Stop-and-Frisk Policing

Criminology ◽  
2021 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
New York ◽  
Law Enforcement ◽  
Criminal Activity ◽  
Law Enforcement Officers ◽  
The United States ◽  
Class Action ◽  
Deterrent Effect ◽  
Stop And Frisk ◽  
Reasonable Suspicion

Stop and frisk is a proactive policing strategy that is widely used by police departments across the globe. In the United States, the origins of stop and frisk are rooted in the English practice of allowing night watchmen to stop and question individuals who were deemed suspicious. This ability to stop and question suspicious individuals serves two primary purposes. First, it gives law enforcement officers the ability to identify individuals who are looking to engage in criminal activity, stop those individuals, and prevent them from committing a criminal offense. Second, it may have a deterrent effect if potential offenders refrain from criminal offending because they do not want to risk being stopped. By the early 20th century, the implementation of stop and frisk in the United States varied by state. The Uniform Arrest Act, proposed in 1942, sought to standardize the practice. While several states adopted the Uniform Crime Act, which stipulated the circumstances under which a stop and frisk could occur, most states failed to do so. The practice of stop and frisk also faced constitutional challenges, with plaintiffs alleging violations of the Fourth Amendment’s prohibitions against unreasonable searches and seizures. In 1968, the US Supreme Court affirmed the constitutionality of stop and frisk. When law enforcement officers can establish reasonable suspicion, they can stop and question an individual. If there is reasonable suspicion to believe that a stopped individual possesses a weapon or poses a threat, law enforcement officers can also conduct a frisk. Stop and frisk has faced significant criticism and has been the subject of several class-action lawsuits, particularly in New York City. First, there is significant concern that nonwhite pedestrians are more likely than white pedestrians to be stopped, frisked, and subjected to the use of force. Next, stop and frisk may reduce perceptions of legitimacy and trust in law enforcement. The practice may also have adverse health consequences for those who are subjected to it or are in fear of being subjected to it. Finally, it is unclear whether stop and frisk prevents crime. It is also important to note that stop and frisk faces these same criticisms in other nations. The literature cited in this article summarizes key pieces on stop and frisk.

scholarly journals Firearm Prevalence and Homicides of Law Enforcement Officers in the United States

2015 ◽  
Vol 105 (10) ◽  
pp. 2042-2048 ◽  
Author(s):  
David I. Swedler ◽  
Molly M. Simmons ◽  
Francesca Dominici ◽  
David Hemenway
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Law Enforcement ◽  
Law Enforcement Officers ◽  
The United States

scholarly journals Categorical and Vague Claims that Criminal Activity is Afoot

2015 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 559-580
Author(s):  
Andrew Dammann
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Criminal Activity ◽  
Difficult Problem ◽  
City Councils ◽  
Stop And Frisk ◽  
Reasonable Suspicion ◽  
Mere Presence ◽  
The Law ◽  
High Crime ◽  
Police Commissioner

In Illinois v. Wardlow, the Supreme Court announced that mere presence in a high-crime area is a constitutionally significant factor for deciding if there is the necessary reasonable suspicion that criminal activity is afoot in order to justify a stop and frisk. Relying in part on the constitutional significance Wardlow attached to the vague term high-crime area, New York instituted an aggressive stop-and-frisk policy to combat crime and make New York a safer city. New York was sued under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 in Floyd v. City of New York. New York’s appeal was dropped when new mayor Bill de Blasio agreed to the remedies outlined in the Floyd opinion. At the press conference where Mayor de Blasio announced the settlement that dropped the appeal, Police Commissioner William Bratton said, “[W]e will not break the law to enforce the law.” This Article asserts that enforcing the law without breaking it becomes impossibly problematic when the law is as uncertain as it is with high-crime areas. This Article begins with a critique of the uncertainty created by attaching constitutional significance to high-crime areas without defining or describing what a high-crime area is. The Article urges city councils and other appropriate legislatures to designate which areas are high-crime areas. It argues that such a designation would foreclose the difficult problem of municipal liability that Judge Scheindlin grappled with in Floyd, that legislative designations of high-crime areas square with Fourth Amendment principles, and that legislatures, not executive auxiliaries like police departments, are the proper governmental bodies to make that designation.

DYING FAST AND DYING SLOW IN BLACK SPACE

2017 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 535-556 ◽  
Author(s):  
Naa Oyo A. Kwate ◽  
Shatema Threadcraft
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Urban Space ◽  
Scale Up ◽  
Public Health Problem ◽  
Black Body ◽  
The United States ◽  
Class Action ◽  
Black Communities ◽  
Constitutional Rights ◽  
Stop And Frisk

AbstractAggressive policing strategies have come under scrutiny for stark racial and ethnic inequities. New York City, home to the United States’ largest police force, was subject to a federal class action lawsuit that culminated in its “Stop, Question and Frisk” policies being ruled unconstitutional. In this paper we argue that Stop and Frisk not only violates constitutional rights, but also constitutes a public health problem. Operating as one process in the death world, Stop and Frisk transforms urban space from a resource to a source of danger; induces perceptual dysfunctions that stymie possibilities for Black engagement with the state and make blackness a metonym for crime and disorder; depletes economic and civic resources; and is embodied, by imprinting on the Black body, physically and mentally. Taken together this policing practice induces stress, fear and trauma, marks the Black body as the proper target for erasure by those who would restore the moral order of the polity, and sets Black lives on a trajectory of debility. Stop and Frisk, whatever its intent, is a necropolitical project. Though Achille Mbembe defined necropolitics as the sovereign determination of who lives and dies, we argue that necropolitical projects need not produce a dead body immediately to function. We extend Mbembe’s concept to include diffuse, environmental factors that scale up from individual encounters to Black communities. Though Foucault’s widely cited analysis sees the prison as central in the management and regulation of populations, we hold that Stop and Frisk has more in common with necropower than with biopower, producing dysfunctional bodies awaiting death.

scholarly journals Far-Right Extremism’s Threat to Police Safety and the Organizational Legitimacy of Law Enforcement in the United States

2021 ◽  
Vol 15 (4) ◽  
pp. 822-850
Author(s):  
W. S. Parkin ◽  
C. E. Mills ◽  
J. Gruenewald
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Law Enforcement ◽  
Law Enforcement Officers ◽  
The United States ◽  
Practical Significance ◽  
Western Society ◽  
Law Enforcement Agencies ◽  
Far Right ◽  
Government Ideology ◽  
External Threat

Цель: to analyze the far-right extremism’s anti- government ideology as an external threat to law enforcement officers. Methods: dialectical approach to cognition of social phenomena, using the general and specific research methods based on it. Results: The relationship between far-right extremism and law enforcement in the United States has a long and complicated history. In 2020, this relationship was on display as both far-right extremists and law enforcement agencies were brought into the national spotlight for their roles in multiple unprecedented events. This research discusses how far-right extremism’s anti- government ideology represents an external threat to law enforcement officers. This threat is discussed through the presentation of 30-years of data on law enforcement officers killed in the line-of-duty by far-right extremists from the Extremist Crime Database. In addition, the research also examines law enforcement’s implicit and explicit support for far-right extremism, which creates an internal threat against the legitimacy of the profession. Finally, policy initiatives that come from, and build upon, prior research are discussed to reduce these threats.Scientific novelty: for the first time, the work substantiates that far-right extremists threaten the safety of law enforcement officers in the United States. Antigovernment extremists, who do not believe that they are subject to the laws of the jurisdiction where they live, pose the risk of escalating to violent acts when encountering law enforcement when they engage in both ideologically motivated and routine criminal activity. In addition, law enforcement agencies who hire far-right extremists face the very real prospect of becoming illegitimate in the eyes of the communities to whom they are sworn to serve and protect. Decades of criminological research has shown that lack of trust in law enforcement makes the job of policing a community more difficult and more dangerous. Although multiple paths forward were outlined that build on prior research and empirical knowledge, only decisive action by law enforcement and policymakers will result in outcomes that reduce the risk of external violent victimization to police and protect law enforcement agencies from being delegitimized by the presence of far-right extremists within their ranks.Practical significance: the main provisions and conclusions of the article can be used in scientific, pedagogical and law enforcement activities when considering issues related to the prevention, suppression and investigation of extremist crimes.The article was first published in English language by Criminology, Criminal Justice, Law & Society and The Western Society of Criminology Hosting by Scholastica. For more information please contact: [email protected] original publication: Parkin, W. S., Mills, C. E., Gruenewald, J. (2021). Far-Right Extremism’s Threat to Police Safety and the Organizational Legitimacy of Law Enforcement in the United States, Criminology, Criminal Justice, Law & Society, 2021, Vol. 22, No. 2, pp. 1–24. Publication URL: https://ccjls.scholasticahq.com/article/26321-far-right-extremism-s-threat-to-police-safety-and-the-organizational-legitimacy-of-law-enforcement-in-the-united-states

Screening the Police

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Noah Tsika
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
New York ◽  
Law Enforcement ◽  
Police Department ◽  
Film History ◽  
The United States ◽  
Law Enforcement Agencies ◽  
Local Law Enforcement ◽  
State And Local ◽  
American Police

American police departments have presided over the business of motion pictures since the end of the nineteenth century. Their influence is evident not only on the screen but also in the ways movies are made, promoted, and viewed in the United States. Screening the Police explores the history of film’s entwinement with law enforcement, showing the role that state power has played in the creation and expansion of a popular medium. For the New Jersey State Police in the 1930s, film offered a method of visualizing criminality and of circulating urgent information about escaped convicts. For the New York Police Department, the medium was a means of making the agency world famous as early as 1896. Beat cops became movie stars. Police chiefs made their own documentaries. And from Maine to California, state and local law enforcement agencies regularly fingerprinted filmgoers for decades, amassing enormous records as they infiltrated theaters both big and small. Understanding the scope of police power in the United States requires attention to an aspect of film history that has long been ignored. Screening the Police reveals the extent to which American cinema has overlapped with the politics and practices of law enforcement. Today, commercial filmmaking is heavily reliant on public policing—and vice versa. How such a working relationship was forged and sustained across the long twentieth century is the subject of this book.

Protecting others, compassion, and sacrifice: The toll of disaster policing on law enforcement officers in the United States

2021 ◽  
pp. 0032258X2110447
Author(s):  
Liz Davenport Pollock ◽  
Daniel Augusto
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Law Enforcement ◽  
Role Conflict ◽  
Adaptive Response ◽  
Law Enforcement Officers ◽  
The United States ◽  
Theory Approach ◽  
Family Role ◽  
Work Family ◽  
Grounded Theory Approach

This study used a qualitative grounded theory approach to explore disaster experiences of law enforcement officers (LEO)s ( n = 56), in two high disaster areas of the United States. Respondents indicated that disasters cause increased stress on LEOs from fatigue, extended shifts, changing duties, increased workload, work–family role conflict, and new operational expectations and challenges within the agency during disasters. Family safety was also identified as a critical stressor and pre-occupation for LEOs during disaster policing, as well as an enhanced reliance on critical thinking as an adaptive response to untrained for challenges that are unique to disasters.

Current Issues in Psychological Fitness-for-Duty Evaluations of Law Enforcement Officers

2017 ◽  
pp. 93-117
Author(s):  
Martin J. Mayer ◽  
David M. Corey
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Law Enforcement ◽  
Law Enforcement Officers ◽  
The United States ◽  
Employment Law ◽  
Professional Standards ◽  
Police Psychology ◽  
Fitness For Duty ◽  
Standards Of Practice ◽  
Key Topics

Courts throughout the United States have ruled that that the “awesome powers” entrusted to law enforcement officers, and the safety-sensitive nature of their positions, impose on their public employers a responsibility to ensure that they are fit to perform their duties. But, as with an officer's powers, the authority of a police employer to mandate a psychological fitness-for-duty evaluation (FFDE) is not without boundaries. This chapter addresses the legal authority of a police employer to require an FFDE, the limits to that authority, and the implications of these constraints both for police employers and the psychologists who conduct these evaluations on their behalf. Written by two prominent experts in police employment law and police psychology, this chapter concerns itself with both the law and professional standards of practice. Key topics include the legal threshold for requiring an FFDE, limitations to the content of an FFDE report, and evaluator qualifications.

scholarly journals Book Review: Gangland: An Encyclopedia of Gang Life from Cradle to Grave

2020 ◽  
Vol 59 (2) ◽  
pp. 140
Author(s):  
Dianna Kim
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Law Enforcement ◽  
Criminal Activity ◽  
The United States ◽  
American Population ◽  
Social Good ◽  
Law Enforcement Officials ◽  
Gang Life ◽  
The Impact

The existence of gangs and the impact of gang-related criminal activity on communities in the United States has been an issue examined by criminologists and law enforcement officials for decades. While the focus of such inquiry has historically been centered on the harm caused by gangs, it is often overlooked that such groups also have been known to engage in pursuits resulting in social good. In Gangland: An Encyclopedia of Gang Life from Cradle to Grave, editor Laura L. Finley endeavors to demystify common gang misperceptions regarding this both intriguing and terrifying facet of the American population.

scholarly journals STRICT LIABILITY: A SOLUTION TO HOLD PEATLAND DESTROYERS ACCOUNTABLE

2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 147-155
Author(s):  
Bayu Novendra ◽  
Kania Jennifer Wiryadi
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Law Enforcement ◽  
Forest Fire ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Respiratory Health ◽  
Strict Liability ◽  
The United States ◽  
Deterrent Effect ◽  
The World Bank ◽  
The Government

In 2019, burned forests and peatlands reached 328 thousand hectares. The World Bank estimates that total loss from this event reached 5.2 billion USD. At least, until September 2019, there were 900,000 residents who experienced respiratory health problems and hundreds of schools in Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore had to stop teaching and learning activities due to the haze. One of the factors that ‘fertilizes’ problems for destruction of forests and peatlands that continue to grow is difficulty to account the perpetrator. This paper will attempt to answer and solve these problems with the concept of strict liability. This research will answer two problems, how can the concept of strict liability solve the issues for peatland law enforcement? And how does the application of strict liability rules compare with Netherlands and United States? The government has pursued a moratorium policy. Starting from Presidential Instruction (Inpres) No. 10 year 2011 and extended by Inpres No. 6 year 2013 also Inpres No. 8 year 2015. However, this policy is considered unsatisfactory because there are still forestry and plantation permits issued by the government and massive forest and land burning. Therefore, there needs a solution from a repressive approach to provide a deterrent effect on forest fire perpetrators. Strict liability concept means that the defendant will still be responsible even though his activities were lawful and carried out carefully. Furthermore, strict liability is an accountability that not only eliminates elements of subjective error, but also objectively. Some countries have practiced strict liability, namely the Netherlands and the United States.   Keywords: Forest Fire, Law Enforcement, Moratorium, Peatland, Strict Liability

The Environment of Death and its Influence on Police Officers in the United States

2001 ◽  
Vol 43 (2) ◽  
pp. 145-155 ◽  
Author(s):  
John D. Sugimoto ◽  
Kevin Ann Oltjenbruns
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Law Enforcement ◽  
Police Officers ◽  
Stress Disorder ◽  
Law Enforcement Officers ◽  
The United States ◽  
Self Control ◽  
Traumatic Grief ◽  
American Law ◽  
Grief Reactions

Exposure to the threat of death or to death events is acknowledged to be a factor in the manifestation of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Police officers in the United States are immersed in a professional and cultural environment replete with death. Given for consideration is the notion that inescapable, death-related stressors of wide variety and intensity, some of which are constructs of the police profession, contribute to the manifestation and maintenance of PTSD as well as traumatic grief reactions in American law enforcement officers. Personnel who continue police work while symptomatic may incur risks of reduced self-control, escalated use of force, and other inappropriate behavior due to irritability or outbursts of anger associated with PTSD. Because of the primacy of the element of death, those who are involved in the field of thanatology may hold the key to discovering and effecting palliative measures on behalf of this population.

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