1
The Criminal Justice
System
TRAYVON MARTIN CASE
• In July 2013, George Zimmerman was found not guilty on the charge of seconddegree murder and the lesser alternative charge of manslaughter in the death of
Trayvon Martin. The verdict divided the nation along racial and gender lines,
with criticisms that the police didn’t care about the death of a young African
American boy. There were counterclaims that pressure from civil rights activists
led to murder charges against a young man merely defending himself.
• Was justice achieved in the Zimmerman case?
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
• LO1 – Name the goals of the criminal justice system
• LO2 – Identify the different responsibilities of federal and state
criminal justice operations.
• LO3 – Analyze criminal justice from a systems perspective.
• LO4 – Identify the authority and relationships of the main criminal
justice agencies, and list the steps in the decision-making
process for criminal cases.
• LO5 – Explain the criminal justice “wedding cake” concept as well
as the due process and crime control models.
• LO6 – Name the possible causes of racial disparities in criminal justice.
LEGISLATURES AND CRIME
• Crimes are actions that violate laws defining socially harmful behaviors that will
be subject to government power to impose punishment.
• Mala in se – offenses that society has determined are wrong by their very nature, and are
so harmful, they must be punished.
• Ex: rape, murder
• Mala prohibita – crimes that are prohibited by the government, not because they are
necessarily wrong in themselves
• Ex: gambling, prostitution, drug use
GOALS OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE
• Doing justice
• Ensure fairness and equity in the treatment of people
• Controlling crime
• Control crime by arresting, prosecuting, convicting, and punishing those who disobey the
law
• Preventing crime
• Deterrent effect of the actions of police, courts, and corrections
ADVANCING GOALS OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE
John Moore/Staff/Getty Images
• Evidence-Based
Practices – policies
developed through
research that
demonstrates most
useful and cost-effective
approaches
CRIMINAL JUSTICE IN A FEDERAL SYSTEM
• Federalism
• Power divided between a central (national) government and regional (state) government
• No single level of government is solely responsible for administration of criminal justice
• Vast majority of crimes are defined by state laws rather than federal law
EXPANSION OF FEDERAL INVOLVEMENT
• Since 1960s, federal government has expanded its
role in crime policy that has traditionally been
responsibility of state and local government
• Many crimes span state borders, making the
federal government better at criminal investigations
that cross state lines
EXPANSION OF FEDERAL INVOLVEMENT
• Most significant expansion was creation of Department of Homeland Security
(DHS) through consolidation of:
• Border security
• Intelligence
• Emergency-response agencies
• Transportation Security Administration (TSA) created within DHS to assume
responsibility for protecting travelers and interstate commerce
EXPANSION OF FEDERAL INVOLVEMENT
QUESTION FOR DISCUSSION
• Under California’s Compassionate Use Act (CUA), limited marijuana use if
permitted for medicinal purposes. Physicians may prescribe medical marijuana
for serious medical conditions. The Act does not allow citizens to grown their
own, and the DEA seized and destroyed plants gown by Raisch. He appealed
the seizures as being unconstitutional. The Supreme Court in Gonzales v.
Raisch (2005) endorsed Congress’ Commerce Clause authority to criminalize
local cultivation.
• If pubic opinion polls indicate that an overwhelming majority of citizens feel this
should not be a federal government issue, but should be a state issue, what are
the arguments for and against continued federal involvement?
CRIMINAL JUSTICE AS A SOCIAL SYSTEM
• System
• Interdependent parts whose
actions are directed towards
goals and influenced by their
environment
• Subsystems of police, courts,
and corrections has its own
goals and needs but are
interdependent on each
other
CRIMINAL JUSTICE AS A SOCIAL SYSTEM
• Exchange
• Mutual transfer of resources among individual actors who have goals that cannot be
accomplished alone
• Each needs to gain cooperation and assistance of others
• Plea bargain – defendant’s plea of guilty in exchange for receiving consideration in
charges or sentence
CRIMINAL JUSTICE AS A SOCIAL SYSTEM
CHARACTERISTICS OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM
• Discretion
• Authority to make decisions using one’s own judgment
• Resource Dependence
• Dependence on other agencies for funding (politicians, legislators, voters, media)
• Sequential Tasks
• Decisions occur in a specific, sequential order
• Filtering
• Screening process that gradually exits people out of the system
CHARACTERISTICS OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM
OPERATIONS OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE AGENCIES
• Three major components
1. Police
2. Courts
3. Corrections
POLICE
• Four Major Duties
1. Keeping the peace
2. Apprehending violators and
combating crime
3. Preventing crime
4. Providing social services
COURTS
• Dual court system which consists of a separate judicial system for each state as
well as one for the national (federal) system and responsible for:
• adjudication-determining whether or not a defendant is guilty,
• ensuring fair procedures,
• and imposition of appropriate sentences
CORRECTIONS
• Nearly 7 million adults (1 of
every 35) are under supervision
of state and federal corrections
systems
• Corrections is equated with
prisons, but only 30% of
convicted offenders are in
prisons and jails
• 70% are supervised in
community through probation
and parole
FLOW OF DECISION MAKING IN THE CRIMINAL
JUSTICE SYSTEM
• Police
• Investigation
• Arrest
• Booking
• Prosecution
•
•
•
•
Charging
Initial appearance
Preliminary hearing/Grand jury
Indictment/Information
• Courts
•
•
•
•
Arraignment
Trial
Sentencing
Appeal
• Corrections
• Jail/prison
• Release
CRIMINAL JUSTICE WEDDING CAKE
• Layer 1
• Celebrated, highly unusual cases that receive much public attention
• Layer 2
• Felonies that are considered serious by officials
• Layer 3
• Felonies that are considered less important than those in Layer 2
• Layer 4
• Misdemeanors. About 90% of all cases fall into this category
CRIMINAL JUSTICE WEDDING CAKE
CRIME CONTROL VERSUS DUE PROCESS
• Herbert Packer’s (1968) developed two competing models of the administration
of criminal justice, which provide opposing ways of looking at goals and
procedures of criminal justice system
• Crime control model
• Due process model
CRIME CONTROL VERSUS DUE PROCESS
CRIME CONTROL MODEL
• Assumes every effort must be made to repress crime
• Emphasizes efficiency, speed and finality
• The most important goal of the criminal justice system is controlling crime
• Much like an assembly line, police and prosecutors decide early on who is likely
to be convicted, and if a person is unlikely to be convicted, person exits from
system
• Nearly all cases end in plea bargaining
DUE PROCESS MODEL
• Considered to be an obstacle course
• Assumes freedom is most important
• Stresses adversarial process, rights of defendants, and formal decision-making
procedures
• Forcing state to prove its case protects citizens from wrongful convictions
CRIME AND JUSTICE IN A MULTICULTURAL
SOCIETY
• Critics of criminal justice system argue equal treatment is hampered by
discretionary decisions and other factors that produce racial discrimination and
disparity
• Disparity – difference between groups that may either be explained by legitimate factors
or indicate discrimination
• Discrimination – occurs when groups are differentially treated without regard to their
behavior or qualifications
CRIME AND JUSTICE IN A MULTICULTURAL
SOCIETY
• Disparity and Discrimination
• African American and Hispanic males are incarcerated at much higher rates than white
males
• Federal sentencing for African American men results in sentences more than 20% longer
than white males
• African American and Hispanic males more likely to be stopped than whites
CRIME AND JUSTICE IN A MULTICULTURAL
SOCIETY
• Explaining Disparities
• People of color commit more
crimes
• Criminal justice system is
racially biased, resulting in much
harsher treatment of minorities
• Criminal justice system
expresses the racial bias found
in society as a whole
QUESTION FOR DISCUSSION
• In December 2011, Floyd Mayweather Jr. was sentenced to 90 days in jail after
pleading guilty to domestic violence charges. Mayweather had several prior
convictions for assault. By contrast, two weeks later, in Huntsville, Alabama,
Toriano Porter was sentenced to 20 years after being convicted of domestic
violence charges. Porter had two prior felony convictions, but he was sentenced
as a habitual offender.
• Were prosecutors influenced in their decision by Mayweather’s wealth and
fame? Did Mayweather benefit from hiring expensive, prominent attorneys to
defend him?
2
Crime and Crime
Causation
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
• LO1 – Categorize crimes by their type.
• LO2 – Describe the different methods of measuring crime.
• LO3 – Explain why some people are at higher risk of victimization
•
than others.
• LO4 – Summarize the negative consequences of victimization.
• LO5 – Name the theories put forward to explain criminal behavior.
• LO6 - Explain why there are gender differences in crime.
CRIME AND CRIME CAUSATION
• In 2014, in West Palm Beach, Florida, Tia Lashonda Miller sat in jail, awaiting
trial for identity theft and tax fraud. She was accused of stealing over 700
identities in order to file false tax returns to pay her debts.
• Miller did not physically harm anyone, but what was the impact of her crime on
victims, on the government, on the IRS? How might we explain Miller’s
behavior?
TYPES OF CRIME
• Crimes can be categorized into seven types:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Visible crime
Occupational crime
Organized crime
Transnational crime
Victimless crime
Political crime
Cyber crime
VISIBLE CRIME
• Often called “street crime” and “ordinary crime”
• Three categories:
• Violent crime
• death or physical injury results
• Property crimes
• acts that threaten property
• Public-order crimes
• acts that threaten general well-being of society
OCCUPATIONAL CRIME
• Offenses committed through opportunities created in legal or business
occupation
• Crimes that result in huge costs to society
• Estimates indicate that for every $1 lost in street crime, $60 is lost as a result of
occupational crime
ORGANIZED CRIME
• Continuing enterprise for
purpose of making a profit
through illegal activities
• Network of activities that typically
cross state and national borders
• Increased among outlaw
motorcycle gangs, Hispanic and
African American gangs
TRANSNATIONAL CRIME
• Refers to crimes that cross country borders
• Three categories:
• Provision of illicit goods
• Drug trafficking, moving stolen property
• Provision of illegal services
• Human trafficking, child pornography
• Infiltration of business of government
• Bribery, extortion, money laundering
CHALLENGES OF TRANSNATIONAL CRIME
• American police agencies must depend on assistance from officials abroad
• Difficult to coordinate with countries with different laws and priorities
• Some countries protect transnational crime through bribery and other forms of
corruption
VICTIMLESS CRIMES
• Involve willing and private
exchange of goods or services
• Offenses against morality
• Prostitution, gambling, drug
sales and use
• “War on Drugs” is an example
of policies against a victimless
crime
POLITICAL CRIME
• Criminal acts by the government or against the government for ideological
purposes. Examples:
•
•
•
•
Murder of abortion doctors
Bombing of abortion clinics
Bombing of federal building in Oklahoma City
Release of classified documents
CYBER CRIME
• Involve use of
computers and the
Internet to commit acts
against people,
property, public order,
or morality
CRIME RATE
▪ Generally declined since the 1980s
▪ As of 2009, rates of violent and property crime were at lowest overall level
▪ Knowledge of crime rates aids in decisions on officer deployment and crimefighting strategies
VIOLENT AND PROPERTY CRIME
PROBLEMS WITH ACCURATE CRIME DATA
▪ Lack of accurate means of knowing amount of crime
▪ More crime occurs than is reported
▪ Dark figure of crime – crimes never reported to police
▪ Until 1972, only crimes counted were those reported to police and entered into
Uniform Crime Reports (UCR)
UNIFORM CRIME REPORTS (UCR)
▪ Publication issued every year by FBI
▪ Statistical summary of crimes reported to the police
▪ Data provided from voluntary network of local, state, and federal law
enforcement agencies
UNIFORM CRIME REPORTS (UCR)
▪ Uses standard definitions of crimes to ensure uniform data
▪ Part I (Index Offenses)
▪ 8 major crimes
▪ Data shows age, race, number of reported crimes solved
▪ Part II (Other Offenses)
▪ 21 other crimes
▪ Less complete data than that provided for Part I offenses
UNIFORM CRIME REPORTS (UCR)
CRITICISMS OF UCR
• Covers only reported crimes
• Does not measure occupational crimes
• Only covers 29 types of crime
• Reporting is voluntary, meaning police departments may not make complete,
accurate reports
NATIONAL INCIDENT-BASED REPORTING SYSTEM
(NIBRS)
• FBI’s response to criticisms of UCR
• Detailed incident data on 46 offenses in 22 crime categories
• Reports all crimes committed during an incident, whereas UCR only reports
most serious crime in an incident
• Reports all available data on offenders, victims, and places
ISSUES WITH NIBRS
• Reporting process is more difficult
• All agencies must adopt same reporting format
• Not all states currently participate
• As of 2014, only 15 states report NIBRS data for all jurisdictions
NATIONAL CRIME VICTIMIZATION SURVEYS
(NCVS)
• Developed by the Census Bureau in 1972 to better understand the “dark figure
of crime”
• Can also be used to track serial or “repeat” victimization
• “Self-reported” measure of criminal behavior
• Method
• Interviews conducted twice a year
• Sample of 74,000 people in 41,000 households
• Same people are interviewed twice a year for three years
FLAWS OF NCVS
• People interviewed are unlikely to report crimes committed by themselves,
friends or family members
• Too embarrassed to admit victimization
• Survey covers limited range of crimes
• Relatively small sample can result in erroneous conclusions
• Data depends on victim’s perceptions and memories
UCR AND NCVS
TRENDS IN CRIME
• NCVS shows victimization rate has dropped over past decade
• UCR data shows decline in violent and property crime
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•
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Aging of the baby boom population
Increased use of security systems
Aggressive police efforts to keep handguns off streets
Decline in use of crack cocaine
CRIME VICTIMIZATION
• Victimology emerged in 1950s with a focus on:
•
•
•
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Who is victimized?
What is the impact of crime?
What happens to victims in the criminal justice system?
What role do victims play in causing the crimes they suffer?
WHO IS VICTIMIZED?
• Women, Youths, Nonwhites
• Lifestyle exposure model demonstrates the link between personal characteristics and
victimization
• Race is key factor in exposure to crime
• Low-Income City Dwellers
• Low income closely linked to exposure to crime
WHO IS VICTIMIZED?
• Acquaintances and Strangers
• Most robberies are committed by strangers
• Most sexual assaults are committed by an acquaintance
IMPACT OF CRIME
• Fear of crime
• Fear limits freedom
• Costs of crime
• Economic costs
• Lost property, lower productivity, medical expenses
• Psychological and emotional costs
• Pain, trauma, diminished quality of life
• Costs of operating the criminal justice system
• Court services, law enforcement
QUESTION FOR DISCUSSION
• Crime rates, particularly violent crime rates, have been decreasing since the
early 1990s. However, fear of victimization has consistently exceeded crime
rates based on public opinion polls. People gain perception about crime from
workplace conversations, statements of politicians, and campaign promises.
Their views about crime also seem to be shaped more by what they see on
television than reality.
• What obligation do politicians and the media have in making the public aware
of the true picture of crime? Of the actual risks of victimization that occur
within a particular jurisdiction?
CAUSES OF CRIME
• Classical and Positivist theories
• Biological explanations
• Psychological explanations
• Sociological explanations
• Life Course theories
• Integrated theories
CLASSICAL AND POSITIVIST THEORIES
• Classical School
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•
•
•
Developed by Cesare Beccaria
Views behavior as stemming from free will
People are responsible and should be held accountable for actions
Stresses the need for punishment severe enough to deter others
• Positivist School
• Behavior stems from social, biological, and psychological factors
• Punishment should be tailored to individual needs of offender
BIOLOGICAL EXPLANATIONS
• Emphasizes physiological and neurological factors that predispose a person to
commit a crime
• Early work of Cesare Lombroso
• Physical traits distinguish criminals from law-abiding citizens
• Some people are in a more primitive state of evolution and are born criminal
• Later work of James Q. Wilson
• Biological factors predispose some individuals to commit crimes
PSYCHOLOGICAL EXPLANATIONS
• Emphasizes mental processes and behavior
• Psychoanalytic theory
• Psychiatrists have linked criminal behavior to
innate impulses, psychic conflict, and repression
of personality
SOCIOLOGICAL EXPLANATIONS
• Social Structure Theories – criminal behavior is related to social class
• Anomie Theory
• Deviant behavior is the result of weakened rules and norms
• Strain Theory
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•
•
•
Negative relationships can lead to negative emotions
Negative emotions are expressed through crime and delinquency
Strain is produced by the failure to achieve valued goals
Those who cannot cope with negative emotions may be predisposed to crime
SOCIOLOGICAL EXPLANATIONS
• Social Process Theories – assumes that any person has potential to become a
criminal
• Learning theories
• Criminal activity is learned behavior
• Control theories
• Social links keep people in line with accepted norms
• Labeling theories
• Stress social process through which certain acts and people are labeled deviant
• Justice system creates criminals by labeling people
SOCIOLOGICAL EXPLANATIONS
• Critical theories – assumes that criminal law and the justice system are designed
by those in power, whose purpose is to oppress those who are not
• Social conflict theories
• Crime is the result of conflict within societies
• Class structure causes certain groups to be labeled as deviant
• Feminist theories
• Based on the idea that traditional theory centers on male criminality and ignores female offending
• Underscores the need to integrate race and class with gender
LIFE COURSE THEORIES
• Seek to identify factors that explain when and why offenders begin to commit
crime, and what factors lead them to stop participating in crime
• These types of studies try to follow individuals from childhood to adulthood
• Emphasizes turning points in life that move people from criminal behavior
INTEGRATED THEORIES
• Theories that combine differing theoretical perspectives into a larger model
• Criminologists currently debate whether multiple theories can be integrated
QUESTION FOR DISCUSSION
• The City of Los Angeles has instituted several social programs in an attempt to
decrease gang violence. One of these programs, Summer Night Lights, keeps
city parks open until midnight, providing meals, sporting events, and activities
for local teens. Analysis has shown that gang violence is lower in L.A.
neighborhoods with this program.
• What theory might best explain this lower level of gang violence?
MAJOR THEORIES OF CRIME
MAJOR THEORIES OF CRIME
WOMEN AND CRIME
• Theorists in the 1990s began to recognize importance
of explaining female criminality
• Society is structured to create different opportunities for
men and women
• Power differentials exist between men and women
• Differences in sexuality shape behavior of men and women
3
Criminal Justice and
the Rule of Law
MENTAL PROBLEMS AND MASS SHOOTINGS
• On July 20, 2012, dressed like the “Joker,”
24-year old James Holmes entered the
midnight showing of the movie Batman: The
Dark Night Rises, pointed his guns at the
audience, and began to fire rapidly. When
the shooting ended, 12 people were dead,
and more than 40 were wounded. He was
described as being calm and matter-of-fact at
the scene even when revealing that he had
rigged his apartment with explosive
• Did mental problems lead Holmes to
commit his murderous acts?
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
• LO1 – Identify the bases and sources of American criminal law.
• LO2 – Discuss how substantive criminal law defines a crime and the legal
responsibility of the accused.
• LO3 – Describe how procedural criminal law defines the rights of the accused
and the processes for dealing with a case.
• LO4 – Explain the U. S. Supreme Court’s role in interpreting the criminal
justice amendments to the Constitution.
FOUNDATIONS OF CRIMINAL LAW
• Civil law
• Laws regulating the relationships between or among individuals, usually involving
property, contracts, or business disputes
• Substantive criminal law
• Defines acts that the government can punish and defines the punishments for those
crimes
• Procedural criminal law
• Law defining the procedures that criminal justice officials must follow in enforcement,
adjudication, and corrections.
DEFINITIONS AND CLASSIFICATIONS OF
CRIMINAL LAWS
• Each state and the federal government define crimes differently, but typically
offenses are broken down into one of three categories:
• Felonies
• Punishment can be incarceration for year or more in prison
• Misdemeanors
• Punishment can be year or less in county jail
• Civil infractions
• Punishable only by fines and do not result in arrest or criminal record
ELEMENTS OF A CRIME
• Three factors that are elements of a
crime
• The act
• The attendant circumstances
• The state of mind, or intent
• Inchoate crimes of attempt and
conspiracy involve intentions for
harm that are never carried out
SEVEN PRINCIPLES OF CRIMINAL LAW
• Legality
• Must be a law that defines an act as a crime
• Actus reus
• Must be a human act of either commission or omission
• Causation
• Must be a causal relationship between the act and the harm suffered
• Harm
• Act (or failure to act) must cause harm to some legally protected value
SEVEN PRINCIPLES OF CRIMINAL LAW
• Concurrence
• Intent and act must be present at same time
• Mens rea
• Act must be accompanied by a guilty mind (related to intent)
• Some crimes lack the guilty mind elements; they are called strict liability offenses (ex:
statutory rape)
• Punishment
• Must be a provision in the law that calls for punishment of those found guilty of violating
a law
DEFENSES USED TO CHALLENGE CRIMINAL
INTENT
• Self-defense
• Necessity
• Entrapment
• Duress
• Mistake of fact
• Intoxication
• Insanity
JUSTIFICATION DEFENSES
• Focus on whether the individual’s criminal action was socially acceptable under
the circumstances
• Self-defense
• Person who feels in immediate danger of being harmed by another person may ward off attack in selfdefense
• Level of force cannot exceed person’s reasonable perception of the threat
• Necessity
• Used when people break the law in order to save themselves or prevent some greater harm
EXCUSE DEFENSES
• Focus on the actor and whether the person possessed the knowledge or intent
needed for a criminal conviction
• Duress (coercion)
• Someone commits a crime after being coerced by another
• Usually requires the person to have tried to escape from the situation
• Entrapment
• Government agents induced a person to commit the offense
• Key question is the predisposition of the defendant
EXCUSE DEFENSES
• Infancy
• Common law presumed that between 7-14 children are not liable because they do not yet
understand consequences of their actions
• In 1990s, because of concerns regarding violent crime committed by young people, it has
become increasingly common for children to be tried as adults
• Mistake of fact
• Ignorance of the law is no excuse, but a mistake regarding a crucial fact may be a defense
• Intoxication
• Intoxication must be involuntary
AGE AS A DEFENSE
• In 2011, two Indiana boys pleaded guilty in the shooting death of the older
boy’s stepfather. The 15-year old received a 30 year sentence and the 12-year
old received 25 years. In 2013, a Virginia teen was sentenced to 38 years for a
murder committed when he was 15.
• Were these teens old enough to plan their crimes and understand the
consequences? Is a child capable of forming the same intent as an adult?
EXCUSE DEFENSES
• Insanity – subject of heated debate
• Four states no longer permit the defense
• U. S. courts have five tests of criminal responsibility for insanity
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M’Naghten Rule
Irrestible Impulse Test
Durham Rule
Model Penal Code’s Substantive Capacity Test
Test defined in Comprehensive Crime Control Act of 1984
M’NAGHTEN RULE
• Developed in England in 1843 and used by more than 12 states
• “Right from wrong” test
• At the time of committing the act, the accused was laboring under such a defect of reason
from disease of the mind, as not to know the nature and quality of the act and he was
doing, or if he did know it, he did not know what he was doing was wrong
MODEL PENAL CODE
• Over half the states and the federal government use this test which was
developed in the early 1970s
• “If at the time of such conduct as a result of mental disease or defect, he lacks a
substantial capacity either to appreciate the criminality of his conduct or to conform his
conduct to the requirements of the law.”
PROCEDURAL CRIMINAL LAW
• Defines how the state must process cases
• Procedural criminal law is defined by courts through judicial rulings unlike
substantive criminal law is defined by legislators through statutes.
• U. S. Supreme Court has played a major role in defining procedural criminal
law.
BILL OF RIGHTS
• Procedural law is shaped by four of the 10 amendments known as the Bill of
Rights, as well as the 14th Amendment.
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Fourth
Fifth
Sixth
Eighth
FOURTEENTH AMENDMENT
• Created after the Civil War to protect people’s right to due process of law
• In early cases, Supreme Court operated under the fundamental fairness
doctrine, which basically meant that the Constitution had not been violated as
long as the state’s conduct maintains basic standards of fairness
DUE PROCESS REVOLUTION
• Beginning in the 1960s, Chief Justice Earl Warren (the Warren Court Era)
began the process of incorporation
• Extension of the due process clause of the 14th Amendment to make binding on the
states the right guaranteed in the Bill of Rights
• Critics of these decisions believed that they made the community more
vulnerable and gave too many legal protections to criminals
FOURTH AMENDMENT
• Protects people against unreasonable searches and
seizures
• Limits the ability of law enforcement to search a person or
property in order to obtain evidence
• Limits the ability of police to detain a person without
proper justification
FIFTH AMENDMENT
• Outlines basic due process rights in criminal cases
• Protection against compelled self-incrimination
• Protects against double jeopardy, or the prosecution of the same crime twice
• Entitlement to indictment by grand jury before being prosecuted
• Citizens from the community that hear evidence and determine whether enough exists to charge a
defendant
• Applies only in federal court
• One of the few rights the Supreme Court has not applied to the states
SIXTH AMENDMENT
• Provisions dealing with fairness in a criminal trial
• Right to counsel
• Gideon v. Wainwright (1963) – Supreme Court made right to counsel binding on states
• Right to a speedy and public trial
• Right to an impartial jury
EIGHTH AMENDMENT
• Rights of the defendant
during pretrial and
correctional phases
• Prohibits excessive bail
• Prohibits excessive fines
• Prohibits cruel and
unusual punishment
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Trop v. Dulles (1958)
Lockyer v. Andrade (2003)
Graham v. Florida (2010)
Miller v. Alabama (2012)
QUESTION FOR DISCUSSION
• Suppose four individuals planned to rob a bank. It was supposed to be a quick
in-and-out robbery. One person was a driver, and one was a watchman. Both
stayed outside the entire time. The other two went into the bank, and one was
watching the patrons, while the other went to the teller window. He got
nervous, and shot and killed the teller. All were convicted of the murder and
robbery and received life without possibility of parole.
• Is it a violation of the 8th Amendment’s prohibition against cruel and unusual
punishment for the outside driver and watchman to receive the same
punishment as the individual who actually killed the teller, especially when they
had all agreed that there would be no violence?
4
Police
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
• LO1 – Describe how policing evolved in the United States
• LO2 – Name the main types of law enforcement agencies
• LO3 - Analyze the recruitment of police officers and how they learn their job
• LO4 - Describe the elements of the police officer’s “working personality”
• LO5 - List the functions of the police
• LO6 - Describe the organization of the police
• LO7 – Identify influences on police policy and styles of policing
POLICE
• On February 26, 2013, in Santa Cruz, California, two
law enforcement officers went to the home of Jeremy
Goulet to arrest him for a sexual assault. They had
no information suggesting that he would shoot at
them, but after speaking to them threw a glass door,
he refused to come out. Suddenly he emerged from
a doorway and fired five shots, killing both officers.
• What attracts people to a career that entails lifethreatening danger, and how do they carry out their
duties in the face of such danger?
SIR ROBERT PEEL’S POLICE – LONDON 1828
• Four basic mandates
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Prevent crime without repressive force
Maintain public order by nonviolent means
Reduce conflict between the police and the public
Show efficiency through the absence of crime and disorder
EARLY AMERICAN LAW ENFORCEMENT
• Adopted many English titles and offices
• Sheriff – old “shire reeves” – a county based system
• Constable
• Night Watchman
• Also developed some new law enforcement
• Slave patrols designed to prevent slave revolts in the South
• Boston’s “watch system”
THREE PERIODS OF AMERICAN POLICING
• Political Era (1840 – 1920)
• Professional Model Era (1920 – 1970)
• Community Policing Era (1970 – Present)
POLITICAL ERA
• Characterized by close ties between police and politicians
• politicians recruited and maintained police
• Police helped politicians gain votes
• Police took payoffs for not enforcing laws on drinking, gambling, prostitution
• 1845 – New York City established first full-time police force
• After Civil War – federal government appointed U. S. Marshals to help enforce
laws in western territories
PROFESSIONAL ERA
• Progressive Movement advocated police as a professional force with six
elements
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•
•
•
Force should stay out of politics
Police should be well-trained, disciplined, and organized
Laws should be enforced equally
Force should use new technology
Personnel procedures should be based on merit
Main task of police should be to fight crime
COMMUNITY POLICING ERA
• Began in the 1970s as a result of
civil rights and anti-war
movements, urban riots, and
rising crime rates
• Greater emphasis on keeping
order and providing services to
the community
“BROKEN WINDOWS” THEORY
• Approach to order maintenance based on three assumptions:
• Neighborhood disorder creates fear
• Untended disorderly behavior is a signal that the community doesn’t care and results in
worse disorder and crime
• To reduce fear, police must rely on citizens for assistance
PROBLEM-ORIENTED POLICING
• Community policing strategy
• Police should identify underlying causes of problems
• Closer contacts between police and community will reduce disorder and fear of crime
QUESTION FOR DISCUSSION
• Since 9/11, law enforcement agencies are attempting to incorporate the
principles of evidence-based practices into policing, utilizing social science
research on “what works” in crime prevention and crime control.
• If you were a police chief in a city plagued by difficult crime problems, who was
also committed to both crime fighting and community policing principles, how
would you develop a plan to combat crime?
9/11 AND THE NEXT ERA OF POLICING
• Terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 shifted federal government’s funding
priorities for law enforcement and led to reorganization of federal agencies
• Led to development of intelligence-led policing with emphasis on gathering,
analyzing, and sharing information among law enforcement agencies at all levels,
and incorporating those elements into community policing plans
LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES
• U. S. has a federal system of government with separate national and state
structures, each with authority over certain functions
• Police agencies are responsible for four functions:
•
•
•
•
Enforcing the law
Maintaining order
Preventing crime
Providing services to the community
FEDERAL AGENCIES
• Part of the Executive Branch
• Investigate specific set of crimes defined by Congress
• Recent efforts in areas of drug trafficking, organized crime, insider stock trading,
and terrorism
• Federal agencies employ around 120,000 full-time officers authorized to make
arrests
FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION
• Investigative agency within the U. S. Department of Justice (DOJ)
• Power to investigate all federal crimes not placed under jurisdiction of other
agencies
• Significant responsibilities for fighting terrorism and espionage
• Over 13,000 FBI special agents in 56 field offices, and 381 satellite offices
FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION
• Provides valuable assistance to state and local
law enforcement through crime lab, training
programs, and databases of fingerprints, stolen
vehicles, and missing persons
PRIORITIES OF FBI
• Protect U.S. from terrorist attack
• Protect U. S. against foreign intelligence operations and espionage
• Protect U. S. against cyber-based attacks
• Combat public corruption
• Protect civil rights
• Combat transnational and national criminal organizations
• Combat white-collar crimes
• Combat significant violent crimes
• Support federal, state, and local agencies
• Upgrade technology to successfully perform it’s mission
OTHER FEDERAL AGENCIES
• Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA)
• Internal Revenue Service (IRS)
• Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF)
• U. S. Marshals Service
• National Parks Service
• Department of Homeland Security (DHS)
• Customs and Border Protection
• Secret Service
• Transportation and Security Administration (TSA)
STATE AGENCIES
• Each state has a police agency that:
• Patrols state highways
• Provides complete law enforcement services in rural areas
• Conducts statewide drug investigations
• In many states, crime lab is run by state police as a means of assisting local law
enforcement
COUNTY AGENCIES
• Sheriffs are found in almost every U. S. county (except Alaska and Connecticut)
and are responsible for policing rural areas
•
•
•
•
•
Elected and hold position as chief law enforcement officer in county
Patrol unincorporated parts of the county or small towns without a police force
Operate jails
Serve court orders
Provide courtroom bailiffs
NATIVE AMERICAN TRIBAL POLICE
• Through treaties, Native American tribes are separate, sovereign nations with
significant autonomy
• Reservations have been policed either by federal officers of the Bureau of
Indian Affairs (BIA) or by their own tribal police
• Approximately 178 tribal law enforcement agencies
MUNICIPAL AGENCIES
• Police in cities and towns have general law enforcement authority
• Sworn personnel are officers with power to make arrests
• Nearly three-quarters of municipal police departments employ fewer than 25
sworn officers
SPECIAL JURISDICTION AGENCIES
• Four-year college and university police forces
• Two-year college police departments
• Conservation officers and police in parks and recreation settings
• Agencies that enforce the law at specific mass transit systems, airports, bridges,
tunnels, and ports
RECRUITMENT
• Applicant requirements and initial training varies widely between states and
jurisdictions
•
•
•
•
Be a U.S. citizen
Meet age requirements
Have a high school diploma
Possess a valid driver’s license
• Increasingly, agencies require
• Psychological evaluations
• Certification from state’s law enforcement training agency
RECRUITMENT
• State police typically run their own training academies
• Quantico, Virginia is training academy for DEA, FBI
• Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (FLETC) in Glynco, Georgia is
training academy for Secret Service, ATF, and other federal law enforcement
agencies
• Salaries are higher in areas with high costs of living and federal agencies
RECRUITMENT
MINORITY REPRESENTATION
• Since the 1970s, makeup of police departments has changed
• Minority officers makeup 40% of officers in largest cities
• African Americans compose 12% of officers in local departments
• Latinos compose more than 10% of officers in local departments
• For cities with populations in excess of 1 million:
• Latino officers compose 23%
• African Americans compose 18%
WOMEN IN POLICING
• In 1970, women composed 1.5% of sworn officers and by 2007, women
composed 12%
• Research studies indicate:
• Male and female officers perform in similar ways
• Positive feedback on female officers
• Females have superior performance in avoiding excessive use of force and interviewing
crime victims
TRAINING
• Formal training provides an understanding of legal rules, weapons use, and
other aspects of the job
• During probationary periods, new officers work with and learn from
experienced ones
• Socialization is the process by which the rules, symbols, and values of a group
or subculture are learned by members, or the informal ways of law enforcement
POLICE SUBCULTURE
• Subculture
• Symbols, beliefs, values, and attitudes shared by members of a subgroup of the larger
society
• Police have developed their own subculture based upon four key issues:
•
•
•
•
“working personality”
Role of police morality
Isolation of the police
Stress involved in police work
“WORKING PERSONALITY”
• Set of emotional and behavioral characteristics developed by members of an
occupational group in response to the work situation and environmental
influences
• Two elements of police work define the working personality of the police:
• Threat of danger
• Needs to establish and maintain one’s authority
POLICE MORALITY
• Aspects of policing creating dilemmas morality can overcome
• Contradiction between goal of preventing crime and the officer’s inability to do so
• Officers feel they must use their discretion to handle situations in ways that do not strictly
follow procedures
• Fact that they invariably act against at least one citizen’s interest
POLICE ISOLATION
• Police officer isolation from the public stems in part from:
• Belief that public is hostile to them
• Interactions with the public are in times of conflict and crisis
• Pervasive mistrust of officers keep citizens from reporting crimes and cooperating with
investigations
JOB STRESS
• External stress
• Produced by real threats and dangers
• Organizational stress
• Produced by nature of work in paramilitary structure
• Personal stress
• Caused by officer’s racial or gender status and adjusting to group-held values
• Operational stress
• Effects of dealing lower elements, being lied to, being required to face danger, knowledge
of legal liability
POLICE FUNCTIONS
• Order maintenance
• Law enforcement
• Service
• Agencies divide their resources among these functions based on community
need, citizen requests, and departmental policy
POLICE FUNCTIONS
• Order Maintenance
• Prevent behavior that either disturbs or threatens to disturb the peace or involves face-toface conflict between two or more people
• Police exercise discretion in whether law has been broken and what action to take
• Law Enforcement
• Police function of controlling crime by intervening in situations in which the law has
clearly been violated and the police need to identify and apprehend the guilty person
POLICE FUNCTIONS
• Service
• The police function of
providing assistance to the
public for many matters
unrelated to crime as well
as for crime prevention
education
ORGANIZATION OF THE POLICE
• Police must create a structure within which to operate
• Departments are typically divided up by the type of policing they do
• Vice, homicide, robbery, etc.
• A paramilitary command structure is placed over each division to control the
organization
• Typically a “top down” structure
POLICE BUREAUCRACY
• Issues that rise within the organizational context
• Police are the gateway to entrance into criminal justice system
• Administration is influenced by outcome of a case being in the hands of others
• Police officers are expected to follow rules and orders while at the same time make
discretionary judgments
• Organization and operation of police are affected by economic conditions and budgetary
pressures
POLICE POLICY
• Factors that effect the style of policing expected by the community
• Preferences and values of police executives
• Influenced by politics, public pressure, and social context
• American cities differ in government, economic, and racial and ethnic characteristics as
well as in their degree of urbanization
QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION
• Because of budgetary restrictions, in the past decade, many cities have instituted
a volunteer auxiliary police force. These volunteers go through police academy
training, and can be deployed on the streets as armed uniformed officers who
assist regular officers in the performance of all law enforcement duties.
• While this appears to be an appropriate response to budgetary concerns, and
cities expend the same training effort on a volunteer they do on regular officers,
what issues do you see as problematic with this type of arrangement?
POLICING STYLES
• Watchman style
• Stresses order maintenance
• Police exercise discretion and deal with infractions informally
• Legalistic style
• Marked by professionalism and emphasis on law enforcement
• No discrimination in making arrests; strict enforcement of laws
• Service style
• Officers cater to citizens
• Mostly found in suburban middle class communities
5
Policing:
Contemporary Issues
and Challenges
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
• LO1 – Describe the everyday actions of police
• LO2 – Identify the ways police can abuse their power and the challenges of
controlling this abuse
• LO3 – List the methods that can be used to make police more accountable to
citizens
• LO4 – Describe the delivery of police services
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
• LO5 – Name patrol strategies that departments employ
• LO6 – Explain the importance of connections between police and the
community
• LO7 – Identify issues and problems that emerge from law enforcement
agencies’ increased attention to homeland security
• LO8 – Describe the policing and related activities undertaken by private sector
security management
POLICING DUTIES
• On December 14, 2012, Adam Lanza, a mentally
troubled 20-year old, had shot his way into Sandy
Hook Elementary School, in Newton,
Connecticut. He had semiautomatic pistols, a
rifle, and more than enough ammunition to kill
everyone in the school. Officers found two
women shot to death in the hallway, and the
bodies of teachers and 20 dead first-graders in two
classrooms.
• What is the range of responsibilities and
challenges facing police officers today?
POLICE AND CITIZEN ENCOUNTERS
• Each year 1 in 5 citizens has a face-to-face encounter with law enforcement
•
•
•
•
1/5 are calls for assistance
1/5 are people reporting a crime
1/5 are police investigating crime
Remaining 40% are drivers and passengers stopped by police
• 90% of people who have contact believe police acted properly
POLICE DISCRETION
• Police have power to deprive people of liberty and take them into custody
• Often choice arises in ambiguous situations, leaving it to the officer to decide how and
when to apply the law
• Officer on the scene must define the situation, decide how to handle it, and determine
whether and how the law should be applied
CRITICAL FACTORS IN POLICE DISCRETION
•
•
•
•
•
Nature of the crime
Relationship between alleged criminal and victim
Relationship between police and the criminal or victim
Race/ethnicity, age, gender, class
Departmental policy
DOMESTIC VIOLENCE
• Refers to intimate partner violence of violent victimizations between spouses,
boyfriends, girlfriends, or those formerly in intimate relationships.
• Good example of the role of police discretion
• Until the 70s and 80s, police treated these incidents as a private matter between couples
• Because of women’s groups and lawsuits, half the states have developed policies to
require the arrest of suspects in violent incidents and have programs designed to educate
officers about domestic violence
QUESTION FOR DISCUSSION
• Violence between spouses or intimate partners, domestic violence, provides a
good example of the role of police discretion. Until the 1970s and 1980s, many
male officers treated such events as private matters for couples to handle
themselves rather than as crimes, even when there was clear evidence of
violence and injuries. Currently, most states require arrest of suspects, and
most departments and police academies have programs to educate officers
about domestic violence and victimization of women.
• What has caused such a shift in domestic violence policy changes, both in
legislation and police response?
POLICE ABUSE OF POWER
• Police officers can break the
law and disobey departmental
policies through corruption,
favoritism, discrimination, and
the failure to carry out their
duties properly
USE OF FORCE
• Police may use legitimate force to do their job
• Police violate the law when they use excessive force, or force that violates
departmental policies of the constitutional rights of citizens
• Use of force occurs most frequently when police are dealing with people
affected by drugs or alcohol, or mental illness
USE OF FORCE
• Use of deadly force has become an emotional issue with a direct connection to
race relations
• Risk of lawsuits by victims of improper shootings
• Police administrators have few tools available
• Training
• Internal review of incidents
• Discipline or firing of officers
CORRUPTION
• Police officer’s violations
of law and departmental
policy for personal gain
or to help out their
friends
• “Grass eaters”
• Officers who accept
payoffs through routine
police work
• “Meat eaters”
• Officers who actively use
power for personal gain
QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION
• In 2011, 30 Baltimore police officers were charged in an extortion scheme
netting thousands of dollars. In 2011, several Chicago police officers were
convicted of robbing drug dealers for money and drugs. In 2013, a NYC officer
was fired in an ongoing scandal that uncovered the involvement of over 200
officers in illegally fixing parking and traffic tickets.
• How is it possible that police administrators were unaware of ongoing scandals
such as these? What actions can they take to ensure it doesn’t occur again?
CIVIC ACCOUNTABILITY
• Currently, there are four methods used to control the police
•
•
•
•
Internal Affairs Units
Civilian Review Boards
Standards and Accreditation
Civil Liability Lawsuits
INTERNAL AFFAIRS UNITS
• Receives and investigates complaints against officers
• Officers charged with misconduct can face:
•
•
•
•
Criminal prosecution
Disciplinary action leading to resignation
Dismissal
Suspension
CIVILIAN REVIEW BOARDS
• Citizens’ committee formed to investigate complaints against the police
• Organization and powers vary but all review how departments handle citizen complaints
• Do not have power to investigate and discipline officers
• Police claim they lower morale and hinder performance
STANDARDS AND ACCREDITATION
• Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement (CALEA)
• Nonprofit organization formed by law enforcement professional organizations
• Develops standards for police polices and practice
• Accreditation is voluntary, but CALEA will review agencies and award accreditation if
agency meets standards
CIVIL LIABILITY LAWSUITS
• 1961, Supreme Court ruled that Section 1983 of Civil Rights Act of 1871 allows
citizens to sue public officials for violations of federal constitutional rights
(Section 1983 lawsuits) by an agency’s customs and usages
• Officers may also be sued in state and federal courts for brutality, improper use
of weapons, and false arrest
• Violations of 4th Amendment are subject to lawsuits for excessive force and
improper arrests
DELIVERY OF POLICE SERVICES
• Evidence-based practices are often the basis for allocating resources and
determining how to set priorities
• Significant budget cuts
• Reductions in personnel
POLICE RESPONSE
• Proactive versus Reactive policing
• Reactive
• Responding to citizen calls for service
• Proactive
• Police try to anticipate crime and prevent them from occurring
INCIDENT-DRIVEN POLICING
• Policing in which calls for service are the primary instigators of action
• Less than 30% of calls to police involve criminal law enforcement
• Most calls concern order maintenance and service
• Differential response system assigns priorities to calls for service and chooses the
appropriate response
PRODUCTIVITY
• Clearance rate is the percentage
of crimes that have been solved
through arrest
• CompStat approach to crime
prevention and police
productivity
• Twice-weekly briefings before
peers and executives
• Held responsible for success of
crime control efforts
• Computer systems with up-to-date
crime data
PATROL FUNCTIONS
• Sworn officers are those under oath and with authority to make arrests and use
necessary force
• 2/3 of sworn police officers are patrol officers
• Functions
• Answering calls
• Preventive patrol – maintaining police presence
• Probing suspicious circumstances
INVESTIGATION
• Detectives are plain clothes
officers who investigate crimes
• 15% of police personnel
• Higher status, higher pay, more
flexible hours
APPREHENSION
• Process of catching a suspect:
•
•
•
•
Detection of a crime
Preliminary investigation
Follow-up investigation
Clearance and arrest (depending on outcome of investigation)
APPREHENSION
SPECIAL OPERATIONS
• Many larger department have specialized units
•
•
•
•
•
•
Traffic
Vice
Juveniles
SWAT
Organized crime and drugs
School Resource Officers (SROs) (police duties in schools)
ISSUES IN PATROLLING
• In the past 30 years, research focus has been on methods of assigning tasks to
patrol officers, assigning them to specific areas, and communicating with them
• If you were a police chief, how would you incorporate new research into your
patrol plans? How would you persuade your officers to adopt new approaches?
How would you reassure citizens?
ASSIGNMENT OF PATROL PERSONNEL
• Based on factors such as:
•
•
•
•
•
•
crime statistics
911 calls,
community pressures
ethnic composition
urbanization,
socioeconomic conditions
INVESTIGATION
• All cities with a population of more than 250,000 and 90% of smaller cities have
officers called detectives
• Police officers typically working in plain clothes, who investigate crimes that have
occurred by questioning witnesses and gathering evidence
• Make up 15% of police personnel
• Pay is higher, hours more flexible
SPECIAL OPERATIONS
• Special units set up to deal with specific types of problems
• School Resource Officers (SROs) – officers assigned to high schools under contractual
arrangements to assist in order maintenance
• Traffic officers – deal with traffic regulation
• Vice – enforcement of vice laws
• Drug Law Enforcement – enforce drug laws
AGENCY OPTIONS
• Preventive patrol (making police presence known to deter crime)
• Kansas City Experiment demonstrated it had no significant impact on crime
• Hot spots
• Directed patrol focuses on these areas where crime is most likely
• Foot versus motorized patrol
• Foot patrol is more effective in hot spots
AGENCY OPTIONS
• Aggressive patrol
• Maximizes number of police in community
• Community policing
• Decentralized model
• More focused on non-emergency responses
• Often focus on problem-oriented policing, a strategy that looks for reasons citizens call
for help
COMPONENTS OF COMMUNITY POLICING
• Community-based crime prevention
• Changing the focus of patrol activities to non-emergency services
• Making the police more accountable to the public
• Decentralizing decision-making to include residents
POLICE AND THE COMMUNITY
• Police must deal with complex population
•
•
•
•
Mentally ill
Homeless
Alcoholics/drug addicts
People with serious medical conditions
• Crisis Intervention Teams (CIT) – mobile units equipped to handle disturbed
people
POLICING IN A MULTICULTURAL SOCIETY
• In a multicultural society, relations
between police and minorities are
complicated by stereotypes, cultural
variations, and language differences
• Public opinion polls show race and
ethnicity are key in citizen attitudes
towards police
• Provide some ideas for training that
would help police working in
multicultural neighborhoods.
COMMUNITY CRIME PREVENTION
• Programs through which criminal justice officials develop relationships with and
rely on assistance from citizens in preventing crime and apprehending offenders
• Project Safe Neighborhoods – significant focus on anti-gang efforts and reduction in
illegal firearms
• Crime Stoppers Program – enlist public help in solving crime
HOMELAND SECURITY
• 9/11 refocused resources from street crime to terrorism
• U.S. agencies have increased number of officers in foreign countries
• FBI has 70 overseas offices known as Legal Attaches
• Interpol, based in Lyon, France fosters cooperation among world’s police forces and is
currently a vehicle in international antiterrorist and anticrime efforts
PREPARING FOR THREATS
• U.S. Border Patrol patrols national land borders and
coastal waters to prevent smuggling, drug trafficking,
and illegal entry into the U.S.
• Fusion Centers run by states and larger cities analyze
and facilitate sharing of information between law
enforcement agencies
• Regional cooperation between local and state
governments
• Changes in training, equipment, and operations in
local agencies
• Fusion Centers were created to aid in the terrorist
threat. In what other crime areas could they prove
beneficial?
PREPARING FOR THREATS
• Traditional law enforcement intelligence included collection and analysis of
information concerning criminal activities and organizations, such as gangs, drug
traffickers, and organized crime
• New emphasis on homeland security broadens the scope of information agencies need to
gather
• Emergence of radical groups
• Suspicious subjects observing infrastructure facilities
• Growth of phony charities that may steer money to terrorists
NEW LAWS AND CONTROVERSIES
• Following 9/11, new laws were passed to expand government power to deal with
terrorism
• USA Patriot Act – federal statute passed after 9/11 that broadens governmental authority
to conduct searches and wiretaps and expands the definitions of crimes involving
terrorism
• Hamdi v. Rumsfeld (2004)
• National Defense Authorization Act of 2011
• Many fear that government excesses may endanger civil rights
SECURITY MANAGEMENT AND PRIVATE POLICING
• Threats which have spurred
an expansion into private
security:
• Increase in crime in the
workplace
• Increase in fear (real or
perceived) of crime
• Fiscal crisis of the states
• Increased public and
business awareness
FUNCTIONS OF PRIVATE SECURITY
• Hire, train, and supervise personnel to protect computer systems
• Plan security systems and emergency-response plans
• Private sector detectives
• Investigations that threaten company assets, including embezzlement
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