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Police and Human Rights: A Manual for Teachers and Resource Persons and for Participants in Human Rights Programmes  by Ralph Crawshaw (Raoul Wallenberg Institute Professional Guides to Human Rights:Martinus Nijhoff Publishers/Brill Academic) This publication is a human rights teaching manual for teachers and resource persons who are proficient in the craft and profession of policing as practitioners, or learned in that field as educators or academics. It is also a reference manual for police officials participating in programmes based on the manual, and a continuing source of reference for them when they have completed a programme. The teaching manual has been prepared for use as a valuable resource in an educational process which should enable and require police officials to consider how they are to carry out their functions in an effective, lawful and humane manner. Policing is one of the means by and through which governments either meet, or fail to meet, their obligations under international law to protect the human rights of people within the jurisdiction of states they govern.

This manual is offered as a contribution towards the realisable ideal of securing protection and promotion of human rights by and through policing.

Ralph Crawshaw has delivered human rights programmes for police on behalf of the Raoul Wallenberg Institute in a number of countries. He is a former senior police officer, and is currently a Fellow of the Human Rights Centre at the University of Essex in England.

The format and content of the manual, and the recommendations and suggestions for conducting human rights programmes for police it contains, are based on best practice developed during such programmes implemented by the Raoul Wallenberg Institute of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law in a wide variety of countries throughout the world.

The contents of the manual can be used as a basis for lessons or presentations by teachers or resource persons. It is not a set of lesson notes as these are personal to the person creating and using them. Furthermore, the actual content of a lesson or presentation needs to be adapted to the specific circumstances of those participating in human rights programmes.

The principal objective of human rights programmes for police organised by the Raoul Wallenberg Institute is to influence the attitudes and thence the behaviour of police officials, so that they deliver effective policing which is at the same time lawful and humane.

However it is recognised that the achievement of this objective is dependent upon a number of factors in addition to the delivery of educational or training programmes.These other factors include, for example, the existence of the necessary political will to change police agencies; the realisation of cultural and organisational change within police agencies; and the enforcement of measures to secure the accountability of police to the law.

For this reason it is also important to recognise that other objectives of human rights programmes for police are to:

make police officials aware of international human rights and humanitarian law standards;

provide a forum for police officials to discuss human rights and policing issues;

encourage and require police officials to consider policing from a human rights perspective; and

provide a basis for continuing efforts within police agencies to deliver effective, lawful and humane policing.

II This Introduction and Guide to the Manual

This introduction and guide consists of notes on the:

format of the teaching manual;

format of sections in the manual;

teaching methods for programmes based on the manual; types of programme for which the manual is relevant; and duration of programmes.

Ill Format of Teaching Manual

There are three parts to this manual:

Part One The Context

This part includes two chapters on essential introductory matters, essential because they convey information and messages important on their own account, and essential because they provide the conceptual framework necessary for understanding the ensuing parts of the manual and programmes based on them.

Chapter 1 The Professional Context

It is important to establish the professional context because police officials need to understand why they are being asked to consider policing from a human rights perspective, and to understand the link between lawful and humane exercise of power and professional competence.

This is why the exercise 'Challenges and Professionalism' is set out in the first section of the manual, and why it is proposed as the first substantive session of any programme, after the opening formalities.

The exercise should be suitable for use with most police audiences, but teachers and resource persons should consider whether it requires adapting or amending in particular situations.

Section b, dealing with the professional ethics of policing, is included in this chapter to emphasise the link, referred to above, between lawful and humane policing and professional competence. Teachers and resource persons can use its contents to inform discussion on the issues arising out of the exercise in section a, or they can base a separate session on the section.

Chapter 2 The International Context

It must be recognised that the primary legal bases for policing in any state are the national constitutions and laws of that state. However, the significance of international human rights and humanitarian law standards for police officials must equally be recognised, for policing is one of the means by which a state either meets or fails to meet its obligations under international law to secure respect for and observance of human rights.

By making senior police officials aware of the international context of their work, they can be encouraged to command, manage and supervise their subordinates in ways that enable or require them to carry out their duties strictly in accordance with the law and with proper respect for human rights. Indeed the provisions of some international human rights instruments are addressed directly to senior police officials. Furthermore, international human rights and humanitarian standards:

reinforce national constitutional and legal provisions which protect human rights; and

provide a valuable basis for discussing the relationship between policing and human rights.

As far as basic level police officials are concerned, international human rights and humanitarian standards can be used as teaching resources to encourage them to respect and protect human rights as they carry out their duties. Such officials do not necessarily need to be instructed in the international system for the protection of human rights, or the actual provisions of the instruments.

The extent to which this is done is a matter for the judgement of their educators and trainers. However, it should be remembered that some international instruments are addressed to all police officials. The Code of Conduct for Law Enforcement Officials is one such instrument. Furthermore, the Guidelines for the effective implementation of the Code of Conduct for Law Enforcement Officials require the Code to be made available to all law enforcement officials in their own language.

The material in the three sections (sections a - c) of this chapter enables teachers and resource persons to provide participants with sufficient information on the:

the nature of human rights and the reasons for their protection under international law;

the nature and status of the various instruments which embody human rights standards; and

the ways in which the standards may be enforced

so that discussion on the substantive matters covered in ensuing parts of the manual is meaningful.

Part Two The Standards

This part includes four chapters dealing with international human rights and humanitarian standards relevant to policing, and can be considered to be the essential core of the manual and of programmes derived from it.

Each section within the chapters deals with a discrete theme or topic, for example the treatment of detainees or policing in times of armed conflict. The provisions of instruments protecting children's rights are included in the various sections as appropriate. The protection of children and their rights is also specifically addressed in chapter 2 section a. of this part 'The Protection of Human Rights and the Prevention of Discrimination'

Chapter 1 Respect for Human Rights: Police Powers

The four sections (sections a - d) in this chapter deal with rights and prohibitions fundamental to the protection of the physical and mental integrity of the person and to human dignity. They are enshrined in international law and in the domestic laws of states, and they constrain and limit powers to use force, to arrest, to detain, and to search and to carry out surveillance operations.

The balance between fundamental rights and essential police powers has been established in international law, which is the basis of the subject matter of this manual, and in domestic law. Police officials, whose role includes law enforcement, are legally bound to respect the law which protects human rights when exercising their powers. The delivery of effective, lawful and humane policing requires this.

Chapter 2 Protection of Human Rights: Police Functions

The three sections (sections a - c) in this chapter deal with human rights in relation to police functions. Clearly, in performing their functions police exercise the powers referred to in the preceding chapter, and the international standards considered in that chapter are also relevant to the subject matter of this chapter.

However, other standards are also relevant when considering the basic functions of policing. For example the protection of human rights and the prevention of discrimination are police functions in themselves, as is the protection of rights to democratic freedoms such as the right to peaceful assembly. When police investigate crime they need to be aware of, and to respect and protect, rights essential to secure a fair trial of those accused of crimes.

Chapter 3 Police Behaviour in Situations of Armed Conflict, Internal Disturbance and Tension, and Emergency and Disaster

Responding to situations of armed conflict and internal disturbance and tension are also police functions. In addition to international human rights law, the laws of war, otherwise known as the law of armed conflict or international humanitarian law, are also legally applicable in some of these situations and relevant in all of them. The first two sections (sections a and b) in this chapter deal with both branches of law, and

aspects of police responses to these situations. Policing in situations of emergency and disaster is dealt with in the third and final section of this chapter, which focuses on international human rights standards relevant to police behaviour in emergencies and disasters.

Chapter 4 Realisation of Human Rights through Leadership and Enlightenment

The two sections in this chapter deal with the realisation of human rights. Section a. concerns police leadership, and section b. concerns education and training of police. The sections are, respectively, intended to provide bases for sessions on programmes for police leaders and for teachers and trainers of police.

Effective, rational and informed leadership practices are necessary to ensure that human rights are realised during the actual practice of policing and, also to that end, it is a function of teachers and trainers of police to enlighten police officials on human rights.

Part Three Workshops

One of the objectives of human rights programmes for police, identified above, is to 'provide a basis for continuing efforts within police agencies to deliver effective, lawful and humane policing.

The workshop element of programmes derived from this manual is designed largely to initiate the longer term continuing effort to secure respect for and protection of human rights by police expressed in this objective.

The two chapters in this part describe ideas for workshop elements to be incorporated into programmes derived from this manual. Chapter 1 contains two suggestions for workshop activities for police leaders, and chapter 2 contains three suggestions for workshop activity for teachers and trainers. Clearly, teachers and resource persons presenting programmes based on this manual can develop their own workshop topics appropriate to the participants undertaking the programme.

It is recommended that the workshop element of the programme follows the seminar element (that is to say sessions on the subject matters of parts one and two of the manual), so that the product of the workshop is informed by all of the sessions based on parts one and two of the manual.

It is also recommended that, wherever possible, guidance and assistance be provided (using resource persons with appropriate expertise) to continue the development and implementation of the workshop product within the police agency concerned.

In some cases, depending upon the workshop product and the agency, this could entail a long term and extensive programme of technical assistance to an agency, which would require substantial funding and careful selection of individuals, institutions or other police agencies able and willing to undertake such a task.

Appendices

There are two appendices:

appendix 1 contains the draft of a basic five day programme based on the manual; and

appendix 2 sets out recommended reading and resources.

Some of the material set out in appendix 2 has been used as a source for some of the content of this manual, and this is acknowledged in the appendix.

It is emphasised that this teaching manual has not been prepared as a set of teaching notes or lecture notes, but as a resource from which the teacher or resource person can prepare his or her own teaching material.

Lists and Tables

There is a list of cases, including some not cited in the manual, which might prove useful as teaching resources; a table of cases that are cited in the manual; and a table of instruments cited in the manual.

IV Format of Sections

The sections are formatted in such a way as to assist teachers or resource persons to prepare or develop:

teaching notes;

discussion topics; and

other material for group activity by participants.

Each section (apart from section a. of chapter 1, part 1, and the sections in part 3) contains notes under the following sub-headings:

Introduction,

Key Points,

Commentary,

Essential Information for a Presentation, and Points to Promote Discussion.

Introduction

This provides the teacher or resource person with a brief introduction to the section, focussing particularly on the contents of the commentary and essential information for a presentation

Key Points

These are the main points or principles of the subject matter of the section, concerning especially the human rights standards expressed therein, which are identified to:

• give them emphasis; and
• to aid understanding of the information provided in the section.

Commentary

This provides the teacher or resource person with information on the nature and scope of the rights, freedoms and prohibitions dealt with the in the section, and on the police activities affecting, and affected by, those rights, freedoms and prohibitions. Where appropriate, guidance on teaching some aspects of the subject matter of the section is provided. Some policing issues connected with the topic are listed.

Essential Information for a Presentation

The material under this sub-heading includes substantive information to be conveyed to the participants generally in the form of:

• provisions of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and regional human rights treaties;
• examples of comments and findings of treaty bodies; and accounts of provisions of non-treaty instruments.

This information is described as essential because international standards are the reference point for all programmes based on this manual. However, in order to meet all of the teaching objectives identified in this introduction and guide, teachers and resource persons should exploit fully, and develop, the material and methods proposed under the other sub-headings.

References to the relevant articles in the instruments are given so that teachers or resources persons can refer to the full texts in which the standards are expressed. These can be found, for example, in 'Essential Texts on Human Rights for the Police' (Crawshaw and Holmstrom), a volume in the same series as this teaching manual.

Examples of comments and findings of treaty bodies are provided as these are rich sources of teaching material. The purposes of the General Comments of the Human Rights Committee include making the experience of the Committee available for the

benefit of States Parties to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights in order to promote their further implementation of the Covenant. The General Comments provide authoritative interpretations of articles in the Covenant, and observations on actions required of State Parties in order that they may fulfil their obligations under the Covenant. Some of these are extremely important for police policy and practice.

The findings and observations of the Human Rights Committee, and other treaty bodies such as the Inter-American Court of Human Rights and the European Court of Human Rights, on cases they have considered are also of great significance for policing. Many refer to actual instances of human rights violations arising out of the exercise of police powers and the performance of police functions. They reinforce provisions that prohibit bad practice, and it is frequently possible to identify what good practice should be in specific situations.

Examples of such cases are provided in this manual in order to show how they may be useful for teaching purposes. However, it has been possible to include only a few. Teachers and resource persons should research the jurisprudence of treaty bodies in order to identify current and relevant material for use in teaching programmes. This can be found by accessing the internet web sites of the various bodies. Reviews and summaries of cases can also be found in 'Essential Cases on Human Rights for the Police' (Crawshaw and Holmstrom), a volume in the same series as this teaching manual.

Points to Promote Discussion

These are points arising out of the subject matter of the section that could be discussed with the participants. They can be used in a variety of ways, for example:

• as points for discussion with all of the participants in a plenary session;
• as topics for participants to discuss in smaller groups, with a spokesperson from each group subsequently reporting on the conclusions of the group when all of the groups reconvene in a plenary session; and
• as a basis for the development, by teachers and resource persons, of other case studies, discussion topics or role play exercises.

Ideally participants will raise their own points for clarification or discussion either during or after the presentation, and the teacher or resource person should respond fully to these.

V Teaching Methods

Participants, Teachers and Resource Persons

Teaching methods recommended for programmes derived from this manual are based on the following assumptions:

• participants in programmes have expertise in policing, and especially policing their own communities; and
• teachers or resource persons have expertise in policing, the education or training of police officials, and in the international standards relevant to policing.

This teaching manual is one of the means by which teachers or resource persons with expertise in policing can develop expertise in international human rights and humanitarian standards relevant to policing.

Participation and Interaction

It is a widely accepted principle of adult education that education and training programmes for adults are more likely to be effective if they are participatory and interactive. Human rights programmes for police are no exception to this principle.

This means that, whilst teachers and resource persons should adopt approaches appropriate to particular circumstances, it is recommended that presentations on the various topics take the following format:

• presentation by the teacher or resource person based on the material in the teaching manual;
• general discussion between participants and the teacher or resource person based on points arising from the presentation; and
• group activity by the participants.

Delivering Presentations

In delivering presentations, it is recommended that teachers or resource persons should: make maximum use of visual teaching aids;

• encourage participants to refer to the texts setting out provisions of international human rights instruments under consideration during the presentation;
• encourage participants to interject with questions or points during presentations as well as during discussion periods following presentations; and
• refer to examples of good police practice and bad police practice to illustrate particular police/human rights issues.

Such examples can be drawn from: presenters' personal experiences;

• reports of comments and findings of treaty bodies dealing with cases arising out of police action or inaction;
• police/human rights issues reported in the news media; and
• academic studies of policing from such fields of study as comparative policing and the sociology of policing.
• Group Activities by Participants

Group work can include such activities as participants responding in groups to: discussion topics or cases studies;

• working group exercises;
• role play exercises;
• 'brain storming' exercises; and
• workshop activities.

Suggested topics for discussion are set out under the sub-heading 'Points to Promote Discussion' in the sections.

In addition to these, working group exercises have been included in sections a and b of chapter 3, part 2 and section a of chapter 4, part 2. As well as being used as exercises on the topics of those chapters, they can be used as examples to develop working group exercises on topics in other sections.

In conducting group activities by participants, it is recommended that teachers or resource persons should:

• ensure that sufficient time is allocated for this type of activity in the programme;
• ensure that all participants are fully involved in the group work; and
• develop activities appropriate to the culture and professional orientation of the participants.

VI Types of Programme The Basic Programme

From the foregoing, it can be seen that this teaching manual has been developed as a teaching resource for human rights programmes for police consisting of:

• a seminar element in which international standards on human rights are presented and discussed; and
• a workshop element designed to provide a basis for continuing efforts within police agencies to deliver effective, lawful and humane policing.

Such programmes would consist of sessions:

• based on the subject matter of the various sections of this teaching manual;
• based on other themes considered to be especially appropriate to the participants, and relevant to a programme on human rights for police;
• devoted to workshop topics based on suggestions offered in part three of this teaching manual, or other appropriate topics.

A draft basic five day programme, which can be varied to meet the needs of different types of participants, is set out at appendix 1 to this manual.

Variations to the Basic Programme

Clearly both the duration and the content of the basic programme can be varied to meet the needs of different types of participants.

The programme can be extended so that any particular theme or themes can be dealt with in more detail, and it can be reduced, especially if the focus is to be on a limited number of themes. This may arise when participants have very specific policing functions, in which case the focus of the programme can be limited to human rights issues relating to those functions.

The programme may also be varied so that the workshop element predominates. This may arise when, for example, the officers forming the high command of a police agency are developing policy or strategy on a particular aspect of policing, and wish to take human rights considerations into account during their deliberations.

In such a case the workshop could provide the forum for the development of policy or strategy, and it could be preceded by a briefing on the relevant human rights matters. The resource person providing the briefing could facilitate the workshop activities. In any event, the teaching manual can be used as a resource for those conducting and participating in the programme.

Clearly it is essential that the content and the duration of all programmes should be based on an adequate assessment of the needs of a particular agency or the proposed participants in a programme.

VII Duration of Programmes

As far as the duration of programmes is concerned, this should be confined strictly to the actual time needed to deliver the programme because:

• activities on a programme that are not meaningful will undermine the credibility of the remainder of the programme; and
• organisers of programmes should respect the essential nature of policing, and remove police officials from their operational tasks only for the minimum amount of time necessary for the purposes of the programme.

This means that the time indicated for the duration of the programme by the needs assessment should be the actual duration of the programme, whether this be two days, three and a half days, five days and so on.

 

Policing in America: A Reference Handbook by Leonard Steverson (Contemporary World Issues: ABC-CLIO) The profession of policing has captured the hearts and minds of many Americans, even those who are violators of the law. As citizens, we notice uniformed officers when they enter a building we are in. We certainly notice them, often nervously, when they appear in our cars' rearview mirrors. We observe them racing to emergencies and wonder what happened. We be­come fearful of criminal activity in our neighborhoods and hope the police can come quickly if needed. We also watch news re­ports of the abuse of police authority, and sometimes we forget that the police are people, too, and capable of indiscretions—indiscretions that are often publicly displayed.

Policing is a profession that conjures up visions of old-fashioned, hard-bitten police work and officers walking the beat, G-men chasing gangsters, and, more recently, forensic investiga­tors and criminal profilers tracking down criminals using scien­tific innovations. Our ideas about police officers can be found in popular culture archetypes as polarized as Sheriff Andy Taylor (the calm, rural sheriff without a gun of the Andy Griffith Show) and the deadly Inspector Harry Callahan (the aggressive, urban cop of the Dirty Harry movies). Many children in various stages of development imitate the police in games of cops and robbers, and gifts of toy police badges and service revolvers are often the treasured keepsakes of childhood.

The police in America have not always appeared as they do today. In fact, the police as we know them are a relatively recent de­velopment. The earliest police systems were actually family polic­ing structures in which community members were accountable for controlling the behavior of their own group as well as for their own protection. When the watch system became ineffective and some people became paid police officers, their duties primarily involved service functions. Later they accepted more law enforcement du­ties but became corrupted by a system that dictated their actions and allowed for little moral or professional decision making. When the police became professionalized, they incorporated modern ad­vancements in the field and were removed from many of the cor­rupting influences of government; however, they tended to lose touch with the communities they served. As a result, a chasm formed between the communities and the police; citizens in many areas began to see the police as an invading army rather than as an institution whose very purpose is to serve and to protect the pub­lic. This division became painfully obvious in the riots of the 1960s when police and citizens clashed in often violent outbreaks. The chasm also became painfully visible later in the Rodney King beat­ing and its aftermath.

Clearly a new philosophy was needed to return the police to their original purpose of serving the public. The change came in the form of community-oriented models such as community policing, problem-oriented policing, and broken windows polic­ing, as developed in the 1970s and 1980s. In these models, the po­lice became more integrated with citizens and used them as allies in their attempts to control and prevent crime. Working in a col­laborative fashion with the citizens and being a force in helping solve the unique community problems they faced was not a new idea but rather one that needed to be revisited in the wake of the social upheaval of the 1960s.

The terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 changed American society in many ways, including how policing was administrated. At the highest levels of government, a new focus on intelligence developed to keep the country free of future terrorist activity. This idea spilled over into the institution of policing because it was posited that, by using carefully analyzed information (intelligence) in a proactive way, street-level crime, as well as terrorism, could be prevented. An evolving system of intelligence-led policing, which can easily be seen as an adjunct to community policing models, has developed and could possibly turn out to be the newest trend in policing.

The police are considered the thin blue line that separates order from chaos. It is often assumed that the police mostly func­tion to maintain control in society through the vigorous enforce­ment of laws; however, much of the work police officers perform is service oriented. This is why the community models tend to work better in most circumstances than the old professional model. Note that the term "policing" is used rather than "law en­forcement," as is standard in many books and texts on police work. This is because law enforcement is part of the order main­tenance function and simply one aspect of what the police do; therefore the term "policing," which incorporates aspects of both order maintenance and service functions, is preferred.

This book is an easily accessible source of information about the field of policing and should provide readers with a glimpse into the sociohistorical factors involved in social control mea­sures taken not only in the United States but in other countries as well. The book is intended for not only those who have or are pursuing occupational goals in policing or the criminal justice system in general but to those who want to better understand ways in which societies deal with deviant behavior.

Police Field Operations: Theory Meets Practice by Michael Birzer, Cliff Roberson (Allyn & Bacon) This text covers major areas of police field operations including the following current, critical areas:

Patrol, Investigations, Crime Mapping, Police Operations in Diverse Communities, Policing Persons with Physical Disabilities, JuvenilesHot-Pursuit Issues ,Communications,  Gangs, Drugs, And More ..

Patrol operations are the backbone of a police de­partment.

The majority of a police department's personnel are assigned to the patrol function.

Patrol in early English meant to walk or paddle in muddy water.

Policing in the United States was heavily influenced by the London model of policing, which was the work of Sir Robert Peel. The police in London are called "Bobbies," named after their founder, Sir Robert Peel.

"Hue and Cry" policing was the act of an individual who would alert the neighborhood to the recent commission of a crime, and sometimes entailed raising public support for pursuit or arrest of the criminal.

In early U.S. history, policing was primarily done by volunteer citizens.

The development of police patrol can best be framed on three major eras: (1) the Political Era, (2) the Re­form Era, and (3) the Community Policing Era.

I The Political Era of policing was an era that was dominated by political control, or put another way, there were close ties between the police and politicians.

The reform model of policing, or professional model as it is sometimes referred to, emphasized an organi­zation indoctrinated along traditional lines—highly centralized, bureaucratic, and designed on the prem­ise of divisions of labor and unity of control.

The evolving community-oriented policing strategy represents a shift from more traditional law enforce­ment in that it focuses on prevention of crime and the fear of crime on a very local basis. Community policing also entails problem solving and organiza­tional transformation.

Patrol officers respond to a wide variety of crime and service-related calls on a daily basis. However, the vast majority of calls for police services are serv­ice related or noncriminal in nature.

The primary purpose of police patrol is prevention and suppression of criminal activity.

The police role in the prevention of crime involves many strategies. A few of these are neighborhood watch, National Night Out, proper training of land­lords, and problem solving.

The police patrol function ensures the safe flow and regulation of traffic. This responsibility includes not only the enforcement of traffic laws, such as speed­ing, directing traffic, enforcing driving under the in­fluence laws, and vehicle equipment laws, but also includes the investigation of vehicle accidents.

The police response to crime can best be divided into three distinct categories. The first is reactive policing, when a crime has been committed and the police respond and take a report. The second, proac­tive policing, is when the police attempt to prevent crime by being self-initiating or by establishing a crime prevention strategy. The third, coactive polic­ing, involves the police working with other re­sources outside of the police departments to prevent and solve crime-related problems.

Police departments are organized in a paramilitary fashion. There are usually three levels to a police de­partment's management structure. The first is upper-level management, where typically you find the chief, assistant chief, and majors. The second level is middle management, which usually is made up of captains or lieutenants. The third level is line-level supervision, which consists of sergeants.

The police operate under a chain of command with a clear unity of command. In other words, each police officer knows exactly who he or she answers to.

In order to become a police officer one must go through a rigorous selection process. The selection process generally includes a written test, physical ability assessment, polygraph, oral interview, back­ground investigation, psychological assessment, and medical and drug screening.

Once a police applicant has successfully completed the selection process and is offered employment, he or she will report to the training academy where he or she will learn the craft of policing. Once formal academy training is completed, the new police offi­cer is assigned to ride with a field training officer for a specified period of time.

In-service training is post-recruit academy training that an officer receives throughout his or her career. Many states mandate that police officers receive a minimum number of hours of in-service training annually in order to retain their law enforcement certification.

Police officers often face stressful events in their lives. Many police officers work one or two part-time jobs to simply make ends meet. They struggle to find time to spend with their families, only to be called in for court testimony during their off-duty hours. They may report for patrol duty with mini­mal sleep, which results in their alertness being diminished.

Regardless of the stress that police officers are bur­dened with, they have to mentally and physically prepare for patrol duties. The proper preparation could mean the difference of risking serous injury to themselves, citizens, or other officers. Proper pa­trol preparation is being alert. If an officer feels himself or herself becoming sleepy, a short, brisk walk could go a long way in rejuvenating the officer.

An officer's appearance should be impeccable prior to initiating a tour of duty. Equipment checks should be made and improperly operating equip­ment should be replaced.

Prior to a tour of duty, police officers attend a squad meeting or squad debriefing. The meeting is usually held about fifteen to thirty minutes prior to assuming patrol duties. The meeting is conducted by a supervisor or watch commander, and police officers are debriefed about significant crime events occurring during the prior shifts.

The officer should also make it a point to check the patrol vehicle out thoroughly. This includes the red lights, siren, air horn, police radio, equipment, tires, and other important items or equipment.

Any police equipment that is not functioning correctly should be reported immediately. An offi­cer should never take a patrol vehicle on the streets that is not running properly or one where the red lights or sirens are malfunctioning.

It is good practice for the officer to meet briefly with the officer he or she is relieving. This is an ideal venue to exchange information about persons, places, or events occurring on the beat.

During a tour of duty the officer should always be on the lookout for potential hazards on the beat. This may include frequent contacts with law-abid­ing citizens and persons who are known to the officer to be delinquent or criminal. Establishments such as bars and adult entertainment clubs should be inspected on a periodic basis. Many of these establishments are known hang-outs for shady in­dividuals.

If an officer has the occasion to make an arrest, he or she should always view officer safety as a priority.

Once an arrest has been made, the suspect should be handcuffed first and then searched. A hand­cuffed suspect is much less likely to attempt to resist the officer.

Departmental standard operating procedures should be followed when handcuffing and transporting a suspect to the booking facility.

When dealing with offenders, the officer should al­ways expect the worse. In other words, he or she should anticipate problems before they occur. An unprepared officer is a potential liability to himself and others.

Police officers usually respond to crimes that have already occurred and crimes in progress while patrolling their beat. The type of crime in progress will dictate the police response. For example, some calls will require the police to run with red lights and siren, while other crimes in progress may require a more stealthy response.

Unfortunately, the police are often called to deal with civil unrest. Whether it is a small gather­ing of demonstrators or a crowd that is out of control, the police must respond quickly and effectively.

If the police have knowledge of a demonstration or other large event, they should plan as much as pos­sible. Ideally, this would involve the leaders of the demonstration or protest meeting with the police. The police would then have the opportunity to inform the group about what police action will be taken and relevant state laws.

If a demonstration gets out of control and results in a riot, the primary objective of the police is to safe­guard life and property while ending the civil unrest as quickly as possible.

High-speed pursuits pose a serious liability for the police. The police should always weigh the risk as­sociated with continuing the pursuit with the risk of serious injury to persons or property. There are several factors that should be considered in the de­cision to continue a pursuit, including time of day, weather, charges, whether the officer has the driver identified, and availability of the air section, to name a few.

Weather and natural disasters can be overwhelming for the police agency in terms of ensuring adequate police resources are available to respond to a disas­ter. This not only includes police personnel, but also equipment.

The first objective of the first officer who has checked out the scene of a disaster is to assess the scope of the problem and communicate this back to the dispatcher.

Police concerns at the scene of a natural disaster include containing the scene, collecting evidence that may have been spread out over a great dis­tance, controlling for looters, removing curious citizens who have traveled to see the disaster scene, the location and recovery of the injured, and the recovery and identification of deceased victims.

The police canine is a valuable asset for police op­erations. The canine can be used for tracking miss­ing persons or suspects, crowd control, bomb de­tection, narcotics detection, officer protection, and to aid in the recovery of bodies. It is impor­tant that the police dog be trained with the canine handler and that the department has the proper budget to maintain the dog.

For liability purposes it is imperative that the police agency keep the proper records on the canine's training and performance. Standard operating procedures should also be developed for canine op­erations and closely followed.

Most citizens' only contact with the police will be through traffic stops.

The police officer must always expect the worst on a traffic stop. There is no such thing as a routine traf­fic stop.

The officer should initiate the traffic stop when and where he or she feels comfortable. As much in­formation should be obtained prior to initiating the stop.

An officer should practice good officer safety tech­niques during a traffic stop.

Like pursuit driving, responding to emergency calls in a code three mode (red lights and siren) is dangerous and can pose great liability for the po­lice agency if the officer running code three was driving negligently and was involved in an acci­dent.

Officers should always weigh the risks associated with code three driving. Factors that may influ­ence the decision to run code three are weather conditions, the nature of the emergency, as well as the location of other emergency responders.

Police officers can use force to make an arrest or de­fuse a situation.

Police officers should always use the least amount of force necessary to defuse a situation.

Police officers use a "force continuum," a spectrum of force alternatives, to moderate the level of re­sponse used in a given situation.

The use of force continuum provides a general guideline for the police to follow in a situation where force will be used. The lowest level of force is the mere command presence of the officer, and flows to the highest level on the continuum, which is deadly force.

Each situation is unique. Good judgment and the circumstances of each situation will dictate the level on the continuum of force at which an officer will start. Depending on the circumstances, officers may find it necessary to escalate or de-escalate the use of force by progressing up or down the force continuum.

Police agencies should develop use of force policies that address a wide spectrum of force issues. This in­cludes the use of firearms and other weapons, and particular use of force issues such as firing at mov­ing vehicles, verbal warnings, positional asphyxia, bar arm restraints, the use of chemical agents, and the use of electric Taser guns.

Community policing is the evolving strategy of policing in the United States.

The core components of community policing in­clude partnerships, problem solving, and organiza­tional transformation.

Community-oriented policing represents a shift from more traditional law enforcement in that it fo­cuses on prevention of crime and the fear of crime on a very local basis.

In part, community policing evolved from strategies such as police—community relations, team policing, crime prevention, and foot patrol. However, the ini­tial spark of finding better ways to police communi­ties and the movement toward community policing

strategies was initiated with the research findings of the 1970s that shattered a few of the traditional as­sumptions about police patrol strategies.

Research studies increasingly challenged police to change their way of thinking, as well as their strate­gies in battling crime and disorder problems, and a growing fear of crime among the general citizenry. Community policing strategies are a direct carry­over from past police practices, such as team polic­ing, and police—community relations programs.

Community-oriented policing is not a program, it is a philosophy or strategy, a way each department member from the top to bottom, sworn to non-sworn, view their jobs.

Community policing differs from traditional law enforcement because it allows police the freedom to expand the scope of their jobs. Police in this sense are challenged to become community prob­lem solvers and encouraged to use their time cre­atively.

In problem solving, police officers, citizens, and other public and private entities work together to address the underlying problems that contribute to crime and disorder by identifying and analyzing problems, developing suitable responses, and assess­ing the effectiveness of these responses. The police may rely less heavily on enforcement and may look at a wide variety of other options suitable in solving a problem.

Professor Herman Goldstein is considered by many to be the pioneer of problem-oriented policing. Problem solving is an important component of community policing. As a result, during the 1980s, a number of law enforcement agencies throughout the United States and in other countries began a wide variety of problem-oriented policing initia­tives as part of their community policing strategy.

One of the most popular problem-solving models is known by the acronym SARA. This acronym stands for Scanning, Analysis, Response, and Assessment. The SARA model presents a systematic way in which a police officer can investigate problems.

Community policing is a strategy that is designed to be intertwined with all police activities. Under the axiom of community policing, individual line offi­cers are given the authority to solve problems and make operational decisions suitable to their roles, both individually and collectively.

Under community policing, police officers focus not only on enforcement, but also on crime preven­tion and proactively addressing the root causes of crime and disorder. Likewise, citizens actively en­gage in collaborating on prevention and problem-solving activities with a goal of reducing victimiza­tion and fear of crime.

Community policing is a strategy that goes hand-in­hand with proactive approaches aimed at preventing terrorism. Expanded community policing strategies would seem like the natural response to terrorism. Problem-solving models seem to be well-suited to preventing and responding to terrorist activity.

Evaluations of community policing are still some­what lacking in the sense that there has not been an overall evaluation of community policing. How­ever, many of the evaluations that have been com­pleted show that community policing holds much promise as a policing strategy. The one common theme among community policing evaluation is that the strategy appears to make citizens feel safer about their neighborhoods.

Forensic science is the study and application of sci­entific facts and techniques to legal problems.

Anthropometry, a personal identification method based on eleven body measurements, is generally thought to be the first system of personal identifica­tion used by the police.

Francis Galton, who published Fingerprints, is con­sidered as the developer of the fingerprint identifi­cation process.

Edmond Locard originated the Locard principle, which states that "every contact leaves a trace."

The role of a forensic scientist is to analyze physical evidence. Normally, the scientist is an expert in one scientific area.

The FBI has one of the largest and most comprehen­sive forensic laboratories in the world.

Crime scene analysis is important in the crime-solving process. Critical to the administration of a crime is the objective recognition, documentation, collection, preservation, and transmittal of physical evidence for analysis.

The investigator may need a search warrant in order to legally enter and collect physical evidence.

An investigator should take the following steps at the crime scene: (1) ensure that you have legal clearance to enter the area, (2) secure and protect the crime scene, (3) conduct a search of the area using a "search pattern," (4) document and record the items found at the scene, (5) collect and package the evidence, and (6) transmit the evidence to the crime lab.

A crime scene should be searched in a systematic manner using one of four standard search patterns: strip, grid, spiral, and quadrant.

Blood has known properties that allow experts to analyze and reproduce the bloodstain patterns at the crime scene in order to reconstruct the crime.

Blood contains an enzyme, peroxidase, which makes its identification easy. Many chemicals react with peroxidase to give certain visible colors indi­cating that the liquid is blood. When blood is pres­ent at the scene of a crime, four basic questions should be answered: Is it blood? Is it human blood? What type of blood is it? Whom does it be­long to?

Because the Locard principle states that every con­tact leaves a trace, fibers are a good source of evi­dence. The more violent the contact between the offender and the victim, the more likely that fibers will be transferred from one to the other.

DNA is a long polymer of nucleotides (a polynu­cleotide) and encodes the sequence of the amino acid residues in proteins using the genetic code, a triplet code of nucleotides. Forensic scientists scan thirteen DNA regions that vary from person to person and use the data to create a DNA profile of that individual (sometimes called a DNA finger­print).

A questioned document is considered as any signa­ture, handwriting, typewriting, or other mark whose source or authenticity is in dispute or doubtful. The most common questioned documents include: let­ters, checks, driver's licenses, contracts, wills, voter registrations, passports, petitions, threatening let­ters, suicide notes, and lottery tickets.

Fingerprints, palm prints, and footprints are impres­sions of the friction ridge skin present on the palm side of the hand and soles of the feet. When a person touches, grabs, or walks barefoot on a surface an im­pression of the friction ridge skin may be left behind.

The importance of latent print evidence is its ability to identify an individual. Latent prints can be iden­tified to a single person because the friction ridge skin possesses two key properties: permanence and uniqueness.

With the exception of injury, a person has the same fingerprints, palm prints, and footprints fro sixteen weeks' gestation until decomposition afte death. Additionally, the friction ridge skin h, unique characteristics that allow even a sma portion of a latent print to be identified to a single person.

The presence of gunshot residue (GSR) on the victim indicates that the victim was shot at close range. The absence of it indicates that the victim was not shot at a close range. In establishing whether the victim was murdered, committed suicide, or the shooting was in self-defense, the distance between the victim and the weapon is very important.

Often the distances can be estimated by reproduc­ing the blast pattern. Distances are generally des­cribed as contact, near contact, or intermediate contact.

The primary tool of the firearms examiner is the comparison microscope, which has changed little since it was adopted in 1925.

The comparison microscope is actually composed of two individual microscopes connected by an optical bridge. This allows the examiner to view two objects simultaneously with one-half of the field of view magnified by one microscope while the other half is magnified by the second micro­scope. As a result of this development, identifica­tion of fired bullets and cartridge cases became as conclusive as fingerprints.

Identification of fired ammunition to a specific firearm is made possible by distinguishing marks left by the gun on the surface of both the bullet and the cartridge case.

The term digital evidence refers to evidence that ex­ists in a digital format. For the most part we are talk­ing about computer-generated files. The National Institute of Justice guides discuss the handling of digital evidence from the crime scene through analysis and finally into the courtroom.

Actions taken to secure and collect digital evidence should not affect the integrity of that evidence.

Persons conducting an examination of digital evi­dence should be trained for that purpose.

Activity relating to the seizure, examination, stor­age, or transfer of digital evidence should be docu­mented, preserved, and available for review.

 

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