Structured police forces as we currently know them have been around for about 150 years. Prior to that, cities were looked out for by a few men who wandered the streets in the evening hours, calling out the time or weather conditions. Over a 30-year period after 1845, nearly every major city in the United States developed an organized police department (Lane, 1971; Platt et al., 1982). The early police departments were marked by corruption, inefficiency, and an overall lack of professionalism (Walker, 1977). Workforce standards were almost non-existent, and in most cases, officers gained employment through political relations. Officers enjoyed little citizen respect and often relied on violence to control the disorder and force compliance.
…show more content…
While this may seem to be a fairly basic issue, no clear definition exists. Sayings such as “police brutality” and “excessive force” can trigger very different images for different people. The police may have one definition of what behaviors constitute “excessive force”, the courts another, while citizens’ viewpoints may be shaped by race and/or social class (Adams, 1995). Some citizens, and especially minority citizens, include verbal abuse and rudeness under the definition of police brutality (President’s Commission on Law Enforcement and Administration of Justice, 1967). The absence of a strong definition of the terms “police violence” and “police brutality” hazes the understanding of experiential studies of the phenomenon. No one knows exactly how many incidents of police violence occur. Because of the uncertainty related to the measurement of police violence, researchers have turned to a number of signs, including the use of observational studies, citizen grievances, surveys, and official use of force …show more content…
First, there is an absence of nationwide studies on the occurrence. Many studies examine a particular department, which confines generalizations to other departments of varying sizes, racial structures, or differing public demographics and/or geographical locations. Furthermore, due to the delicate nature of the conclusions, numerous large-scale studies, such as the review of complaints lead by the Justice Department in response to the Rodney King incident, as well as portions of the Christopher Commission report on the practices of the Los Angeles police department, are inaccessible or unavailable to the general public. Up to now, the only comprehensive nationwide survey on police use of force was led by Pate and Fridell (1993). In this study, 1111 law enforcement agencies completed surveys on a variety of topics related to the use of police force. While this study marks a great progression in the area, the results must still be observed with attentiveness. As the authors identify, the results were established on a mail survey requiring self-administered answers regarding a sensitive issue. Additionally, the agency had the power to elect the respondent. Obviously, more large-scale studies of the occurrence of violent police actions are required. Second, as formerly mentioned, clear descriptions as to what kind of actions establish police misconduct is
While this may seem to be a fairly basic issue, no clear definition exists. Sayings such as “police brutality” and “excessive force” can trigger very different images for different people. The police may have one definition of what behaviors constitute “excessive force”, the courts another, while citizens’ viewpoints may be shaped by race and/or social class (Adams, 1995). Some citizens, and especially minority citizens, include verbal abuse and rudeness under the definition of police brutality (President’s Commission on Law Enforcement and Administration of Justice, 1967). The absence of a strong definition of the terms “police violence” and “police brutality” hazes the understanding of experiential studies of the phenomenon. No one knows exactly how many incidents of police violence occur. Because of the uncertainty related to the measurement of police violence, researchers have turned to a number of signs, including the use of observational studies, citizen grievances, surveys, and official use of force …show more content…
First, there is an absence of nationwide studies on the occurrence. Many studies examine a particular department, which confines generalizations to other departments of varying sizes, racial structures, or differing public demographics and/or geographical locations. Furthermore, due to the delicate nature of the conclusions, numerous large-scale studies, such as the review of complaints lead by the Justice Department in response to the Rodney King incident, as well as portions of the Christopher Commission report on the practices of the Los Angeles police department, are inaccessible or unavailable to the general public. Up to now, the only comprehensive nationwide survey on police use of force was led by Pate and Fridell (1993). In this study, 1111 law enforcement agencies completed surveys on a variety of topics related to the use of police force. While this study marks a great progression in the area, the results must still be observed with attentiveness. As the authors identify, the results were established on a mail survey requiring self-administered answers regarding a sensitive issue. Additionally, the agency had the power to elect the respondent. Obviously, more large-scale studies of the occurrence of violent police actions are required. Second, as formerly mentioned, clear descriptions as to what kind of actions establish police misconduct is