of education.
7.How do police officers attitudes affect their performance?
7.How do police officers attitudes affect their performance?
- Current research on police attitudes toward the public indicates that citizens negative sentiment toward them but that they remain dedicated to the job.
8.What are the three forms of police corruption? Give an example of each.
8.What are the three forms of police corruption? Give an example of each.
- Nonfeasance (failure to perform a legal duty), misfeasance (failure to perform a legal duty in a proper manner), and malfeasance (commission of an illegal act.)
9.What are the three main types of explanations of police corruption?
9.What are the three main types of explanations of police corruption?
- Some explanations of police corruption focus on individual “rotten apples.” Whereas other focus on the “barrel”- the whole department. Most experts reject individual explanations and suggest that there is a deviant police subculture or that corruption results from secrecy within departments
10. What can be done to prevent police corruption?
10. What can be done to prevent police corruption?
- Prevention of corruption depends on careful identification of its causes.
11. What numerical measure is the best indicator of police performance in crime control?
- The National center for Health Statistics collects information on “deaths by legal intervention.”
12. What can be done to relieve police of non-criminal tasks so that they can devote more time to crime control?
- The frequency with which deadly
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