Deck 7: Issues in Policing

Question 1

Which term describes the experience of black officers who must deal with the expectation that they will show lenience to members of their own race, while at the same time experiencing overt racism from their police colleagues

A)The black curtain
B)Double marginality
C)Ethnic role strain
D)Toxic race relations

Answer 1

B

Question 2

Which police style is associated with the preference to ignore issues of concern or treat them informally, unless the social or political order is being jeopardized

A)Crime fighter
B)Social agent
C)Law enforcer
D)Watchman

Answer 2

D

Question 3

Which of the following is not a factor identified in the text as related to police shootings

A)Local and national levels of violence
B)Police workload
C)The threat hypothesis
D)All of these are factors related to police shootings

Answer 3

D

Question 4

Which statement is false regarding minorities in policing

A)White officers were historically very prejudiced, and as late as the 1950s, some refused to ride with African Americans in patrol cars.
B)The first African American was hired as a police officer in 1931.
C)Current research reveals the higher the percentage of black officers on the force, the higher the arrest rate for crimes such as assault.
D)Minority officers report more stress than whites when they consider themselves "tokens" and feel marginalized within the department.

Question 5

Which pattern does research reveal regarding officers' involvement in use-of-force incidents

A)Use-of-force incidents are almost always racially motivated.
B)A small portion of officers account for a sizable portion of the abuses.
C)Problem officers tend to be senior officers who are confident that their abuses will go unpunished.
D)The most significant factor in controlling police brutality is the threat of criminal action.

Question 6

With whom do African American women police officers report having difficult relationships

A)African American women police officers
B)African American male police officers
C)White male police officers
D)Hispanic women police officers

Question 7

Which of the following is not one of the four major categories of police corruption

A)External corruption
B)Selective enforcement or nonenforcement
C)Active criminality
D)Bribery and extortion

Question 8

Which is not one of the six core beliefs at the heart of the police culture

A)Loyalty to colleagues counts above all else.
B)The war against crime cannot be won without bending the rules.
C)No one else understands the nature of police work.
D)Patrol work gives officers the chance to be heroes in the eyes of the public.

Question 9

The overload hypothesis suggests that community crime rates may shape officer discretion. Which type of factor is this

A)Environmental
B)Victim
C)Crime
D)Peer

Question 10

Which of the following is true regarding police use of force

A)Minority groups' members are more likely to disapprove of the police use of force than majority group members.
B)African Americans and Hispanics were more likely than white to experience police threat or use of force as a consequence of police contact.
C)The suspect's behavior is a much more powerful determinant of police response, than age or race.
D)All of the statements are true regarding police use of force.

Question 11

Which of the following is an example of an impact munition

A)Tasers
B)Rubber bullets
C)Pepper spray
D)Handcuffs

Question 12

Which style of policing involves the least amount of discretion

A)Crime fighter
B)Social agent
C)Law enforcer
D)Watchman

Question 13

According to research, which of the following is not a benefit associated with higher education for police officers

A)They behave more professionally.
B)Fewer citizen complaints are generated.
C)Crime-fighting ability is enhanced.
D)They have greater self-confidence.

Question 14

Which of the following is false regarding corruption

A)Meat eaters aggressively misuse police power for personal gain by demanding bribes, threatening legal action, or cooperating with criminals.
B)The Knapp Commission was a public body set up in the 1970s to investigate the New York City police.
C)Grass eaters accept payoffs when their everyday duties place them in a position to be solicited by the public.
D)In a general sense, police corruption involves misuse of authority by police officers in a manner designed to produce gain for the law enforcement community and prestige for the department.

Question 15

Which of the following statements about female officers is false

A)Female officers are less likely than male officers to be charged with improper conduct.
B)Female officer recruits are more likely to fail the entrance physical exam than male officer recruits.
C)Female officers tend to receive harsher punishments than male officers if cited for disciplinary action.
D)Female officers are less likely than male officers to receive support from the community.

Question 16

An officer who approaches a group of teenagers drinking beer, checks everyone's IDs, and arrests everyone who is underage would typify which style of policing

A)Crime fighter
B)Social agent
C)Law enforcer
D)Watchman

Question 17

Which U.S. Supreme Court case deemed the use of deadly force against an unarmed and nondangerous fleeing felon to be an illegal seizure under the Fourth Amendment

A)Tennessee v. Garner
B)Graham v. Conner
C)Gregg v. Georgia
D)U.S. v. Weeks

Question 18

An officer who approaches a group of teenagers standing in a parking lot, checks them for gang symbols, and calls in to the station to ascertain whether any of them have active warrants and arresting those with a warrant, exemplifies which style of policing

A)Crime fighter
B)Social agent
C)Law enforcer
D)Watchman

Question 19

Which of the following is false regarding suspect behavior and characteristics

A)Suspects who physically resist the police are more likely to receive some form of physical coercion in return.
B)Suspects who offer verbal disrespect are as likely as suspects who physically resist to be met with physical force by police.
C)Women are less likely to be arrested than men.
D)A negative suspect demeanor is more likely to result in formal police action.

Question 20

The term blue curtain describes:

A)Police reluctance to express personal feelings to each other.
B)The police practice of shrouding the windows and doors of the briefing room with a blue curtain when confidential information is disseminated.
C)The secrecy and insulation from others in society that is a consequence of the police subculture.
D)The cloth used to drape the coffins of slain police officers.

Question 21

CASE 7.2
Detective Smith is a fourteen-year police veteran who has been working in internal affairs for the past four years. He was assigned to internal affairs to investigate allegations of police misconduct and corruption. While working as a police officer, he put himself through law school in the evenings and received his law license six years ago. Although he enjoyed being a road patrol officer, he feels it is more important to protect the citizens of the community against the few corrupt police officers who may exist on his police force.
One of Detective Smith's first investigations as an internal affairs detective is on a seventeen-year police veteran who is being accused of demanding bribes from local drug dealers and helping them transport their narcotics in the trunk of his police car. If the allegations are true, this officer can be classified as a:

A)Grass eater.
B)Candy eater.
C)Meat eater.
D)Beer drinker.

Question 22

Which of the following sentiments is likely part of the popular police culture described in the text

A)Detective work is glamorous.
B)Patrol work is the pits.
C)In order to win the war against crime, we must bend the rules.
D)All of the above are sentiments of police culture.

Question 23

Jerry is a police officer. While on patrol he has numerous encounters with citizens daily. One night, Jerry is doing traffic enforcement. Throughout the course of the evening, Jerry gives speeding citations to some drivers and verbal warnings to others. Then, as his shift is winding down, Jerry spots a car driving erratically. He pulls it over and determines that the driver is intoxicated. Jerry decides to arrest the driver. Jerry's decisions that night to give some offenders warnings, give some tickets, and arrest one is an example of which type of discretionary factor

A)Crime factor
B)Victim factor
C)Environmental factor
D)Departmental factor

Question 24

Which type of case is often a source of frustration and futility for police officers, making them reluctant to respond

A)Domestic violence cases
B)Drug deal cases
C)Kidnapping cases
D)Murder cases

Question 25

While on patrol, Jerry spots some teenagers hanging out on a street corner drinking alcohol and smoking cigarettes. The teenagers are clearly under the age of 18. Jerry remembers that his sergeant has repeatedly stressed a "no tolerance" approach to underage drinking. Jerry decides to arrest the teenagers. Which type of discretionary factor is best represented in this circumstance

A)Crime factor
B)Victim factor
C)Environmental factor
D)Departmental factor

Question 26

CASE 7.1
Anthony is a new police recruit who just graduated from the police academy and has been hired by a large metropolitan police department in Florida. He reports to work for his first shift and is assigned a field training officer, Jeffrey. Anthony is excited to begin his work as a police officer, as this is something he has wanted since he was a child. During Anthony's first shift he meets many of his fellow police officers. He is given a lot of different advice by these different officers. He quickly learns that there are different policing styles.
Harold explains to Anthony that their focus as police officers should be the victim and that effective police work is the only way that the "dangerous classes" can be kept in check. What style of policing does Harold follow

A)Crime fighter
B)Law enforcer
C)Social agent
D)Watchman

Question 27

Which style of policing suggests that the police should act as community problem solvers

A)Crime fighter
B)Social agent
C)Law enforcer
D)Watchman

Question 28

CASE 7.1
Anthony is a new police recruit who just graduated from the police academy and has been hired by a large metropolitan police department in Florida. He reports to work for his first shift and is assigned a field training officer, Jeffrey. Anthony is excited to begin his work as a police officer, as this is something he has wanted since he was a child. During Anthony's first shift he meets many of his fellow police officers. He is given a lot of different advice by these different officers. He quickly learns that there are different policing styles.
Harold, Anthony's field training officer, hears all the advice that Anthony is getting. He explains to Anthony that once he is off of probation, the majority of what he does every day will not be subject to administrative review and thus there is a lot of autonomy in his position. He tells Anthony that he must decide what style of policing he will follow. This concept of having a high degree of personal discretion is referred to as:

A)Thin-blue-line decision making.
B)Low-visibility decision making.
C)Double marginality.
D)Overload hypothesis.

Question 29

Which term is used to describe the way a person outwardly manifests his or her personality

A)Attitude
B)Character
C)Demeanor
D)Identity

Question 30

CASE 7.1
Anthony is a new police recruit who just graduated from the police academy and has been hired by a large metropolitan police department in Florida. He reports to work for his first shift and is assigned a field training officer, Jeffrey. Anthony is excited to begin his work as a police officer, as this is something he has wanted since he was a child. During Anthony's first shift he meets many of his fellow police officers. He is given a lot of different advice by these different officers. He quickly learns that there are different policing styles.
Sergeant Collins, the supervisor during Anthony's first shift, explains to Anthony that he should take action only when a problem arises. Collins is heavily involved in the police union and spends a large portion of his time off making sure that officers' wages and retirement benefits are maintained. What style of policing does Sergeant Collins follow

A)Crime fighter
B)Law enforcer
C)Social agent
D)Watchman

Question 31

Which term is used to describe an officer who will use any means to get the culprit, even if it involves planting evidence on an obviously guilty person who so far has escaped arrest

A)Thin-blue-line problem
B)Dirty Harry problem
C)Rambo problem
D)CSI problem

Question 32

When do officers usually feel the effects of the stress of their profession

A)During their training in the academy
B)During their first year on patrol
C)During the middle years
D)Only after 20 years of service

Question 33

What do recruits often discover about police work

A)The social reality of police work does not mesh with their original career goals.
B)The reality of police work is exactly what they envisioned and why they decided on a career in policing.
C)Police culture divides officers from other officers.
D)Members of the public are supportive and patient.

Question 34

Which style of policing suggests that the police should focus their efforts on order maintenance

A)Crime fighter
B)Social agent
C)Law enforcer
D)Watchman

Question 35

CASE 7.2
Detective Smith is a fourteen-year police veteran who has been working in internal affairs for the past four years. He was assigned to internal affairs to investigate allegations of police misconduct and corruption. While working as a police officer, he put himself through law school in the evenings and received his law license six years ago. Although he enjoyed being a road patrol officer, he feels it is more important to protect the citizens of the community against the few corrupt police officers who may exist on his police force.
Detective Smith learns that there are potentially two types of corrupt officers, including:

A)Meat eaters and grass eaters.
B)Grass eaters and candy eaters.
C)Candy eaters and meat eaters.
D)Beer drinkers and liquor drinkers.

Question 36

CASE 7.1
Anthony is a new police recruit who just graduated from the police academy and has been hired by a large metropolitan police department in Florida. He reports to work for his first shift and is assigned a field training officer, Jeffrey. Anthony is excited to begin his work as a police officer, as this is something he has wanted since he was a child. During Anthony's first shift he meets many of his fellow police officers. He is given a lot of different advice by these different officers. He quickly learns that there are different policing styles.
Harold's partner, Cecilia, takes a different approach to policing. She believes that Harold is too focused on the criminal and explains that she went into policing to work with the special needs population. She likes working with the homeless and those who require emergency services. Cecilia follows which style of policing

A)Crime fighter
B)Law enforcer
C)Social agent
D)Watchman

Question 37

While on patrol, Jerry receives a call regarding a domestic disturbance-a fight between a husband and wife. By the time Jerry arrives at the scene of the disturbance, things have calmed considerably, and he decides to merely warn the parties rather than take any further action. Which type of discretionary factor is best represented in this circumstance

A)Crime factor
B)Victim factor
C)Environmental factor
D)Departmental factor

Question 38

How many styles of police work seem to fit the current behavior patterns of most police officers

A)2
B)4
C)6
D)8

Question 39

According to police psychologists, how many categories of police stress exist

A)2
B)3
C)4
D)7

Question 40

CASE 7.1
Anthony is a new police recruit who just graduated from the police academy and has been hired by a large metropolitan police department in Florida. He reports to work for his first shift and is assigned a field training officer, Jeffrey. Anthony is excited to begin his work as a police officer, as this is something he has wanted since he was a child. During Anthony's first shift he meets many of his fellow police officers. He is given a lot of different advice by these different officers. He quickly learns that there are different policing styles.
Samantha is also a new police officer. She has been on the force for two months. She remembers seeing Anthony around the police academy and approaches him during roll call. Samantha explains to Anthony that real police work is very different from what they learned at the police academy. She tells Anthony that as police officers they are not community social workers or vigilantes and that they must enforce all statutes and all ordinances. Samantha is most likely which style of police officer

A)Crime fighter
B)Law enforcer
C)Social agent
D)Watchman

Question 41

In Graham v. Connor, the Supreme Court created a reasonableness standard for the use of nondeadly force.

Question 42

The Wickersham Commission investigated the problem of police stress and fatigue.

Question 43

Studies have shown that female officers are just as capable of performing the job well as are their male counterparts.

Question 44

White female police officers are more likely to perceive sexual discrimination than African American female police officers.

Question 45

The term racial profiling has been coined to describe the racial influence over police discretion and has been found in a number of state and local studies of law enforcement.

Question 46

The use of discretion by patrol officers is highly regulated and subject to administrative oversight.

Question 47

Research shows that a large percentages of officers are continually involved in problem behavior.

Question 48

Female officers are less likely to use force than male officers.

Question 49

When it comes to police discretion and offense seriousness, officers have the most discretion when it comes to crimes such as murder or rape.

Question 50

CASE 7.2
Detective Smith is a fourteen-year police veteran who has been working in internal affairs for the past four years. He was assigned to internal affairs to investigate allegations of police misconduct and corruption. While working as a police officer, he put himself through law school in the evenings and received his law license six years ago. Although he enjoyed being a road patrol officer, he feels it is more important to protect the citizens of the community against the few corrupt police officers who may exist on his police force.
Detective Smith often becomes disenchanted with the officers that he investigates. However, he refuses to believe that all officers are corrupt. He expresses unenforceable laws govern moral standards and promote corruption because they create large groups with an interest in undermining law enforcement. Detective Smith is likely to believe that the cause of many cases of corruption is:

A)Police personality.
B)Institutions and practices.
C)Moral ambivalence.
D)Environmental conditions.

Question 51

The use of force by police officers is not a common event.

Question 52

Although nondeadly force used by officers is unlikely to cause death, it sometimes does.

Question 53

Individual state jurisdictions still control police shooting policy.

Question 54

Most officers killed in the line of duty are responding to a disturbance call.

Question 55

Research shows that police workload has nothing to do with police shootings.

Question 56

CASE 7.2
Detective Smith is a fourteen-year police veteran who has been working in internal affairs for the past four years. He was assigned to internal affairs to investigate allegations of police misconduct and corruption. While working as a police officer, he put himself through law school in the evenings and received his law license six years ago. Although he enjoyed being a road patrol officer, he feels it is more important to protect the citizens of the community against the few corrupt police officers who may exist on his police force.
Detective Smith is surprised to learn that his former field training officer often took bribes to look the other way when he encountered bookmakers arranging bets on local sporting events. This type of conduct is considered that of a:

A)Grass eater.
B)Candy eater.
C)Meat eater.
D)Beer drinker.

Question 57

Organizational stressors for police officers include rotating shifts, work overload, and danger.

Question 58

If a police officer cooperates with a criminal for his/her own personal gain, he/she is acting like a grass eater.

Question 59

Female officers actually report feeling less job-related stress than male officers.

Question 60

Studies have shown that minority police officers experience the same family-related stress as white officers.

Question 61

The ____________________ style of policing thinks of officers as troubleshooters who repair the social fabric of society.

Question 62

Rotating shifts, work overload, boredom, fear, and danger are examples of _______________ stressors.

Question 63

One perspective on the causes of police corruption holds that it is a product of society's moral ____________________ toward the vice-related behavior that police are sworn to control.

Question 64

African American officers have historically confronted the problem of ____________________, in which they are expected to favor members of their own race while patrolling the population and simultaneously suffering racism from white colleagues.

Question 65

Force is mostly used on minorities and people under the age of 29.

Question 66

The use of discretion is sometimes referred to as ____________________ decision making.

Question 67

The ___________ is the secretive, insulated police culture that isolates officers from the rest of society.

Question 68

The ____________________ style of policing views the investigation and apprehension of serious crime as the primary aspect of policing.

Question 69

_____________ is one of the most popular less-lethal weapons used by law enforcement because it shuts the eyes of a suspect and automatically induces shortness of breath.

Question 70

Research indicates that a suspect's ____________________ has the strongest influence on discretionary decisions made by individual officers.

Question 71

While not everyone agrees that ________________ is an actual medical condition, it has been listed as the cause of death in some situations, particularly when the suspect was determined to be under the influence of stimulants.

Question 72

Membership in the __________________________ helps recruits adjust to the rigors of police work and provides the emotional support required for survival.

Question 73

The __________________________ is the theory that police workload influences discretion so that as workload increases, less time and attention can be devoted to new cases.

Question 74

______________ is the use of personal decision making and choice in carrying out operations in the criminal justice system.

Question 75

_____________ is the belief that most people's actions are motivated solely by personal needs and selfishness.

Question 76

The working personalities adopted by police officers that can range from being a social worker in blue to being a hard-charging crime fighter are known as ___________.

Question 77

One of the reasons corruption is hard to address is due to the police code of _________, the belief that a police officer should never turn on his/her peers.

Question 78

Dogmatic, authoritarian, and suspicious are some common police _________________ traits.

Question 79

The use of deadly force to apprehend an unarmed and nondangerous fleeing felon is a violation of the Fourth Amendment.

Question 80

Police departments with more restrictions on the use of force have lower shooting rates.