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ОглавлениеPreface
Policing is inherently controversial, and police work is extraordinarily challenging. There are higher expectations, greater scrutiny, and more calls for accountability of the police in the twenty-first century than ever before. In this environment, it is critically important that students have an accurate understanding of police in our society and be able to differentiate fact from fiction in matters relating to the police. Unfortunately, much of what we believe about policing is based on false or unsubstantiated assumptions, or misleading representations of it. These inaccuracies help fuel the controversies of policing as well as disagreements about how it can best be performed. Police in America addresses this issue by providing a real-world fact-based discussion of policing in the United States.
If an accurate understanding of the police in America is the goal, then a discussion of the research that has been conducted on policing is a primary means to reaching that goal. Research findings can identify and dispel the many myths, misconceptions, and false assumptions of policing. Research also can also help identify best practices in policing as well as those practices in need of improvement. An emphasis on research is also especially important given the current trends toward evidence-based policing. Police in America emphasizes police research. This emphasis does not mean that the text is complicated or difficult to read, however. In fact, the opposite is true: The text is easy to read and accessible to students. It is written in a straightforward and conversational manner.
Police in America provides a realistic portrayal of the police. It provides a multitude of examples of how policing is conducted in agencies across the country. It emphasizes positive aspects of policing but does so without ignoring or sugar-coating the controversies of police work. The media tend to focus on negative incidents by highlighting the bad or questionable conduct of a few officers. Although there are certainly lessons to be learned from such incidents, these images and stories can provide an inaccurate overall picture of the police. The reality is that exemplary police work is being performed by police officers and law enforcement agencies throughout the country. Police in America highlights some of this work.
Police in America also incorporates several other themes, including the following:
Ethical policing: Because of the nature of the work and how the decisions of officers may affect citizens and the community, it is essential that students consider what constitutes not only a legally good decision but also a morally good one.
Critical thinking: Students should be able to think critically about the complex problems and issues involved with policing.
The impact of technology: The technological tools of policing have changed dramatically over the years, and it is important to understand how technology has fundamentally altered the nature of it.
Diversity: To understand policing today, one must appreciate the modern-day and historical roles of race and diversity. Some of the most challenging issues of policing today are at least partly based on race.
The contributions of police research, positive aspects of policing, ethics, critical thinking, the role of technology in police work, and diversity issues are emphasized throughout Police in America. The text offers several features in each chapter to help establish an accurate understanding of the police in America. These features allow students and instructors to explore significant issues and questions relating to the police. The features consist of the following:
Police Spotlight: These features introduce each chapter and discuss a particular police policy, program, or other issue that relates to the topic of that chapter.
A Research Question: These features highlight an interesting and important research study relevant to the topic of each chapter.
Good Policing: Each of these features includes an example of a police program, policy, or issue that relates to effective, efficient, equitable, innovative, or ethical policing.
A Question of Ethics: The questions presented in these features relate to the topic of the chapter and require students to think critically about that particular moral or ethical issue.
A Question to Consider: Each of these features offers a question related to the topic at hand for students to consider, answer, and/or discuss.
Technology on the Job: These features highlight and examine a particular technology used by the police while on the job.
With regard to the unique content of Police in America and the issues discussed in the book, especially noteworthy are the separate chapters on police discretion and ethics (Chapter 8), the law (Chapter 9), health and safety issues in police work (Chapter 10), police use of force (Chapter 11), crime detection and investigation (Chapter 7), and intelligence-led and evidence-based policing (Chapter 14). Each of these chapters is extremely important in developing a solid understanding of the police in America, and it is through their inclusion, along with comprehensive and timely coverage of other critical topics, that Police in America clearly differentiates itself from other texts.
With regard to the overall content and organization of the text, the first four chapters provide a foundation for the study of the police (the history of the police, role and function of the police, characteristics of police organizations). The second section of the book includes five chapters that examine the nature of police work (police recruitment, selection, and training; police patrol; criminal investigation; discretion and ethics; and the law). The third section is devoted to the hazards of police work and provides a discussion of health and safety issues, police use of force, and police misconduct. The last section includes three chapters on the most recent strategies of policing (problem-oriented policing, evidence-based policing) as well as a discussion of the future of policing.
Police in America provides students with a substantial understanding of the role and function of police in the United States.
New to This Edition
All figures and statistics have been updated, and a multitude of new media and scholarly articles have been incorporated into the discussion provided in each chapter. Many discussions have been revised for purposes of clarification or succinctness. While the second edition incorporates new discussions of several critical topics, it is approximately the same length as the first edition. All existing features remain with “Research Spotlight” changed to “A Research Question.” Beside these changes, listed below are the most significant changes that have been made for the second edition of the book.
New information on police-citizen contacts
New information on body-worn cameras (BWCs)
New information on police–citizen cooperation (and lack thereof) as a challenge of policing
New “A Research Question” (media and citizens’ attitudes toward the police)
New information on women and people of color police officers
New “Good Policing” (good policing changes over time)
New/revised “A Research Question” (current state of police research)
New information about changes in policing during the community problem-solving era
New “Police Spotlight” (police officer salaries and possible consequences)
New “Good Policing” (police as warriors versus guardians)
New “Police Spotlight” (“Scoop and Run” in the Philadelphia PD, nontraditional police task)
New “Good Policing” (the need for new measures of police effectiveness)
New section on police responding to people in need, people with mental illness, crisis intervention teams
New section on police use of Narcan
New “Police Spotlight” (San Diego PD recruitment efforts)
New information on police salaries
New “Research Question” (how male and female college students perceive a police career)
New information about diversity of police officers
New “Good Policing” (Tulsa PD recruit training)
New information on foot patrol
New “A Research Question” (CCTV and directed patrol)
New information on traffic stops
New information on stop, question, and frisk
New “Police Spotlight” (ancestry DNA and the Golden State Killer)
Moved material on “proof” to Chapter 9
New “A Research Question” (secondary transfer of DNA)
New information on DNA and DNA analysis
New information as video as evidence
New information on BWCs
New information/section on race and implicit bias
New information on de-policing and Ferguson Effect
New “A Research Question” (BWCs)
New “Good Policing” (BWCs)
New discussion of proof and probable cause
Many revised discussions to shorten the chapter
New section on juveniles and the Miranda requirement
New “Police Spotlight” (dealing with event trauma)
New “A Research Question” (shiftwork, fatigue, and gender)
New information on body armor
New “Police Spotlight” (de-escalation)
New “Good Policing” (transparency in police use of force)
New information on police use of force
New “A Research Question” (but still suicide by cop)
New information on police use of robots and drones
New reorganized section on the control of police use of force
New information/sections on de-escalation, early intervention systems, BWCs
New “Police Spotlight” (still Denver PD police complaint mediation program)
New information on numerous chapter topics
New information on perceptions of police honesty and ethics
Added many examples of community policing in various police departments
New information on law enforcement use of social media
New information on community policing versus problem-oriented policing
New “A Research Question” (procedural justice)
Added many examples of problem-oriented policing (with a new diagram)
New “Police Spotlight” (smart policing in Chicago)
New information on smart policing (its meaning changed since the first edition)
New information to clarify various strategies discussed in the chapter, including how these strategies may be controversial
New “Good Policing” (a problem-oriented approach to CompStat)
New “A Research Question” (crime analysis)
Condensed discussion of terrorism
New “Research Spotlight” (far-right extremism)
New information about future of policing including militarization of the police
New “Good Policing” (BWCs and accountability)
New information on the future technologies of policing
