Police Accountability And Community Policing

A critical look at the realities of community policing in South Los Angeles The Limits of Community Policing addresses conflicts between police and communities. Luis Daniel Gascón and Aaron Roussell depart from traditional conceptions, arguing that community policing—popularized for decades as a racial panacea—is not the solution it seems to be. Tracing this policy back to its origins, they focus on the Los Angeles Police Department, which first introduced community policing after the high-profile Rodney King riots. Drawing on over sixty interviews with officers, residents, and stakeholders in South LA’s “Lakeside” precinct, they show how police tactics amplified—rather than resolved—racial tensions, complicating partnership efforts, crime response and prevention, and accountability. Gascón and Roussell shine a new light on the residents of this neighborhood to address the enduring—and frequently explosive—conflicts between police and communities. At a time when these issues have taken center stage, this volume offers a critical understanding of how community policing really works.

A critical look at the realities of community policing in South Los Angeles The Limits of Community Policing addresses conflicts between police and communities. Luis Daniel Gascón and Aaron Roussell depart from traditional conceptions, arguing that community policing—popularized for decades as a racial panacea—is not the solution it seems to be. Tracing this policy back to its origins, they focus on the Los Angeles Police Department, which first introduced community policing after the high-profile Rodney King riots. Drawing on over sixty interviews with officers, residents, and stakeholders in South LA’s “Lakeside” precinct, they show how police tactics amplified—rather than resolved—racial tensions, complicating partnership efforts, crime response and prevention, and accountability. Gascón and Roussell shine a new light on the residents of this neighborhood to address the enduring—and frequently explosive—conflicts between police and communities. At a time when these issues have taken center stage, this volume offers a critical understanding of how community policing really works.

Topics covered include police values, police culture, police accountability, police leadership, policies and procedures.

Accountability of Policing provides a contemporary and wide-ranging examination of the accountability and governance of ‘police’ and ‘policing’. Debates about ‘who guards the guards’ are among the oldest and most protracted in the history of democracy, but over the last decade we have witnessed important changes in how policing and security agencies are governed, regulated and held to account. Against a backdrop of increasing complexity in the local, national and transnational landscapes of ‘policing’, political, legal, administrative and technological developments have served to alter regimes of accountability. The extent and pace of these changes raises a pressing need for ongoing academic research, analysis and debate. Bringing together contributions from a range of leading scholars, this book offers an authoritative and comprehensive analysis of the shifting themes of accountability within policing. The contributions explore questions of accountability across a range of dimensions, including those ‘individuals’ and ‘institutions’ responsible for its delivery, within and between the ‘public’ and ‘private’ sectors, and at ‘local’, ‘national’ and ‘transnational’ scales of jurisdiction. They also engage with the concept of ‘accountability’ in a broad sense, bringing to the surface the various meanings that have become associated with it and demonstrating how it is invoked and interpreted in different contexts. Accountability of Policing is essential reading for academics and students involved in the study of policing, criminal justice and criminology and will also be of great interest to practitioners and policymakers.

Completely revised to cover recent events and research, the Third Edition of The New World of Police Accountability provides an original and comprehensive analysis of some of the most important developments in police accountability and reform strategies. With a keen and incisive perspective, esteemed authors and policing researchers, Samuel Walker and Carol Archbold, address the most recent developments and provide an analysis of what works, what reforms are promising, and what has proven unsuccessful. The book’s analysis draws on current research, as well as the President's Task Force on 21st Century Policing and the reforms embodied in Justice Department consent decrees. New to the Third Edition: The national crisis over police legitimacy and use of force is put into context through extensive discussions of recent police shootings and the response to this national crisis, providing readers a valuable perspective on the positive steps that have been taken and the limits of those steps. Coverage of the issues related to police officer uses of force is now the prevailing topic in Chapter 3 and includes detailed discussion of the topic, including de-escalation, tactical decision making, and the important changes in training related to these issues. An updated examination of the impact of technology on policing, including citizens’ use of recording devices, body-worn cameras, open data provided by police agencies, and use of social media, explores how technology contributes to police accountability in the United States. A complete, up-to-date discussion of citizen oversight of the police provides details on the work of selected oversight agencies, including the positive developments and their limitations, enabling readers to have an informed discussion of the subject. Detailed coverage of routine police activities that often generate public controversy now includes such topics as responding to mental health calls, domestic violence calls, and police "stop and frisk" practices. Issues related to policing and race relations are addressed head-on through a careful examination of the data, as well as the impact of recent reforms that have attempted to achieve professional, bias-free policing.

Informed by the author's extensive personal experience in consulting, researching, and writing about various aspects of the law enforcement profession, as well as serving as a police officer, Police Accountability: Common Sense Discussions provides readers with a comprehensive examination of police conduct and responsibility. From ideas on ethics to professionalism to community-oriented policing efforts, the text features rich information to help law enforcement professionals develop and improve individual and systemic conduct. The book is divided into three distinct parts. In Part I, readers consider ethical principles; discretionary decision making; the experiences, perceptions, and portrayals of police officers; and issues pertaining to reform. Part II focuses on proactive strategies, including professionalism and community policing, increasing educational requirements, thoughtful selection of candidates, and more. The final part discusses reactive strategies, with special emphasis on the development of leadership and management, evaluating and improving police review systems, reactive strategies to the use of force and deadly force, and the future of the profession. Police Accountability is a valuable and well-researched text that is ideal for courses and programs in law enforcement and policing. Douglas W. Perez is a professor emeritus in the Criminal Justice Department at the State University of New York, Plattsburgh, where he taught courses in criminal justice, focusing on the police, law and society, the drug war, and introductory courses. Previously, he served as a deputy sheriff and correctional officer at the Contra Costa County Sheriff's Office in California. Dr. Perez is the author of The Paradoxes of Policy Work, Common Sense about Police Review, and Police Ethics: A Matter of Character.

Police organizations across the globe are experiencing major changes. Many nations cope with funding constraints as pressures within their societies, terrorism and transnational crime, and social and political transformations necessitate a more democratic form of policing. Drawn from the proceedings at the International Police Executive Symposium in Prague and other IPES projects, Global Environment of Policing is composed of case studies from more than fourteen countries and six continents. Divided into four sections, the book presents contributions from high-level police executives, practitioners, and academics. Policing, Crime Control, and the Community explores community policing in Latin America and the United States and describes the effectiveness of a "zero tolerance" policy in New York City. It also presents a historical case study of policing in Portugal. Policing, Politics, and Democracy examines challenges confronting developing countries, policing in Brazil, police accountability mechanisms in India, and concerns regarding the democratization of policing. Policing: Global Challenges considers a range of contemporary issues within the policing environment, including policing cyberspace, police agencies’ striving for legitimacy, how law enforcement policies travel worldwide, and the problems of organized crime and people smuggling. Police Leadership, Management, Education, and Organization reflects on the growing issue of police reform. It discusses the infusion of private sector thinking into state police organizations, conflicts between police unions and management, training and models for police education, and police accountability in Bangladesh. The final chapter draws conclusions about the research presented in the book and provides a window on future concerns. With insight from world leaders in academia and in the field, the book offers sage insight into the most critical issues facing contemporary police organizations.