Policing A Free Society

An in-depth critical analysis of how ruling elites use the police institution in order to control communities.

This report of the President's Commission on Law Enforcement and Administration of Justice -- established by President Lyndon Johnson on July 23, 1965 -- addresses the causes of crime and delinquency and recommends how to prevent crime and delinquency and improve law enforcement and the administration of criminal justice. In developing its findings and recommendations, the Commission held three national conferences, conducted five national surveys, held hundreds of meetings, and interviewed tens of thousands of individuals. Separate chapters of this report discuss crime in America, juvenile delinquency, the police, the courts, corrections, organized crime, narcotics and drug abuse, drunkenness offenses, gun control, science and technology, and research as an instrument for reform. Significant data were generated by the Commission's National Survey of Criminal Victims, the first of its kind conducted on such a scope. The survey found that not only do Americans experience far more crime than they report to the police, but they talk about crime and the reports of crime engender such fear among citizens that the basic quality of life of many Americans has eroded. The core conclusion of the Commission, however, is that a significant reduction in crime can be achieved if the Commission's recommendations (some 200) are implemented. The recommendations call for a cooperative attack on crime by the Federal Government, the States, the counties, the cities, civic organizations, religious institutions, business groups, and individual citizens. They propose basic changes in the operations of police, schools, prosecutors, employment agencies, defenders, social workers, prisons, housing authorities, and probation and parole officers.

Draws upon the use of contemporary examples taken from movies, television and the print media, this instructors guide includes chapter outlines, chapter objectives, summaries of chapters, key terms from chapters, a test bank consisting of the following types of questions: choice, true and false, matching, and discussion.

Delving behind Canada’s veneer of multiculturalism and tolerance, Policing Black Lives traces the violent realities of anti-blackness from the slave ships to prisons, classrooms and beyond. Robyn Maynard provides readers with the first comprehensive account of nearly four hundred years of state-sanctioned surveillance, criminalization and punishment of Black lives in Canada. While highlighting the ubiquity of Black resistance, Policing Black Lives traces the still-living legacy of slavery across multiple institutions, shedding light on the state’s role in perpetuating contemporary Black poverty and unemployment, racial profiling, law enforcement violence, incarceration, immigration detention, deportation, exploitative migrant labour practices, disproportionate child removal and low graduation rates. Emerging from a critical race feminist framework that insists that all Black lives matter, Maynard’s intersectional approach to anti-Black racism addresses the unique and understudied impacts of state violence as it is experienced by Black women, Black people with disabilities, as well as queer, trans, and undocumented Black communities. A call-to-action, Policing Black Lives urges readers to work toward dismantling structures of racial domination and re-imagining a more just society.

The classic book on problem-oriented policing (POP), is now back in print. Written by Professor Herman Goldstein, one of the most highly regarded scholars in the field of policing who originated the POP concept, this monograph presents a new model for developing police services that corrects for the inadequacies and conflicts inherent in the traditional model. While originally published in 1990, the concept is even more relevant today as a response to meeting current concerns regarding the complex role of the police in a society that seeks to increase police effectiveness while placing the highest value on operating in accord with democratic principles. It calls for reorienting police agencies so that they place highest emphasis on: (1) analyzing each of the specific behavioral problems that the public expects them to handle; (2) developing new, creative, tailor-made responses to each such problem, giving top priority to preventive measures and trying to avoid over dependence on the criminal justice system, and engaging the community more fully; (3) realigning their organization, leadership, recruitment and training to support this orientation.

The focus of this book is the policing of modern society and the risks involved. It explores various issues and factors effecting policing communities, particularly communication and police organization.

Smart societies pose new challenges for police organizations. Demands for more efficiency and effectiveness test police organizations which are often resistant to change. This book uses the concept of the abstract police to describe the way in which police organizations have tried to adapt to these new evolutions and the consequences. The chapters stem from a conference called “Street Policing in a Smart Society” which sought to frame and analyse these developments in policing. In this book, the concept of the abstract police is introduced, analysed and then challenged from different angles, looking at the evolutions related to technology, plural policing, police discretion and police decision making. As such, the book is a reflection of current debates on policing and police organization, aiming to give input to the debate by providing new insights on police and police work.