CJE-3110 Chapter Notes - Chapter 2: Otto Kerner Jr., Mollen Commission, Sleep Deprivation
20 Sep 2016
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Document Summary
The wickersham commission was an appointed, federal fact-finding committee in the first part of the 20th century to survey existing practices within the american criminal justice system. A common practice that occupied this commission"s attention was reliance upon coercive tactics to extract confessions from suspects. Interrogations used torture, beatings, sleep deprivation, withholding of food, and psychological trickery. Uses of coercive techniques were known as the third-degree. Wickersham commission decried the use of third-degree practices. Commission was also concerned with patrol officers receiving jobs in exchange with political favors. Some police officers hired had criminal history. Half of 383 cities replied they placed new officers out on the streets without any training or partners. Lack of an adequate communication system seriously hampered field units. Most towns used siren or light systems to notify police officers to contact hq. The invention of the wireless radio had the potential of elevating police communication systems from primitive to state-of-the-art status.
