Police Systems and Practices - Final Exam Questions with Complete Solutions

Police Systems and Practices - Final Exam Questions with Complete Solutions - Refer a person to a social service agency Detectives' decisions- - To stop and investigating a crime because of a lack of leads - To seek a warrant for a search - To conduct a stakeout - To question or not question a potential suspect Police managers' decisions- - to adopt community policing or problem-oriented policing - to give high priority to traffic violations - to ignore minor drug offences - to crack down on prostitution What are some factors that limit discretion? - Answer-Legal factors - -supreme Court decisions -state court decisions -state law Administrative factors- -department policy -supervision Organizational culture factors- -peer officer culture What are factors that are influencing discretionary decisions? - Answer-Some examples of situational factors are: -seriousness of the crime -strength of the evidence -preference of the victim -relationship of victim and the suspect -demeanor of the suspect Some examples of organizational factors are: -official department policy - Informal organizational culture Some examples of social factors are: -local political culture Should we abolish discretion? - Answer-The consensus is that the best response is to regulate and control discretion through written rules. I agree with this statement, I believe that using department's policies to control police discretion is the best way to go about it, because we need discretion. If police didn't use discretion, then, when a person gets pulled over for going 56 in a 55 they would get a ticket every single time. Define "administrative rulemaking" - Answer-Seeks to guide the exercise of police discretion through written departmental policies. What are the advantages of written rules? - Answer-One of the main arguments in favor of administrative rulemaking is that it is more effective than other means. Abolishing discretion is not realistic. Written rules offer obvious advantages, they provide direction for officers on how to handle critical incidents. They promote consistent performance throughout the department and written policies provide the basis or effective supervision. What are the limits of administrative rulemaking? - Answer-Administrative rulemaking also has some important limitations. First, it is impossible to write a rule that covers every possible situation. Second, formal rules may encourage evasion or lying. Third, complex written rules may only make the situation worse, creating more uncertainty for the police officer rather than less. Finally, elaborate rules many only create a negative atmosphere in the department where officers believe that the rules only exist to "get" them and, as a result the officers do as little work as possible. Who decides what laws to enforce? - Answer-Police officers/agencies Racial Profiling - Answer-The practice of making police stops solely on the basis of one's race or ethnicity and not because of criminal activity. Define police-community relations: - Answer-Programs designed to improve relations with minority communities. Cultural Competence - Answer-The ability to understand and respond appropriately to differences in languages and traditions.