CJ - Chapter 6: Preventing Crime PDF

# Chapter 6: Preventing Crime * The ability of law enforcement (L/E) to prevent crimes relies in part on their ability to predict crime: * Determine when and where crimes will occur * Allocate resources accordingly * Crime mapping as with Compstat helps * **Compstat** - a crime analys...

# Chapter 6: Preventing Crime * The ability of law enforcement (L/E) to prevent crimes relies in part on their ability to predict crime: * Determine when and where crimes will occur * Allocate resources accordingly * Crime mapping as with Compstat helps * **Compstat** - a crime analysis and police management process, built on "crime mapping" that was developed by the NYPD in the mid-1990s * In 1994, NYPD Police Commissioner William Bratton implemented Compstat, which through management statistics and accountability, successfully drove down crime to record low levels. ## Preserving the Peace * L/E officers do a number of activities to help ensure domestic peace and tranquility. * **Quality of Life Offenses** - are a minor violation of the law (a "petty crime") that demoralizes community residents and businesses. * These offenses create physical disorder that reflects social decay (panhandling, prostitution, vandalism). ## Providing Services * About 70% of the millions of daily 9-1-1 calls are directed to the police * Police handle emergency and non-emergency calls: * Barking dogs * Loud music * Lost/found items * Minor accidents * Medical emergencies * Neighbor disputes ## Operational Strategies * There are 5 core operational strategies: 1) Preventive Patrol 2) Routine Incident Response 3) Emergency Response 4) Criminal Investigation 5) Problem solving * Additionally, there are Support Services such as dispatch, training, personnel, property/evidence room, and record keeping. * Ancillary Services keep agencies running. ## Preventive Patrol * This is the dominant policing strategy, which places uniformed officers on the street and among the public. * Patrol is the backbone of police work. * Patrol consumes most of the resources of local and state level agencies. ## Emergency Responses * Emergency responses are needed for crimes in progress, serious injuries, natural disasters, and other situations in which human lives may be in jeopardy. ## Criminal Investigations * Criminal investigations tend to dominate media attention but actually constitute a relatively small proportion of police work. * Discovering, collecting, preparing, identifying, and presenting evidence is done to determine what happened and who is responsible. ## First Responding Officers * First responding officers: 1) Provide assistance to the injured and try to capture suspects 2) Secure the crime scene 3) Conduct the preliminary investigation ## First Officer at Scene * **Rule 1:** Make sure the scene is safe. * **Crime scene:** Any place where evidence may be located and gathered to help explain events. ## ADAPT * **A:** Assess the crime scene - determine the nature of the crime and assist the injured; *saving lives takes priority over destruction of evidence* * **D:** Detain the witness * **A:** Arrest the perpetrator, if possible * **P:** Protect the crime scene from destruction/addition of evidence * **T:** Take notes ## Managing * Police management is the administrative activities of controlling, directing, and coordinating police personnel, resources, and activities. ## Historical Eras in American Policing * **4 eras of policing:** 1. **Political** - 1840-1930 2. **Reform** - 1930-1970 3. **Community Policing Era** - 1970s-today 4. **New Era** - 2001-today (9/11/2001-game changer) * **Political:** Close ties between police and public officials (corruption); officials controlled police * **Reform:** Crime fighting era ## Community * Community - relationship w/ community; police and community are partners * **New Era:** Community policing + fighting terrorism ## 3 Basic Policing Styles * **3 basic policing styles:** * Watchman * Legalistic * Service ## Watchman Style * **Watchman Style:** 1) Maintaining order w/ (informal) police intervention 2) Controlling illegal and disruptive behavior 3) Roughing up disruptive people at times 4) Considerable use of discretion * Watchman style is used in areas of a lot of crime. ## Legalistic * Legalistic: 1) Police are committed to enforcing the letter of the law 2) Police have a "laisser-faire" or "hands-off" approach on behaviors that may be bothersome or disruptive but are not illegal. ## Service * **Service Style:** * Strive to meet community needs: 1) Concerned w/ helping rather than strictly enforcing the laws 2) More likely to supplement law enforcement activities w/ community resources 3) Most popular today in the US ## Police Subculture * **Police Subculture:** A particular set of values, beliefs, and acceptable forms of behavior characteristic of American police * **Socialization** into the police subculture begins w/ recruit training and continues thereafter. * **Subculture is characterized by:** * "Us vs. them" * "No one understands our jobs" * "The courts have tied our hands" * General police cynicism * **The focus is on crime fighting, not community needs.** ## Terrorism's Impact on Policing * The 9/11/01 attacks changed the role of police departments and more resources went into terrorism. * **Boundaryless Policing:** Sharing information across jurisdiction, crucial to anti-terrorism planning. * **Fusion Centers:** Pool & analyze information from various agencies at all levels, looking for patterns & actionable intelligence. * **More than 70 centers in 37 states.** ## Discretion * **Discretion:** Warning; choices based on circumstances. ## Factors that Influence Police Discretion * **Factors that influence police discretion:** 1) Officer's background (and personal values) 2) Suspect's characteristics, priors, attitude 3) Department policy * **Ethics training is integrated into most basic training programs.** * **Accreditation:** A step toward greater professionalism. * Accreditation is to improve L/E service by creating a national body of standards. ## Opportunities for Women and Minorities * Opportunities for women and minorities in policing are expanding. * Female officers feel strain and isolation, caused by family role & parenting, under-utilization, and uncooperative attitudes. ## The Purpose of Policing * **The Purpose of Policing:** 1) Enforcing the laws 2) Investigate crimes & apprehend offenders 3) Prevent crime 4) Keep the peace 5) Provide the community with enforcement-related services ## Enforcing/Supporting the Law * **Only about 10-20% of all calls to the police require a law enforcement response** * Police cannot enforce all of the laws; resources are limited. * Law enforcement priorities are significantly affected by: 1) Community needs 2) Individual (police discretion) * Police are expected to support/follow the laws they enforce. ## Apprehending Offenders * Offenders may be apprehended: 1) While committing a crime 2) Shortly after committing a crime 3) After an extensive investigation ## Preventing Crime * Crime prevention is the anticipation, recognition and appraisal (assessment) of a crime risk and the initiation of action to eliminate or reduce crime. * **Crime prevention is proactive.** * It aims to: 1) Reduce crime and criminal opportunities 2) Lower the rewards of crime 3) Lessen the fear of crime ## Reactive vs. Proactive Policing * **Reactive:** Reacting to a problem after it arises * **Proactive:** Preventing problems before they arise