Policing and Criminal Justice

CJ 220Chapter 2

Policing and Community Justice 2012 Todd R. Clear, John R. Hamilton, Jr. and Eric Cadora

2012 Todd R. Clear, John R. Hamilton, Jr. and Eric Cadora

IntroductionThe most obvious way police serve as exemplars of community justice is through the community-oriented policing movement that began in the 1980s and 1990sCommunity justice as a concept owes much of its momentum to the success of community policing 2012 Todd R. Clear, John R. Hamilton, Jr. and Eric Cadora


IntroductionCommunity policing is both a comprehensive strategy of policing and a philosophy of law enforcementCommunity justice, on the other hand is a strategy and a philosophy of criminal justice 2012 Todd R. Clear, John R. Hamilton, Jr. and Eric Cadora


IntroductionThe movement to community policing represents an attempt to bring police closer to the public they serveDevelops relationships to better understand the needs of the community and better address local problemsThe community policing movement is not the same as the community justice movement 2012 Todd R. Clear, John R. Hamilton, Jr. and Eric Cadora


A Brief History of Community PolicingDuring the Political Era of policing, the police were a tool of those in power and oppressive to those who opposed the status quoThe Reform Era of policing, which began in the 1920s, worked to professionalize the police, separate them from the political influence, and create a professional, military-like administration system Police also became more impersonal and, as a result, became more distant from the public 2012 Todd R. Clear, John R. Hamilton, Jr. and Eric Cadora


A Brief History of Community PolicingTechnology increased the rift between officers and the communityAutomobiles decreased footbeatTelephone and Radios made it easy for the public to quickly and easily contact the police for assistanceComputers allowed statistics to be efficiently gathered which led to inferior, number-driven policingInstead of listening to citizens concerns, officers and managers became statistics-driven



A Brief History of Community PolicingThe 1960s became a time of friction between the community and police because of the mishandling of civil rights and anti-war protests 2012 Todd R. Clear, John R. Hamilton, Jr. and Eric Cadora


Police and the Community: A Dual Track RationaleThe two aims of community-oriented policing are:Better community relationsBetter crime preventionBetter community relations is necessary because the police rely on the public in order to do their job, but there are several impediments to good community relations:Citizens with the advantaged social class tend to see the police in a positive lightThose who have significant social disadvantage do not have the same positive view 2012 Todd R. Clear, John R. Hamilton, Jr. and Eric Cadora


Police and the CommunityThe challenge isHow to obtain and maintain positive interaction with citizens who may be predisposed to be suspicious of the policePolice cultural attitudes which also interfere with the capacity for a positive relationshipBetter crime prevention relies on community-based practiceIf the policing approach is simply to be more active in response to crime more investigations and more arrests the police will always be playing catch-upIf a proactive approach is taken, there are more possibilities for public safety results 2012 Todd R. Clear, John R. Hamilton, Jr. and Eric Cadora


The Community Policing Relations Rationale for Community PolicingPolice work faces a series of built-in problems that tends to frustrate the capacity of the police to do their jobs wellSome of this is due to the nature of the problem as well as the police themselves 2012 Todd R. Clear, John R. Hamilton, Jr. and Eric Cadora


The Police: Essential Services Ensnared in QuandaryAlthough we see police around us routinely, we encounter them only when our lives are not routineThe most important services provided by the police usually take place in the context of somebody being in trouble or some sort of crisisThis makes it quite natural to expect the police to arrive with special powers to intercede



The Police: Essential Services Ensnared in QuandaryThe powers of the police to act are carefully circumscribed by democratic law and tradition, so the immediacy of the predicament is always tempered by the limitations placed on police authority This often leads to disappointment, because the police will often feel constrained in the actions they can take and citizens will often fail to grasp those constraints 2012 Todd R. Clear, John R. Hamilton, Jr. and Eric Cadora


The Police: Essential Services Ensnared in QuandaryIn police-citizen encounters, the reverse can also occurA police officer may interpret the facts of a situation as calling for serious or even urgent action, while the citizen feels intensely that his/her rights ought to constrain the actions taken by policeOften makes the police feel they are in a damned-if-I-do and damned-if-I-dont bind 2012 Todd R. Clear, John R. Hamilton, Jr. and Eric Cadora


The Police: Essential Services Ensnared in QuandaryA major defining characteristic for how people feel about the police can be race and agePeople of color have lower opinions of the police than do whitesYoung people have lower opinions than do older people, regardless of raceEven with these problems, police consistently receive a more positive performance appraisal than do other sectors of the criminal justice system 2012 Todd R. Clear, John R. Hamilton, Jr. and Eric Cadora


Police as a Symbol of Modern CultureThe police represent social control, and they stand for social orderMany see the police as a symbol of safe and secure societyThose who hold the symbolic vision of the police as the agency of social control typically support a strong police presence and object to civil liberties views of the police that emphasize citizens rightsWhen police are viewed this way, it is easy to think of society as composed of good guys and bad guys the police come from the former group and are asked to control the latter group 2012 Todd R. Clear, John R. Hamilton, Jr. and Eric Cadora


Police as a Symbol of Modern CultureTo those who see the police as symbols of power, the problem is not public safety but the way to put meaningful reins on that powerBecause the most disadvantaged in our society are also the most likely to encounter police power used against them, this concern often arises along the lines of social class and social status 2012 Todd R. Clear, John R. Hamilton, Jr. and Eric Cadora


Police as a Symbol of Modern CultureThe United States is today a residentially segregated societyThose who live in the residential areas occupied by dominant majorities see the police far more positively than those who live in poor, minority areas 2012 Todd R. Clear, John R. Hamilton, Jr. and Eric Cadora


Police as a Symbol of Modern CultureThus, part of what determines the way citizens react to the police is how the police define citizenryWhen police see citizens as potential problems, those citizens respond by seeing the police as potentially unwelcome power in their livesWhen police see citizens as residents, those residents will see the police as a support system 2012 Todd R. Clear, John R. Hamilton, Jr. and Eric Cadora


Police as a Function of the Legal SystemThe police are first and foremost the initial stage of the criminal justice systemPolice work has to be assessed on three different criteriaHow do police actions affect citizen willingness to report crimes?How do these actions encourage citizen cooperation with criminal investigations?How effective are these strategies in identifying suspects accurately? 2012 Todd R. Clear, John R. Hamilton, Jr. and Eric Cadora


Police as a Symbol of Modern CultureStudies of police-citizen relations find that citizens who have had negative experiences with the police often become reluctant to assist the police in their investigations or report crimes to the police in the first place even when they are victims 2012 Todd R. Clear, John R. Hamilton, Jr. and Eric Cadora


Police as a Symbol of Modern CultureFor police, this lack of cooperation has two sidesIt is frustrating, because the police point of view is that they are only trying to protect the law-abiding citizens from the bad guys and the lack of cooperation makes the work that much harderIt is easy for police to view all the residents who express suspicion as somehow being aligned with the bad elementAfter a while, some police can develop an attitude toward these areas of since they dont care, why should I?To protect themselves from an all-too-unfriendly public, police adopt a first-choice style of indifference 2012 Todd R. Clear, John R. Hamilton, Jr. and Eric Cadora


Police as a Function of Power in a SocietyAuthority is the legitimate capacity to require compliance imbued in a role by law, standards, or customIt is housed in the idea that some consensus of opinion exists that the person occupying a certain role ought to have a level of obedience to his or her directives, so long as they flow from legitimate exercise of duties within that roleSo long as the person with authority is acting consistent with the expectations of the role, we expect voluntary compliance with the directives that emanate from the legitimate performance of that role 2012 Todd R. Clear, John R. Hamilton, Jr. and Eric Cadora


Police as a Function of Power in a SocietyPower, on the other hand, is the raw ability to compel compliance, regardless of a persons willingness to complyWhen a person has power with regard to certain actions, it means that person can make others do what is wanted through some implied or actual coercive capacityAuthority is a far more efficient way of getting a person to do something, since it works without any direct threatPower, by contrast, requires implied or demonstrated threat 2012 Todd R. Clear, John R. Hamilton, Jr. and Eric Cadora


Police as a Function of Power in a SocietyAuthority, to work, is reliant on voluntary cooperation, whereas power can be exerted regardless of another persons willingness to complyIn a very real sense, authority is given by the person exercising it to the person who has decided to comply, while power is taken by the person giving ordersAuthority exists because people voluntarily accept the dictates of the police 2012 Todd R. Clear, John R. Hamilton, Jr. and Eric Cadora


Police as a Function of Power in a SocietySome may say that the more a person turns to power as the way to compel others compliance, the less everyone would expect that person to have (or eventually obtain) authorityThis is one reason why the police culture is such an important force in the work world of the policePolice learn to approach the public with distrust and suspicion, expect the public will not understand the job of policing, and view everyone as a potential problemThis cynical stance also reappears as a viewpoint of other elements of the CJ system 2012 Todd R. Clear, John R. Hamilton, Jr. and Eric Cadora


Police as a Function of Power in a SocietyThree points about the police cultureDevelops in response to the pressures of the job and the traditions of the departmentNot uniform across all departments and all divisions within a departmentNot solely adverse in its effects 2012 Todd R. Clear, John R. Hamilton, Jr. and Eric Cadora


Police as a Function of Power in a SocietyBecause the police culture is typically cynical in its orientation, it tends to discount the value of authority and exalt the importance of powerIt is common for the police to confuse the two, seeking an increase in formal power because of the weak potency of their authorityMore important, the dominant police culture puts the police office at odds with the citizen 2012 Todd R. Clear, John R. Hamilton, Jr. and Eric Cadora


Police as a Function of Power in a SocietyTwo strong values in the police cultureControl the ability of the officer to ensure that responsibilities he or she are assigned are carried out in an orderly and effective mannerDominion belief of the officer that he or she has a person ownership in the area to which they are assigned 2012 Todd R. Clear, John R. Hamilton, Jr. and Eric Cadora


Police as a Function of Power in a SocietyBoth can be perceived negatively by citizens but positively by police officersIt might be possible to use these police culture values in a positive manner to help a community 2012 Todd R. Clear, John R. Hamilton, Jr. and Eric Cadora


Police as a Function of Power in a SocietyProblem-Based Learning is a method of training that can help officers better face the unstructured problems they encounter on the jobEncourages the development and use of critical thinking skills Not currently prominent in police training academies but it appears to be gaining respect 2012 Todd R. Clear, John R. Hamilton, Jr. and Eric Cadora


The Criminal Justice Rationale for Community PolicingStudies have shown that without good community police relations, the police face extreme difficulties in carrying out their workIn the traditional model of policing, police see themselves as professional crime fighters concerned with the problem of serious feloniesWith regard to citizens, police are expected to be impersonal and detachedWith regard to crime, police are reactive and investigative, responding to criminal events based on their seriousness and building evidence for criminal cases after the crimes have been reported 2012 Todd R. Clear, John R. Hamilton, Jr. and Eric Cadora


The Criminal Justice Rationale for Community PolicingIn the late 1960s a series of studies began which cast doubt on the effectiveness of command policingKansas City Preventive Patrol studyResponse time analysis studyOne person vs. two person car studies 2012 Todd R. Clear, John R. Hamilton, Jr. and Eric Cadora


Community PolicingRobert Trojanowicz seen as father of this style of policingHe argued that community policing is a full-service policing model where the same officer regularly patrols the same area and forms partnerships with residents to solve problemsPolice scholars have identified three different types of community policingCommunity-building strategies strengthen community capacityProblem-oriented strategies deals with causes of crimeBroken windows strategies focus on minor crime and physical disorder 2012 Todd R. Clear, John R. Hamilton, Jr. and Eric Cadora


Community PolicingCommunity building strategiesSome community building tactics have proven to be of little value (e.g., neighborhood watch and neighborhood meetings) and some have more durable impact (e.g., victim-assistance programs, Police Athletic Leagues) 2012 Todd R. Clear, John R. Hamilton, Jr. and Eric Cadora


Community PolicingEach of these methods are theorized to improve crime-prevention effectiveness in three waysThe effect of increased day-to-day interaction between community residents and beat officers is thought to promote community-based intelligenceThe more police and community talk the more information is shared about crime and criminals in the areaThe same contacts are thought to provide another way to reduce crime when the flow of information is reversedThe belief that police legitimacy within the neighborhood is crucial to effective crime prevention 2012 Todd R. Clear, John R. Hamilton, Jr. and Eric Cadora


Community PolicingWhat these strategies have in common is their attempt to improve some aspect of community life by increasing interaction among residents or creating a standing relationship between community and policeBecause of some inherent obstacles, the communities most in need of assistance are also the least able to take advantage of this particular approach 2012 Todd R. Clear, John R. Hamilton, Jr. and Eric Cadora


Community PolicingProblem-oriented strategiesDeveloped by Herman GoldsteinBased on the idea that crime emanates from particular, persistent circumstances that can be identified, documented, and then overcome through systematic actionOne successful strategy has been hot-spots policingProblem-solving methods seek policing tactics that are intelligence based 2012 Todd R. Clear, John R. Hamilton, Jr. and Eric Cadora


Community PolicingCommunity building strategies (cont.)Medical Model of PolicingSix types of neighborhoods:Intregral have high levels of prideParochial homogenous values and culturesDiffuse much in common, but rarely interactStepping-stone starter homesTransitory much movement in and out of neighborhoodAnomic residents accepted criminal victimization as a way of life 2012 Todd R. Clear, John R. Hamilton, Jr. and Eric Cadora


Community PolicingIn the medical model, the officer is charged with learning about the neighborhood just like a physician would learn about a patientSome terminology is the same as in the medical professionIntensive carePreventive medicineHealth educationBedside mannerPhysician Heal ThyselfIncludes traditional methods when necessary but also interactive approaches that address long-term problem solving



Community PolicingCompStat in New YorkS.A.R.A. model of problem solvingScanningAnalysisResponseAssessmentIntelligence policing most effective when used in conjunction with community partnerships 2012 Todd R. Clear, John R. Hamilton, Jr. and Eric Cadora


Community PolicingBroken windows strategiesBecause the broken windows thesis holds that crime results from public disorder, the solution to crime is to use the police to create orderOften the power of arrest is used to enforce public order, especially by requiring that these people abide by public expectations for conductUse of zero tolerance policing practices are often controversial 2012 Todd R. Clear, John R. Hamilton, Jr. and Eric Cadora


Community Policing and Community JusticeCommunity policing is not the same as community justiceThe COP movement in policing is, for the most part, particular to the traditional functions of law enforcement: investigation and arrestCOP is not a panacea but it has been an improvement over the traditional methods of providing police servicesIt has also raised a series of questions about the role and functions of police in modern society and the capacity of the police to accomplish those functions alone 2012 Todd R. Clear, John R. Hamilton, Jr. and Eric Cadora


Community Policing and Community JusticeBecause of their basic training, officers often become arbitratorsOften this provides a short term solution to the issue at hand, but the solution may not be lastingArbitration involves a person in authority listening to both sides and then making a decision that will be implemented



Community Policing and Community JusticeMediation provides an opportunity for both sides to solve their own problem with the help of a facilitatorMany police departments are training officers in mediation techniquesSome police departments have also adopted mediation as a way to solve community complaints 2012 Todd R. Clear, John R. Hamilton, Jr. and Eric Cadora


Community Policing and Community JusticeOfficers who have been trained in mediation have reported that the skills learned have made them better officersCommunity members who participate in mediation can learn to better understand divergent viewpoints and learn to use positive communication skills to address those differences 2012 Todd R. Clear, John R. Hamilton, Jr. and Eric Cadora


Policing and Criminal Justice

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