The Police: Organization, Role and Function

Chapter 6

The Police Organization Independent organizations

No two exactly alike

Hierarchical with a chain of command Problems are not uncommon, nor are they

unique to policing agencies Personnel changes Internal reorganization

Bloomington Police Department Organization Chart

The Police OrganizationThe time-in-rank system

Requires that before moving up the administrative ladder, an officer must spend a certain amount of time in the next lowest rank

Prohibits departments from allowing officers to skip ranks

Sometimes prevents them from hiring an officer from another department and awarding him/her a higher rank Private sector manager vs. police sergeant

The Police RoleReal police work

Minor disturbances Domestics Thefts

Service calls Parking complaint Noise complaint

Administrative duties Delivering trustee mail Collecting $$ from lots

Patrol

Major Purpose

Patrol Function

Improving Patrol

The Major Purpose of PatrolUnlike what you see on tv, patrol officers do

not spend their days issuing arrest warrants, instead they spend their days in their cars, in their beats handling calls for service. Major Purposes of Patrol:

Deterring crime through police presence Aiding individuals who cannot help themselves Facilitating the movement of traffic and people Maintaining public order Create a feeling of security in the community Identify and apprehend law violators

The Patrol FunctionPatrol officers are the most highly

visible components of the entire criminal justice system Patrol activities and objectives

Deter crime Crime Fighting Respond quickly to emergencies

While police patrol has many objectives, most police experts agree that the majority of police patrol efforts are devoted to Order Maintenance

The Patrol FunctionProcedural justice

Concern with making decisions that are arrived at through procedures viewed as fair

Use of technology Technologies such as

CompStat to help guide patrol efforts

Improving PatrolProactive policing

An aggressive law enforcement style in which patrol officers take the initiative against crime instead of waiting for criminal acts to occur

Broken windows model The role of police as maintainers of

community order and safety

Rapid response Improving police response time

Investigations

Investigative Functions

What Detectives Do

The Investigation Function Investigative work is less visible than

patrol work Work closely with patrol officers to

provide an immediate investigative response to crimes and incidents Many police departments maintain separate

units, squads, or divisions of detectives who investigate crimes ranging from vice to homicides

How Do Detectives Detect?Specific focus

Interview witnesses, gather evidence, record events, and collect facts

General coverage Canvass the neighborhood and makes

observations, conduct interviews with friends/family/associates, contact others for information regarding victims/suspects, construct victim/suspect time lines to outline their whereabouts

How Do Detectives Detect? Informative data gathering

Use technology to collect records of cell phones, computer hard drives, notes, and other information

Investigative Functions

The Investigation FunctionSting Operations

Organized groups of detectives who deceive criminals into openly committing illegal acts, or conspiring to engage in criminal activity

The Investigative FunctionUndercover Work

Pose as criminals or as victims Considered a necessary element of police

work, although it can prove dangerous for the officer

May pose psychological problems for the officer

The Investigation FunctionEvaluating Investigations

Creates considerable paperwork and is relatively inefficient in clearing cases

Improving Investigations Patrol officers should have greater

responsibility at the scene Specialized units can bring expertise Collection of physical evidence is

important

Community Policing

Community Policing

Foot Patrol

Key Components

Challenges

Community PolicingCommunity Policing

Consists of a return to an earlier style of policing in which officers on the beat had an intimate contact with the people they served

Can be a specific program or a philosophy

Foot patrol To form a bond with the community residents by

acquainting them with the individual officers who patrolled their neighborhood.

Community Policing Important because it promotes

interaction between officers and citizens Gives officers the time to meet with local

residents to talk about crime in the neighborhood and to use personal initiative to solve problems

Key components: Community partnerships Organizational transformation Problem solving

The Challenges of Community Policing Defining communityDefining rolesChanging supervisor attitudesReorienting police valuesRevising trainingReorienting recruitmentReaching out to every community

Problem Oriented Policing

What is it

Bait Car Video

Displacement

Problem Oriented Policing A style of police management that

stresses proactive problem solving instead of reactive crime fighting Requires police agencies to identify

particular long-term community problems and to develop strategies to eliminate them Supported by the fact that a great deal of

urban crime is concentrated in a few hot spots

Video: Bait Cars

How is the program discussed in the video a good example of Problem Oriented Policing?

Would you advocate the use of this type of technology in your community? Why or why not?

Video: Discussion Questions

Criminal Acts, Criminal PlacesCombating auto theft

Use of technology to reduce car thefts

Reducing violence Operation Ceasefire

Formed to reduce youth homicide and youth firearms violence in Boston

DisplacementUnintended consequences of Problem

Oriented Policing’s “Targeting” Targeting can reduce crime in one area… But can also move crime to another area

Called Displacement: Displacement is when criminals move from

an area targeted for increased police presence to another that is less well protected.

Intelligence-Led Policing

What is it

The processes

Intelligence-Led Policing The collection and analysis of information to

generate an “intelligence end product” designed to inform police decision making at both the tactical and the strategic level

Intelligence-Led PolicingRelies heavily on:

Confidential informants Offender interviews Careful analysis of crime reports and calls

for service Suspect surveillance Community sources of information

Intelligence and the Intelligence ProcessTactical Intelligence

Gaining or developing information related to threats of terrorism or crime and using this information to apprehend offenders, harden targets, and use strategies that will eliminate or mitigate the threat

Strategic Intelligence Information about the changing nature of

certain problems and threats for the purpose of developing response strategies and reallocating resources

Intelligence-Led PolicingFusion Centers

Support for a range of law enforcement activities

Help for major incident operations and support for units charged with interdiction and criminal investigations

Provide the means for community input, often through “tip lines”

Assistance to law enforcement executives

Support / Productivity

Support Functions

Improving Productivity

Dispatch Training Citizen Police

Interactions Forensics Planners

Personnel Service Internal Affairs

Division Administration

and Control of Budgets

Maintenance and Dissemination of Information

Police Support Functions

Multiple Tasking Special

AssignmentsDifferential

Police Responses

Consolidation Informal

Arrangements SharingPoolingContracting Service Districts Civilian

Employees

Improving Police Productivity

Kansas City Patrol Experiment

Overview

The Design

The Experiment

Lessons Learned

Overview The Kansas City preventive patrol experiment

A landmark experiment carried out between 1972 and 1973 by the Kansas City Missouri Police Department

Designed to test the assumption that the presence (or potential presence) of police officers in marked cars reduced the likelihood of a crime being committed.

It was the first study to demonstrate that research into the effectiveness of different policing styles could be carried out responsibly and safely.

The goal of the Kansas City Patrol Study was to evaluate the effectiveness of different patrol models

The Design The experiment was designed to answer the

following questions: Do citizens notice changes in the level of patrol? Do different levels of visible police patrol affect

recorded crime or the outcome of victim surveys? Would citizen fear of crime and change their

behaviors as a result of differing patrol levels? Would the degree of satisfaction with police

change?

The Experiment The experiment took three different police beats in

Kansas City, and varied patrol routine in them. The first group received no routine patrols, instead the

police responded only to calls from residents. The second group had the normal level of patrols. The third had two to three times as many patrols.

Victim surveys, reported crime rates, arrest data, a survey of local businesses, attitudinal surveys, and trained observers who monitored police-citizen interaction were used to gather data.

These were taken before the start of the experiment (September 1972), and after (October 1973), giving 'before' and 'after' conditions for comparison.

The Results The principal findings of the Kansas City Patrol Study:

There is little evidence to suggest that increased police patrol deters crime. Citizens did not notice the difference in the change of patrols. Increasing or decreasing the level of patrol had no significant

effect on resident and commercial burglaries, auto thefts, larcenies involving auto accessories, robberies, or vandalism–crimes.

The rate at which crimes were reported did not differ significantly across the experimental beats.

Citizen reported fear of crime was not affected by different levels of patrol.

Citizen satisfaction with police did not vary.