The State of American Policing

The State of American Policing
Author: David J. Thomas
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
Total Pages: 198
Release: 2018-11-09
Genre: Psychology
ISBN:

Written by a veteran police officer turned college professor, this modern-day study of American policing covers hot-button issues including police use of deadly force against and bias toward minorities. Grounded in research of historical and current events, this text examines police practices and the psychological impact that those practices have on minority communities. Author David J. Thomas, a retired police officer and associate professor of criminal justice, looks at and beyond historical perspectives to address many of today's most controversial issues central to minority communities. Topics covered include the repeated failure to convict officers for fatally shooting unarmed subjects, the rise of heated debates between the Black Lives Matter and Blue Lives Matter movements, the militarization of police agencies, and police response to protests by NFL players. The text also offers insight into the psychology of race, police culture, implicit bias, and the decision to use deadly force. Thomas additionally examines possible solutions to these problems. College students, researchers, academics, and readers interested in politics will find this work informative and thought-provoking.

An Introduction to American Policing

An Introduction to American Policing
Author: Stevens
Publisher: Jones & Bartlett Learning
Total Pages: 490
Release: 2017-05-08
Genre: Law
ISBN: 1284110117

"An Introduction to American Policing, Second Edition" connects the US criminal justice system, criminology, and law enforcement knowledge to the progress of the police community. It is the perfect resource for a Police Science course.

A Government of Wolves

A Government of Wolves
Author: John W. Whitehead
Publisher: SelectBooks, Inc.
Total Pages: 404
Release: 2013-06
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1590799836

“A NATION OF SHEEP WILL BEGET A GOVERNMENT OF WOLVES”–EDWARD R. MURROW America is fast moving into a state of lockdown. Surveillance cameras, drug-sniffing dogs, SWAT team raids, roadside strip searches, blood draws at DUI checkpoints, mosquito drones, tasers, privatized prisons, GPS tracking devices, zero tolerance policies, overcriminalization, free speech zones—these are all symptoms of the emerging police state in America. A GOVERNMENT OF WOLVES paints a chilling portrait of a nation in the final stages of transformation into outright authoritarianism, whose citizens have become little more than a nation of suspects to be cowed, corralled, and controlled. Pulling from his extensive knowledge of constitutional law, history, and futuristic films, John W. Whitehead helps readers navigate this treacherous terrain and provides them with a blueprint for hopefully finding their way back to freedom.

August Vollmer

August Vollmer
Author: Willard M. Oliver
Publisher:
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2017
Genre: College teachers
ISBN: 9781611635591

Listen to the History Repeating Itself podcast with the author. Watch this short YouTube clip of the author discussing Vollmer's use of bicycles in the Berkeley police department. August Vollmer was one of the most extraordinary men ever elected town marshal and appointed police chief in American history. It was Vollmer who brought policing out of its wholly corrupt and often brutal era of politics, by professionalizing not only his own police department in Berkeley, California, but police departments across the country and around the world. He was instrumental in the creation of the polygraph machine (lie detector), patrol car radio communication systems, and, as the Los Angeles Police Chief, the first crime lab in America. His greatest legacy, however, was the higher education program he created at UC Berkeley, which developed into the disciplines of criminal justice and criminology that are so widespread today. This riveting biography by Willard M. Oliver, ten years in the making, is the first single-volume, full-length biography of marshal, police chief, and Professor August Vollmer. It is a profound work of both biography and history, and brings to life the man who forever changed American policing and police education, reaffirming Vollmer's rightful title as "The Father of American Policing." Meticulously researched, the book draws upon newly discovered material, interviews, and writings of Vollmer's never before used, allowing Oliver to craft a richly detailed and fascinating narrative of Vollmer's life story. This magisterial portrait of one of policing's greatest leaders promises to reshape our understanding of both the man and his era and to rightfully restore August Vollmer as a household name.

Rise of the Warrior Cop

Rise of the Warrior Cop
Author: Radley Balko
Publisher: PublicAffairs
Total Pages: 497
Release: 2021-06-01
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1541700287

This groundbreaking history of how American police forces have been militarized is now revised and updated. Newly added material brings the story through 2020, including analysis of the Ferguson protests, the Obama and Trump administrations, and the George Floyd protests. The last days of colonialism taught America’s revolutionaries that soldiers in the streets bring conflict and tyranny. As a result, our country has generally worked to keep the military out of law enforcement. But over the last two centuries, America’s cops have increasingly come to resemble ground troops. The consequences have been dire: the home is no longer a place of sanctuary, the Fourth Amendment has been gutted, and police today have been conditioned to see the citizens they serve as enemies. In Rise of the Warrior Cop, Balko shows how politicians’ ill-considered policies and relentless declarations of war against vague enemies like crime, drugs, and terror have blurred the distinction between cop and soldier. His fascinating, frightening narrative that spans from America’s earliest days through today shows how a creeping battlefield mentality has isolated and alienated American police officers and put them on a collision course with the values of a free society.

Federal Intervention in American Police Departments

Federal Intervention in American Police Departments
Author: Stephen Rushin
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 311
Release: 2017-04-07
Genre: Law
ISBN: 1107105730

This book evaluates how structural reform litigation initiated by federal intervention has transformed police departments and reduced law enforcement misconduct.

Political Policing

Political Policing
Author: Martha Knisely Huggins
Publisher:
Total Pages: 276
Release: 1998
Genre: Political Science
ISBN:

Reconstructing eighty years of history, Political Policing examines the nature and consequences of U.S. police training in Brazil and other Latin American countries. With data from a wide range of primary sources, including previously classified U.S. and Brazilian government documents, Martha K. Huggins uncovers how U.S. strategies to gain political control through police assistance--in the name of hemispheric and national security--has spawned torture, murder, and death squads in Latin America. After a historical review of policing in the United States and Europe over the past century, Huggins reveals how the United States, in order to protect and strengthen its position in the world system, has used police assistance to establish intelligence and other social control infrastructures in foreign countries. The U.S.-encouraged centralization of Latin American internal security systems, Huggins claims, has led to the militarization of the police and, in turn, to an increase in state-sanctioned violence. Furthermore, Political Policing shows how a domestic police force--when trained by another government--can lose its power over legitimate crime as it becomes a tool for the international interests of the nation that trains it. Pointing to U.S. responsibility for violations of human rights by foreign security forces, Political Policing will provoke discussion among those interested in international relations, criminal justice, human rights, and the sociology of policing.

Police in America

Police in America
Author: Steven G. Brandl
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Total Pages: 831
Release: 2017-01-25
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1483379159

Police in America provides students with a comprehensive and realistic introduction to modern policing in our society. Utilizing real-word examples grounded in evidence-based research, this easy-to-read, conversational text helps students think critically about the many misconceptions of police work and understand best practices in everyday policing. Respected scholar and author Steven G. Brandl draws from his experience in law enforcement to emphasize the positive aspects of policing without sugar-coating the controversies of police work. Brandl tackles important topics that center on one question: “What is good policing?” This includes discussions of discretion, police use of force, and tough ethical and moral dilemmas—giving students a deeper look into the complex issues of policing to help them think more broadly about its impact on society. Students will walk away from this text with a well-developed understanding of the complex role of police in our society, an appreciation of the challenges of policing, and an ability to differentiate fact from fiction relating to law enforcement.

Policing in America

Policing in America
Author: Larry K. Gaines
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 677
Release: 2014-06-04
Genre: Law
ISBN: 0323321453

In the field of law enforcement in the United States, it is essential to know the contemporary problems being faced and combine that knowledge with empirical research and theoretical reasoning to arrive at best practices and an understanding of policing. Policing in America, Eighth Edition, provides a thorough analysis of the key issues in policing today, and offers an issues-oriented discussion focusing on critical concerns such as personnel systems, organization and management, operations, discretion, use of force, culture and behavior, ethics and deviance, civil liability, and police-community relations. A critical assessment of police history and the role politics played in the development of American police institutions is also addressed, as well as globalization, terrorism, and homeland security. This new edition not only offers updated research and examples, it also incorporates more ways for the reader to connect to the content through learning objectives, discussion questions, and "Myths and Realities of Policing" boxes. Video and Internet links provide additional coverage of important issues. With completely revised and updated chapters, Policing in America, Eighth Edition provides an up-to-date examination of what to expect as a police officer in America. In full color, including photographs and illustrations Video links provide additional coverage of topics discussed in the text Learning objectives, critical thinking questions, and review questions in every chapter help to reinforce key concepts Updated figures and “Myths and Realities of Policing boxes provide important context Includes all-new content, such as further coverage of violent crime reduction programs, gangs, and drug use Access to student and instructor ancillaries, including Self-Assessments, Case Studies, Test Bank, and PowerPoint Lecture Slides

Badges without Borders

Badges without Borders
Author: Stuart Schrader
Publisher: Univ of California Press
Total Pages: 413
Release: 2019-10-15
Genre: History
ISBN: 0520968336

From the Cold War through today, the U.S. has quietly assisted dozens of regimes around the world in suppressing civil unrest and securing the conditions for the smooth operation of capitalism. Casting a new light on American empire, Badges Without Borders shows, for the first time, that the very same people charged with global counterinsurgency also militarized American policing at home. In this groundbreaking exposé, Stuart Schrader shows how the United States projected imperial power overseas through police training and technical assistance—and how this effort reverberated to shape the policing of city streets at home. Examining diverse records, from recently declassified national security and intelligence materials to police textbooks and professional magazines, Schrader reveals how U.S. police leaders envisioned the beat to be as wide as the globe and worked to put everyday policing at the core of the Cold War project of counterinsurgency. A “smoking gun” book, Badges without Borders offers a new account of the War on Crime, “law and order” politics, and global counterinsurgency, revealing the connections between foreign and domestic racial control.