SOC 1500 Lecture Notes - Lecture 8: Nonverbal Communication, Flashlight, Crime Prevention
NOV 2
The Police
SOC*1500
The police are the gatekeeper to the criminal justice system
Traditional Role of Police
• Crime control (1/3 of their time spent on crime control)
• Social service 2/3 of their time spent on social services)
• Order maintenance — keeping the peace, making sure conflicts dont escalate, attendants
at certain events, their presence prevents certain behaviours, disputes, managing conflicts,
noise complaints
• Crime prevention & service — working with community partners, schools, organizations,
positive presence to prevent crime from happening
Attitudes Toward Police
• Age & race are key — other sociodemographic variables ambiguous
• Early contact is important
• Peoples attitudes are how the police gauge how they are doing
• More contact with police during youth = negative view toward police
• Older people have more favourable views toward police
• Groups with most negative views toward police: young people, visible minorities, victims of
crime and those who perceive their neighbourhoods as high crime
• minority youth have more negative views
Gender
• women more engaged in policing now than ever before
• want police service to look like the people theyre working with
• research on women and policing shows that female officers are less likely to use deadly force
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