Chapter Six
The Police:
Organization,
Role, and
Function
Learning Objectives
Explain the organization of police departments
➤ Differentiate between the patrol function and the
investigation function
➤ Discuss various efforts to improve patrol
➤ Discuss key issues associated with the
investigative function
➤ Explain the concept of community policing
➤
Learning Objectives
List several challenges associated with community
policing
➤ Discuss the concept of problem-oriented policing
➤ Define intelligence-led policing and explain ways
in which it occurs
➤ Explain the various police support functions
➤ Identify some of the cost-saving measures that
may be employed to improve police productivity
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The Police Organization
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Independent organizations
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No two exactly alike
Hierarchical with a chain of command
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Problems are not
uncommon, nor are
they unique to policing
agencies
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Personnel changes
Internal reorganization
Organization of a Traditional
Metropolitan Police Department
The Police Organization
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The time-in-rank system
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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
The Police Role
➤
Real police work
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Minor disturbances
Service calls
Administrative duties
The Patrol Function
➤
Patrol officers are the most highly visible
components of the entire criminal justice system
➤
Patrol activities
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Deter crime
Maintain public order
Respond quickly
Identify and apprehend law violators
Provide aid
Facilitate the movement of traffic and people
Create a feeling of security in the community
Improving Patrol
➤
Aggressive patrol
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Broken windows policing
➤
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An aggressive law enforcement style in which patrol
officers take the initiative against crime instead of
waiting for criminal acts to occur
The role of police as maintainers of community order
and safety
Rapid response
➤
Improving police response time
Improving Patrol
➤
Procedural justice
➤
Concern with making decisions that are arrived at through
procedures viewed as fair
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Feel as if you have a voice
Respected (dignity)
Neutrality (System was unbiased)
Understanding (you understand how the decision was made)
Helpfulness (perception that the system cared about your issue)
Use of technology
➤
Technologies such as CompStat to help guide patrol efforts
Improving Patrol
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
➤
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Interview witnesses, gather evidence, record events, and
collect facts
General coverage
➤
Canvass the neighborhood and make observations,
conducts interviews with friends/family/associates,
contacts 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
The Investigation Function
➤
Sting Operations
➤
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Organized groups of detectives who deceive criminals
into openly committing illegal acts or conspiring to
engage in criminal activity
Undercover Work
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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 Function
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Evaluating Investigations
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Improving Investigations
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Creates considerable paperwork and is relatively
inefficient in clearing cases
Patrol officers should have greater responsibility at the
scene
Specialized units can bring expertise
Collection of physical evidence is important
Using Technology
➤
Streamlines and enhances the investigative process
Thinking Point
➤
Recall a recent television show you have watched
that deals with policing or detective work.
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What type of impression of policing or detective work
did you get from the television show?
How does this correspond with what you learned in this
chapter?
How can you explain the differences?
Community Policing
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Community Policing
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Consists of a return to an earlier style of policing in
which officers on the beat had an intimate contact with
citizens
Can be a specific program or a philosophy
Key components:
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Community partnerships
Organizational transformation
Problem solving
The Challenges of Community
Policing
Defining community
➤ Defining roles
➤ Changing supervisor attitudes
➤ Reorienting police values
➤ Revising training
➤ Reorienting recruitment
➤ Reaching out to every community
➤
Overcoming Obstacles
Can fit well with traditional forms of policing
➤ Credited with helping reduce crime rates in large
cities
➤ Has become a common part of municipal police
departments
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Thinking Point
➤
Look at the website of your community police
department for evidence of community policing
programs, or contact your local police department
to inquire.
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What types of community policing initiatives do you
believe are present in your community?
Have you seen any evidence of such initiatives?
Do you believe these programs are beneficial? Why or
why not?
Problem Oriented Policing
➤
A style of police management that stresses
proactive problem solving instead of reactive
crime fighting
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Requires police agencies to identify particular long-term
community problems and to develop strategies to
eliminate them
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Supported by the fact that a great deal of urban crime is
concentrated in a few hot spots
Criminal Acts, Criminal Places
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Combating auto theft
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Use of technology to reduce car thefts
Reducing violence
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Operation Ceasefire was formed to reduce youth
homicide and youth firearms violence
Displacement occurs when criminals move from an area
targets for increased police presence to another that is
less well protected
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
➤ Relies heavily on:
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Confidential informants
Offender interviews
Analysis of crime reports
Suspect surveillance
Community sources of information
Intelligence-Led Policing
Intelligence and the Intelligence
Process
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Tactical Intelligence
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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 Policing
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Fusion Centers
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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
Thinking Point
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ILP is both tactical and strategic.
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How would you use Intelligence-Led Policing in your
neighborhood to reduce crime?
Do you see ILP as the main tactic of policing in 10 years?
20 years? Why or why not?
Police Support Functions
Personnel Service
➤ Internal Affairs
Division
➤ Administration and
Control of Budgets
➤ Maintenance and
Dissemination of
Information
➤
Dispatch
➤ Training
➤ Citizen Police
Interactions
➤ Forensics
➤ Planners
➤
Improving Police Productivity
Consolidation
➤ Informal
Arrangements
➤ Sharing
➤ Pooling
➤ Contracting
➤ Service Districts
➤ Civilian Employees
➤
Multiple Tasking
➤ Special Assignments
➤ Differential Police
Responses
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