Police Organization & Performance Metrics

Question 1

Main characteristics of police organizations? (Simpson & Hipp, 2019)

Answer 1

Rigid; hierarchical; lots of moving parts due to diverse functions; rooted in tradition & resistant to change

Question 2

What are the different eras of police organization? (Simpson & Hipp, 2019)

Answer 2

1) Political Era; 2) Professionalization Era; 3) Bureaucracy Era; 4) Community Policing Era

Question 3

Characteristics of Political Era?

Answer 3

Officers received little-to-no training; tasked w/ policing communities but practices were mostly politically-motivated back then and would be problematic now; corruption ran rampant

Question 4

Characteristics of Professionalization Era?

Answer 4

Better training w/ less political influence; beginning of standardization of police education and training

Question 5

Characteristics of Bureaucracy Era?

Answer 5

Stripped officers of discretion + autonomy; rules to guide decision-making in every situation; called for further supervision + discipline; people believed this approah would remove unfairness from police processes, but goes against PFP

Question 6

Characteristics of Community Policing Era?

Answer 6

Reversed many policies of previous era; opening of community police offices and sub-offices; reintroduced officer discretion and more focus on officer opinions regarding community issues; put community at epicenter

Question 7

Policing dimensions of interest? (Simpson & Hipp, 2019)

Answer 7

Officer diversity; community policing; patrol strategy diversity; miltancy; access + use of technology; staffing rigor (professionalization)

Question 8

Database used in Simpson & Hipp (2019) and over which years?

Answer 8

Law Enforcement Management + Administrative Statistics (LEMAS) from 1993, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2007, and 2013

Question 9

Main finding of Simpson & Hipp (2019)?

Answer 9

Police departments in 1993 were extremely variable in terms of the 6 dimensions of interest, but they became more similar over time

Question 10

Research questions of Sunshine & Tyler (2003)?

Answer 10

1) Assess whether police legitimacy has an influence on public support for the police; 2) Evaluate the determinants of legitimacy (Instrumental model v. Procedural justice model)

Question 11

Definition of legitimacy & how it affects the public?

Answer 11

Property of an authority that makes people feel that said authority is entitled to be deferred to and obeyed; increased police legitimacy increases behavioural compliance with the law and police, as well as willingness to support police discretion

Question 12

Instrumental model

Answer 12

Police gain acceptance when viewed by the public as maintaining risk (creating credible threats for lawbreakers), performance (effectively controlling crime), and distributive fairness (fair distribution of police services b/t communities)

Question 13

Procedural justice model

Answer 13

Focuses on treatment of people by police; when police are seen as fair, they are seen as legitimate, therefore the public cooperates w/ police

Question 14

4 components of procedural justice model

Answer 14

Voice (Giving people opportunities to express views prior to making a decision); Neutrality (Consistent and unbiased application of the law with transparency in decision-making); Dignity & Respect (Showing politeness and genuine respect for people’s rights); Trustworthy Motives (Motives are unmotivated by politics, quotas, or biases)

Question 15

Results of Sunshine & Tyler (2003)?

Answer 15

RQ1: Police legitimacy = dominant predictor of citizen orientation towards police
RQ2: Procedural justice model more significant determinant of legitimacy

Question 16

Benefits of Procedural justice model v. Instrumental model

Answer 16

Intrinsic motivations (PJM hinges on personal morals + motivations); No alienation; Safer for citizens & officers (Public less likely to get violent/aggressive, officers less likely to use force); Easy to manipulate

Question 17

How did police organizations change from 1993-2013?

Answer 17

Shifted towards community policing; became more diverse (in terms of the gender and race of officers); adoption of sophisticated technology