CJ ST 240 Lecture Notes - Lecture 6: Albert Reiss, Criminal Record, Misdemeanor
11 Oct 2016
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CJ ST 240 Notes
Police behavior and discretion
• General points
• Police-citizen interaction is a collision of the state against the individual
• The police tolerate and accept far more abuse and indignity than they administer
• Neither the police nor the public are blind to social statuses
• The police are very aware that segments of the public distrust, dislike, fear, or hate them
• Research conducted by Donald Black and Albert Reiss based on observations of 5,713
police-citizen interactions in Boston, Chicago, & Washington D.C. in the 1960’s
• Most arrest situations arise through citizen rather than police initiative
• Arrest decision (leniency or harshness) sharply reflects the preferences of citizen
complainants
• The police are more lenient and use their arrest power less often than the law would allow
• Evidence is an important factor in arrest
• Offense seriousness is positively related to arrest
• The greater the relational distance between a complaint and suspect, the greater the
likelihood of arrest
• Probability of arrest increases when a suspect is disrespectful toward the police
• Police do not discriminate widely on the basis of race
Police Discretion
• Legal Factors
• Seriousness of the offense (60% to 90% of offenses are benign misdemeanor or petty
offenses)
• Prior record
• Recidivism is a certainty for serious delinquents
• Criminal record might itself be an artifact of police bias
• Unless it is a traffic stop, police often lack criminal record information although they can
make inferences based on offender demeanor
• Evidence: physical, eyewitness, testimonial, anecdotal, motivational
• Extralegal Factors
• Deference, disrespect, shiftiness/hands in pockets, frequently looking around as if to
escape, belligerence
• Calling police various racial, homophobic, or police-related slurs
• Are you behaving like a person experiencing their 1st or 86th arrest… police are well
acquainted with both types
• Each of these demeanor cues could have different meaning depending on the race,
ethnicity, age, sex, social class, attitude, or attractiveness of the citizen and the officer
• Early studies found that 50-60% of arrest decision was based on demeanor, but it often
included criminal acts (e.g., resisting with violence)
• A recent study found that initiating minor force against officer while being handcuffed
increases chance of police force by 1,800%
The Dark Side of Policing
• Police personality and culture: law enforcement officers are informally socialized in
accordance with the customs, laws, and morality of police
• The police separate themselves from other societal members, hiding behind the “thin blue
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Police behavior and discretion: general points, research conducted by donald black and albert reiss based on observations of 5,713. Police-citizen interaction is a collision of the state against the individual. The police tolerate and accept far more abuse and indignity than they administer. Neither the police nor the public are blind to social statuses. The police are very aware that segments of the public distrust, dislike, fear, or hate them police-citizen interactions in boston, chicago, & washington d. c. in the 1960"s: most arrest situations arise through citizen rather than police initiative. Arrest decision (leniency or harshness) sharply reflects the preferences of citizen complainants. The police are more lenient and use their arrest power less often than the law would allow. Evidence is an important factor in arrest: offense seriousness is positively related to arrest. The greater the relational distance between a complaint and suspect, the greater the. Probability of arrest increases when a suspect is disrespectful toward the police.
