Skip to main content

Currently Skimming:

1 Introduction
Pages 11-19

The Chapter Skim interface presents what we've algorithmically identified as the most significant single chunk of text within every page in the chapter.
Select key terms on the right to highlight them within pages of the chapter.


From page 11...
... The committee was asked to assess police research and its influence on policing, as well as the influence and operation of the community policing philosophy. The committee was charged with four specific tasks: · Develop an analytic framework for reviewing existing research on police operations and practices, to identify factors that contribute to crime prevention or reduction, public safety, and police service quality.
From page 12...
... The committee examined police research done primarily since 1968, including that sponsored by the 1994 crime act. Since the vast bulk of research is devoted to local law enforcement agencies serving communities located in metropolitan areas, the committee made an early decision to focus its attention on these departments.
From page 13...
... They have been remarkably willing to let scholars investigate highly sensitive issues, such as use of force and even police misconduct. The community is vitally interested in the quality of policing, and there has been an impressive amount of research on citizen involvement in policing and public safety issues.
From page 14...
... While all of this is consistent with America's democratic tradition, it limits the ability of the federal government to spark innovation or encourage uniform and progressive police policies. Instead, such factors as crime, demographic change, local political culture, the courts, and state legislation play important roles in stimulating reactive change within this decentralized system.
From page 15...
... The highly discretionary nature of police work increases the difficulty of ensuring the fairness and lawfulness of everyday policing. Police are authorized to exercise their authority in encounters with the public, by issuing citations, making arrests, using physical force, and sometimes employing lethal force.
From page 16...
... Police handling of the mentally ill has been the subject of some research, but more is needed. Among the officer characteristics, neither race nor gender has a direct influence on the outcome of routine police-citizen encounters, and there is no clear effect of officer's attitudes, job satisfaction, or personality.
From page 17...
... The standard model is defined by the more or less across-the-board reliance on random patrol, rapid response to calls for service, follow-up investigations by detectives, and unfocused enforcement efforts. Debates over the proper size of a city's police department also usually hinge on the standard assumption that larger is better when it comes to crime control.
From page 18...
... Lawfulness and Legitimacy Chapters 7 and 8 turn to research on the criteria by which society makes judgments about the police: their lawfulness -- that is, police compliance with constitutional, statutory, and professional norms -- and their legitimacy -- defined by the public's beliefs about the police and their willingness to recognize police authority. Many controversies in policing reflect these broad concerns; the recent crisis regarding racial profiling is only the most recent example of the challenge police agencies face in balancing the demands of effective crime control, lawfulness, and legitimacy.
From page 19...
... Evidence from policing research contradicts any concern that an emphasis on policing that is fair and restrained will necessarily undermine their crime control effectiveness, and vice versa, for fairness and effectiveness are not mutually exclusive, but mutually reinforcing. The work of this committee suggests that policing that is perceived as fair is more effective in fostering a law-abiding society, and success in reducing crime enhances police legitimacy.


This material may be derived from roughly machine-read images, and so is provided only to facilitate research.
More information on Chapter Skim is available.