August Vollmer: Criminal Justices Studies And Modern Policing

* Officers are instructed to provide safety in the community, and enforce the law. Issuing a suspect to court is the job of the police and it is the job of the police to make sure that the suspect is convicted for their crime and issued to a correctional facility if the offence meets the requirements. By incarcerating individuals and issuing punishments such as tickets the community follows the rules and safety is provided.

Concepts like crime prevention, authority, professionalism and discretion have evolved in modern law enforcement since the twentieth century. August Vollmer instituted university training as a tool for young officers in training and under Vollmer’s teachings; O.W. Wilson pioneered the use of advanced training for officers and is also known for the start of criminal justice as an academic field. Wilson was also instrumental in applying modern management and administrative techniques to policing. Vollmer’s drive for educational innovations and improvements has changed policing tremendously and is still practiced heavily upon in today’s modern law enforcement society.

Chief Vollmer, known for being an innovative reformer, initiated much restructuring and reform during his one year with the LAPD. He completely reorganized the Department, improving working conditions, establishing new standards of professionalism, and laying the groundwork for what since has become today’s Scientific Investigation Division. He believed that scientific analysis of evidence had a place in police work, so Chief Vollmer ordered the formation of the first crime lab in the United States. The FBI crime laboratory was not established until seven years

August Vollmer and his accomplices recommended training and education as two of the main components in professionalism in policing (Bohm & Haley, 2014). When Vollmer advocated for training he begun to hire more qualified and educated people that were able to perform the job more effectively. In the past, there were no requirements for individuals to start the job so the candidates weren’t fitting the job. Vollmer also wanted the politics and policing separated (Bohm & Haley, 2014). His reform was used to “to eliminate political influences, gain control of officers, and establish crime-fighting priorities” (Bohm & Haley, 2014, Pg. 147). Vollmer’s reform had a great impact on the department and made great changes such as: limiting the police functions to law enforcement related functions only, enforced

Courts are established social, political, and judicial institutions necessary for the manifestation of justice and the maintenance of law and order. The courts are part of the judicial branch of government, as outlined in Article III of the United States Constitution. Courts are the arenas in which the law is tried and applied. Judges are the presiding officers of the court. The United States Supreme Court is the most fundamental court because has "the authority to decide the constitutionality of federal laws and resolve other disputes over them," (United States Courts, 2012). This is true even though even though the court does not expressly enforce that law; enforcement is the province of the executive branch.

Champion, D.J. (2009). Leading U.S. supreme court cases in criminal justice: Briefs and key terms. Upper Saddle river, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Since the beginning of time, the United States’ Criminal Justice System (CJS) has been scrutinized and will continue to be. If significant changes were to occur within the CJS it could potentially take decades. Different persons, institutions, governments, and even departments within governments have different views; it is a natural occurrence. Thus, as with any subject matter, there are always controversies that cause disruption within society. Often, the controversies stem from the lack of understanding and the historical patterns of unsupported data.

There are more people incarcerated in the United States of America than any other country in the world willing to count their inmates (Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2016). How can this be? Foremost, the criminal justice system in the United States of America (which is made up of the police, the courts, and the corrections) is not working toward reducing mass incarceration the way it should be. The criminal justice system is set up strategically to accomplish two goals: to bring in money and to gain power. The byproducts of achieving these two goals are mass incarceration, ethnic and racial profiling, and minimal justice. The system needs to change its goals to: reducing crime and doing justice. The police, the courts, and the correctional system all feed off of one another and affect each other. Therefore, if real change is going to be made, it needs to happen in all three branches of the criminal justice system. A system that seems to be working well is in Norway. Norway’s criminal justice system does not look like America’s system. The criminal justice system in Norway has different philosophies concerning crime, justice, and the corrections. "We don 't look at our inmates as criminals, but rather as regular people who have committed a crime." (Skulberg, 2010, p. 73) This is a quote from a Norwegian prison guard giving an example of the ideology in Norway. In order for the United States to reduce crime and to have true justice, first, the policing model needs to change

Leadership is a necessary component of any organization to include a criminal justice organization. In recent years, research has clearly indicated that leadership must be present in criminal justice organizations for a multitude of reasons. Leaders provide motivation and inspire their followers to progress while advancing toward a shared vision. This paper will discuss several different aspects of leadership and expand on the importance of having strong leaders in place. This paper will explain that there are different styles and theories of leadership which are utilized today. Basic principles of leadership as well as

Vollmer sought to eliminate the link between politics and police. He viewed policing as a profession, which is evident by some of the ideas he developed. Vollmer was the first to stress the need for police officers to have college degrees (Strock, 2007).

While the first campus police officers were actually two off-duty City of New Haven (Connecticut) officers hired to patrol the campus in 1894, research shows the evolution of campus police agencies occurred over three specific eras, each of which had unique features (Sloan, 1992). For example, during the “watchmen era” of the 18th and 19th centuries, a variety of college or university personnel, from university presidents to custodians, performed security functions on campus that ranged from preventing fires, to ensuring property was protected, to enforcing disciplinary codes in the dorms.

Law enforcement like much of the economy and society has had to adapt to the rapidly changing Atmosphere of the technological advances. To counter these advances, education has served in the forefront to combating the technological sophistication that is rapidly sweeping the workforce. The need and desire to remain competitive with the technology that we have is a need that can be satisfied with more education. Much like technology, education has benefits elsewhere in the equation of remaining competitive. Education on the higher tiered level provides a professionalism to accompany by the demands placed on students during their scholastic years of study. Activities required by many professors in the higher education

There is a debate that is as controversial as police officers holding a degree and that is whether the law enforcement career is a profession or craft. Although, the classification of police work as a craft, trade, or a profession was the subject of intense controversy, there appeared to be little doubt that the trend toward professionalization was exerting a powerful impact on the field of law enforcement. Many officers argue that policing is a craft that you must have passion for and academies are irrelevant to learning police work. In order, to become a good officer one must gain experience and knowledge on the job. Then you have others who say that policing is a profession with education a central feature. They believe that one

Lawyers and psychologists require even more schooling, a minimum of around eight years. Police officers end up being all of these things, and more. To obtain the real goal of law, and prevent crime, officers must have the trust and respect of the community they serve. "Instead, policing has been defined as uneducated people's work" (Fyfe, 262). Many citizens feel that the people protecting them are not as smart as they are. This leads to disrespect, and a sense of superiority within the community. With disrespect comes uncooperation, something any department would be worlds better without. If officers were required to obtain more basic schooling, and focus on social issues and psychology more during training, they would be better equipped to take up the position of law enforcement in any community. Besides the obvious benefit of being more adept at dealing with citizens, there would be added bonuses in police departments requiring more strenuous schooling. With four years of general education, officers would inherently become acquainted with a wide range of topics that they might not otherwise be exposed to with the minimal curriculum now required. Foreign language, art, and psychology classes would be especially useful in exposing up and comers to the varied environments they might encounter in their careers. Most importantly, people in the community would have a new respect for the

Crime may simply be referred to as an offense against the state or against morality and is punishable by law, while justice is the fairness practiced during judgment of cases usually in instances where crime has taken place. Crime and justice go hand in hand as commonly evident in a case whereby a criminal is apprehended and taken to a court of law, then a ruling of justice practiced on the case and fairness used in passing of judgments. In most governments globally, crime and justice is managed by a criminal and justice department and typically, various departments are involved. These departments may primarily include; the police, the prosecution department, the law department, the correctional