CRM 2305 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Frisking, Survey Data Collection, Flashlight
22 Jun 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
Discussion Question: What comes to mind when you think of policing in a modern
society?
Police Brutality- much more awareness in the last 5-10 years within cases, the
media has played a key role in making these cases more visible.
What we can expect to see more is police services decentralizing and branching
out more in the future/years to come
Change of rights within privacy/technology. Police having more access to service
providers. Public wants street surveillance, resistant to online surveillance.
Controversial of police carrying body cameras. Invasion of rights vs from the
police officers perspective. Layer of protection for police officer. Both parties
must be accountable. Privacy element of the civilian in a situation of crisis.
Controversy of police turning off the camera at certain points of an
interaction/investigation
Privatization of policing
Introduction
Police Work: the activities of any individual or organization acting legally on behalf of the
public or private organizations or persons to maintain security or social order while
empowered by either public or private contract, regulations, or policies, written or
verbal(Griffiths,2016. Pg.4).
(The police are the people)- don't see that being the case in society today.
Contemporary Police Work
The Legislative Framework of Police Work
Downloading phenomena- asked to step in as crisis interventioner. A problem solver,
therapist, and a figure of authority. What we see is some officers can be linked to
deinstitutionalization movement. Police officer almost asked to take an additional role of
also being a social worker, despite not having proper training.
Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms- the cornerstone of police work.
Within CJS process, police have the most visibility within the public. Most
important legislation
Constitution Act, 1867- has impact on federal and provincial laws. Federal- more
long term jail sentences. Provincial- duty to administer justice(3 years less a day)
Criminal Code of Canada- guidebook that will identify what acts are illegal and
also with sentencing, provisions etc..
Provincial and municipal legislation-traffic acts, municipal police act, liquor acts
Royal Canadian Mounted Police(RCMP) Act- guidelines for their oversight
committees. Had to establish more rigorous review boards because of
complaints that have occured.
Perspectives on the Role of the Police
Social Contract- Neutrality. The police are a neutral force. They are objective and there
to provide that everyone is safe within society. Protection and law enforcement. Make
sure everyone is following the law. Maintain the peace, perform duty or care.The idea
that citizens must give up certain rights for the greater good of society.
Radical Perspective- Inequality. Believes the police are tied to the state and equality
and biases are present. Not objective. For example, when protests occur within society.
Controversial arrests and access to information that should not be accessed by police.
Believe that there are privileging dominate state interests/groups that the police
subscribe to. Brings a critical lense, and look at the layers and partnerships within police.
Some of the moral dilemmas.
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Police Work in a Democratic Society
Contradictory mandate: Public protection vs Public safety. Ensure we are
respecting and honouring people's rights. The charter comes into play. Being
accountable and not following the rules
Law reform commission of canada identified four key values:
1. Justice: the idea that police are maintaining peace and security within the
community without violating the rights of individuals
2. Equality- everyone should be able to access the services of the police. Receive
assistance in a timely manner, and they do not feel threatened or scared to
3. Accountability: becoming a bigger issue in modern day society due to cases
happening currently. Because police are held to privileged position, we have
system of accountability in place to make sure they are not abusing their
authority, and that they can be investigated both internally and externally if the
need arises. Gaining public trust. Review boards, oversight committees to
prevent future instances of misconduct. Having investigations
4. Efficiency- the efficiency of police forces, who are working day shifts. Solving
problem situation. Length of time it takes to get to a call, dealing with budgets
and allocating money in the correct places. Where they issue tickets and being
responsible throughout the policing process.
The Roles of the Police
In CJS- fluctuation of environment within policing. Environments can range from
concerts, highway patrol, accidents, one of the lights aren't working, protests,
coming into people’s homes, schools, jailhouse. Varies each day, can be
different each day. Always must be alert and have the ability to troubleshoot.
Expanding- “Downloading”- roles of the interventionist, social worker, advocate.
Helping certain groups such as at risk youth. Expansion of role of the police
officer.
Use of Authority- referring to the authority to deprive someone’s freedom. The
authority to use force.
Authority to use force
Influences of the Police Role
1. Community-How receptive will the community members be? Police are the
public, and the public are the police. Kind of issues that may be plaguing a
community, and different expectations for the police within specific
communities. Communities experience of how police treat people within
that community, and how there must be a level of trust the communities
have with police. Within communities, there is retaliation for calling the
police, informal control by other gang members who limit police getting
called by the use of fear of retaliation. Do people feel they belong within a
community? Newcomers may have had bad experiences with police in a
different country. Language barriers?
2. Funding- Within our tiers of policing, funding comes into play in terms of where
you are allocating money to specific divisions.
3. Crime- looking at crimes rates. We are on a steady decline within Canada. There
can be some fluctuation. Homicide rates are lower. Diversification of crime, in
terms of crime being committed online now. Cyber Bullying becoming more
common. Dark Figures of crime- all the crime that is not even reported to police.
So many crimes that go accounted for and are not reported.
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4. Economic, political and cultural trends- an example of economic trends is they
had a hiring freeze. Lead to a lot of frustration and the hiring was halted due to
economic difficulties. They are now back to recruiting, so economically this is
improving.
5. Geography- if you are policing in the Byward Market rather than policing in
Orleans. Different responsibilities and expectations due to where you are
working.
6. Government-
7. Legislation: A lot of things happening now in terms legislation. An example of
this is the legalization of marijuana. The reason this is so significant is because
we have witnessed many people getting arrested due to this. Under Harper
government, if someone had more than 6 plants in their house they could be put
in jail.Mandatory minimum sentences to not even being considered a crime due
to legalization.
8. Court decisions: these can change quickly. One case in the 90s (r v stincon),
looked at full disclosure of evidence.
9. Diversity
Key Concepts in the Study of Police Work
Transparency and accountability
The cost-benefits of police work- costing more today to do police work. More
computerized documents. Spending more time doing this. Can take away from
other resources and can also cost more money due to this time. Chiefs are
tasked with analyzing how to make the police service as efficient as possible.
Police legitimacy- idea of establishing what the group efforts are of police as a
whole in order to boost the public's confidence/trust in their ability to respect
everyone's rights
The fluctuating boundaries of police work- Working less in isolation, different
crime prevention aims. Working in partnership with other criminal justice
agencies. Situational tabeling where certain officers will be selected to receive
training for mental health, and they will meet with mental health professionals.
Ensuring the public has access to resources, and is also receiving treatment.
Even police officers dealing with depression, or anxiety. Wellness projects,
checking in with other officers and help with police officer’s overall mental health
and well being. Culture used to see police officers as strong, and having mental
health issues was seen as officers being weak, but now there is a culture change
to be more accepting, and understanding that police are human.
Enhanced police visibility- due to the advent of technology. Having the camera
phone increases police accountability with excessive brute force, and this
technology has heightened the visibility of police. This is apart of the reality of
having surveillance, and protecting human rights.
January 19th, 2018
Guest Speaker: Inspector Dan Delany
Section 25.1 of the criminal code: states that police officers have the right to use lethal
force
Section 49.1 says that the police have the right to take away liberty based on reasonable
grounds
find more resources at oneclass.com
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Document Summary
Police brutality- much more awareness in the last 5-10 years within cases, the media has played a key role in making these cases more visible. What we can expect to see more is police services decentralizing and branching out more in the future/years to come. Public wants street surveillance, resistant to online surveillance. Invasion of rights vs from the police officers perspective. Privacy element of the civilian in a situation of crisis. Controversy of police turning off the camera at certain points of an interaction/investigation. Pg. 4). (the police are the people)- don"t see that being the case in society today. Downloading phenomena- asked to step in as crisis interventioner. A problem solver, therapist, and a figure of authority. What we see is some officers can be linked to deinstitutionalization movement. Police officer almost asked to take an additional role of also being a social worker, despite not having proper training.
