Police Functions

1. Police Functions ARREST Patrol INVESTIGATE PATROL

2. Function #1: Patrol • VT just got a huge victory against their tough rival, UVA, earlier that afternoon, and the student body is pumped up. You're a member of the Blacksburg Police Department, and you're on patrol duty that evening. Where are you going to patrol?

3. Police Patrol: A Definition The most time consuming part of a law enforcement officer's job; more than half of police are assigned to patrol duty • Patrol is the action of police observing and responding to crimes within the community they are assigned to protect. • Types of Patrol 1. Preventive Patrol 2. Directed Patrol 3. Aggressive Patrol 4. Foot Patrol

4. Preventative Patrol • Directionless patrol: Moving around and being observant between radio calls. • Idea is that if there is a visible police presence, criminals will not commit crimes, or if they do police are there to stop it. • Idea is that if there is a visible police presence, criminals will not commit crimes, or if they do police are there to stop it. • A Kansas City Police Dept. study showed that preventative patrols do not have an impact on reducing crime. • Unless you have an officer on every street corner, more police does not reduce crime.

5. Directed Patrol • Police are given specific areas in which to spend their patrol time. • These areas are usually high crime areas • GIS Crime Mapping • Taking crimes and mapping them out to identify specific geographic patterns to crimes. • Method helps police maximize their patrol time by concentrating their efforts on high crime areas.

6. Aggressive Patrol • When a police department is directed to make numerous traffic stops and field interrogations • Usually rewards depts. with many more arrests for minor and serious offenses • A field interrogation is when an officer stops someone they find suspicious and asks questions of that person

7. Foot Patrols • In recent years, departments are getting rid of the cars and having their officers patrol on foot again. • Studies of foot patrols have shown little decrease in crimes, but they have shown some positive effects

8. 1. Residents notice police presence 2. Residents are less fearful of crime 3. People are more satisfied with police service 4. People did not call 911 as much 5. Image of the police improved with community 6. Police were seen as community leaders • Foot patrols generally only work in more urban areas; rural areas still need the mobility cars provide police

9. Criminal Investigations

10. Overview Police Investigations Chances are, the police are not going to be a witness to a crime, they are going to arrive after a crime is committed • Criminal Investigation is the process where police gather information and try to determine how a crime was committed and who committed the crime • Types of Investigation 1. Traffic 2. Internal Affairs 3. Background Checks 4. Undercover 5. Crime scene investigations

11. Traffic Investigations • Police have to investigate any accident that leads to damaged property, injury or death. • Police get statements, measure tire marks, take pictures and use other means to piece together an accident to determine the cause.

12. Internal Affairs • Process of determining if a police officer violated the law while on duty Background Checks • Determining the criminal history of a specific person

13. Undercover Investigations • Since the 1980s, the "war on drugs" has been a major focus of law enforcement at every level. • Most drug investigations are coming from local police agencies, with many local police departments having special narcotics units. • The "war on drugs" has changed law enforcement; first time they have actively sought out and tried to stop people from committing a specific crime.

14. Types of Drug Investigations

15. Street Level Enforcement • Where police investigate and arrest people dealing drugs on the street. • Most street-level investigations come from "hand to hands" with plainclothes undercover police • This method accounts for the majority of drug related arrests; however only results in seizures of small amounts of drugs.

16. Mid-Level Investigations • Where police investigate and go after mid-level dealers, (not very high on the "food chain")

17. Investigations usually made with informants (aka "snitches") 1. Arrest a street level dealer 2. Promise them a lesser charge if they give information 3. Use information to arrest a mid-level dealer Arrests of mid-level dealers brings in more drugs, but are easily replaced.

18. Major Investigations • Investigations of major drug "kingpins", police try to arrest the big fish and stop the flow of drug traffic • Usually done as a multi-agency investigation (local, state and fed) • Methods 1. Wire taps 2. Informants 3. Surveillance 4. Following the Money • Very rare to see arrests of major drug players

19. Other Methods of Fighting Drugs 1. Crop Eradication • Where police find, and destroy marijuana crops 2. Smuggling Interdiction • Fed. law enforcement (DEA) stops drugs from coming into the United States (where most drugs come from)

20. 3. Demand Reduction • Giving drug users treatment instead of jail time, educating young people about the dangers of drugs (D.A.R.E.), arresting enough people to scare them from using/selling 4. Asset Forfeiture • Law enforcement has the power to take any property that was used in the selling of drugs; only need probable cause

21. Debate Time!!!! • What do you think about the "war on drugs"? • Get a computer and research the war on drugs from beginning in 1970’s to current time. How much time and money is going into this “war”? Are we winning or losing this battle? Should we continue to fight this? What should be done with illegal drugs and the United States?