Policing in America Test Questions with Verified Answers Latest 2025
How can the police prevent crime? - Answers Patrol - visible presence to deter crime
Formal crime prevention efforts - target hardening (focusing on certain areas/problems to reduce crime)
Take proactive steps to prevent crime - work with community groups, work with at risk kids in school,
etc.
What is proactive crime prevention? - Answers Activities taken to prevent crime before it occurs
What is reactive crime prevention? - Answers Activities such as responding to calls for service and
investigating crimes
What types of crime pose extra challenges to police in fighting crime? - Answers Gangs
Drugs
Repeat offender/career criminals
Gun Crime
Hate crime
Terrorism
What are supply reduction strategies? - Answers focus on law enforcement and targeting the supply of
illegal drugs
What are the steps in a Supply Reduction Strategy? - Answers 1. Buy-and-bust-strategy-undercover
officers buy and then arrest the dealer
2. Arrest low-level dealers and offer them leniency if they help them arrest higher level dealers/suppliers
3. Long term undercover work to penetrate a drug synthetic
4. Crackdown on drug market in certain area over a limited period of time
-aggressive arrest policy for all drug and other offenses in an area plagued by drugs and violence
What are demand reduction strategies? - Answers take the opposite approach and focus on reducing
demand for drugs among potential users (programs like DARE)
Is DARE effective? - Answers DARE is the most studied program and has not been found effective. These
studies generally either find that students who take the course are not less likely to try drugs than those
who did not have DARE. Some studies found these students were MORE likely to use.
, Why are gang-related crimes challenging? - Answers Increasing gang crime through the 80s and 90s
posed new challenges. Dealing more often with juveniles committing serious offenses. More crimes with
multiple offenders - longer investigations, more people to interview, etc.
What are two main ways gangs have been dealt with? - Answers Law enforcement crackdowns and gang
prevention efforts
What are law enforcement crackdowns? - Answers many departments have gang units that focus on
gang related crime
What is the Boston Gun Project? - Answers Juvenile firearm homicides were a growing problem in
Boston in the late 80s to early 90s. This project, aka "pulling levers," involved a task force of police,
prosecutors, researchers, and community groups that dealt with gang problem.
Was the Boston Gun Project effective? - Answers Yes it was found effective. There were shooting
followed by crackdowns and harsh punishments, but youth homicides were down dramatically after a
year or two
How did the task force in the Boston Gun Project deal with the gang problem? - Answers They called in
gang members and told them violence would not be tolerated. Anytime there was a shooting they
would crack down on them for every possible violation and pull every lever to get them the harshest
punishment possible. They also gave gang members access to education, training programs, etc. to get
their lives on track - give them a way out but crack down on them if they were involved in violence.
What is the most famous gang prevention effort? - Answers GREAT - Gang Resistance Education and
Training
What is GREAT? - Answers A 9 week class for middle school students led by a uniform police officer.
Focuses on conflict resolution, cultural sensitivity and other issues related to gang involvement
Compare studies done of DARE and GREAT. - Answers There has not been nearly as many studies done
on GREAT as there has been on DARE, but thus far studies have found it effective where as DARE has not
been found to be that effective.
What are the key tactics of the Professional Era/Standard model of policing tested? - Answers -Random,
preventative patrol
-adding police officers to fight crime
-rapid response to calls for service
-well trained employees to improve performance
What two key assumptions did the Kansas City Preventative Patrol Experiment make? - Answers 1.
Police could deter crime by randomly patrolling the entire city in police cars
2. Such patrols make residents feel safer
How can the police prevent crime? - Answers Patrol - visible presence to deter crime
Formal crime prevention efforts - target hardening (focusing on certain areas/problems to reduce crime)
Take proactive steps to prevent crime - work with community groups, work with at risk kids in school,
etc.
What is proactive crime prevention? - Answers Activities taken to prevent crime before it occurs
What is reactive crime prevention? - Answers Activities such as responding to calls for service and
investigating crimes
What types of crime pose extra challenges to police in fighting crime? - Answers Gangs
Drugs
Repeat offender/career criminals
Gun Crime
Hate crime
Terrorism
What are supply reduction strategies? - Answers focus on law enforcement and targeting the supply of
illegal drugs
What are the steps in a Supply Reduction Strategy? - Answers 1. Buy-and-bust-strategy-undercover
officers buy and then arrest the dealer
2. Arrest low-level dealers and offer them leniency if they help them arrest higher level dealers/suppliers
3. Long term undercover work to penetrate a drug synthetic
4. Crackdown on drug market in certain area over a limited period of time
-aggressive arrest policy for all drug and other offenses in an area plagued by drugs and violence
What are demand reduction strategies? - Answers take the opposite approach and focus on reducing
demand for drugs among potential users (programs like DARE)
Is DARE effective? - Answers DARE is the most studied program and has not been found effective. These
studies generally either find that students who take the course are not less likely to try drugs than those
who did not have DARE. Some studies found these students were MORE likely to use.
, Why are gang-related crimes challenging? - Answers Increasing gang crime through the 80s and 90s
posed new challenges. Dealing more often with juveniles committing serious offenses. More crimes with
multiple offenders - longer investigations, more people to interview, etc.
What are two main ways gangs have been dealt with? - Answers Law enforcement crackdowns and gang
prevention efforts
What are law enforcement crackdowns? - Answers many departments have gang units that focus on
gang related crime
What is the Boston Gun Project? - Answers Juvenile firearm homicides were a growing problem in
Boston in the late 80s to early 90s. This project, aka "pulling levers," involved a task force of police,
prosecutors, researchers, and community groups that dealt with gang problem.
Was the Boston Gun Project effective? - Answers Yes it was found effective. There were shooting
followed by crackdowns and harsh punishments, but youth homicides were down dramatically after a
year or two
How did the task force in the Boston Gun Project deal with the gang problem? - Answers They called in
gang members and told them violence would not be tolerated. Anytime there was a shooting they
would crack down on them for every possible violation and pull every lever to get them the harshest
punishment possible. They also gave gang members access to education, training programs, etc. to get
their lives on track - give them a way out but crack down on them if they were involved in violence.
What is the most famous gang prevention effort? - Answers GREAT - Gang Resistance Education and
Training
What is GREAT? - Answers A 9 week class for middle school students led by a uniform police officer.
Focuses on conflict resolution, cultural sensitivity and other issues related to gang involvement
Compare studies done of DARE and GREAT. - Answers There has not been nearly as many studies done
on GREAT as there has been on DARE, but thus far studies have found it effective where as DARE has not
been found to be that effective.
What are the key tactics of the Professional Era/Standard model of policing tested? - Answers -Random,
preventative patrol
-adding police officers to fight crime
-rapid response to calls for service
-well trained employees to improve performance
What two key assumptions did the Kansas City Preventative Patrol Experiment make? - Answers 1.
Police could deter crime by randomly patrolling the entire city in police cars
2. Such patrols make residents feel safer
