Police Mentality Research

A considerable number of research has been conducted over the past 40 years to understand police culture. A variety of terms have been used in reference to it including: ‘cop culture’ (Reiner, 2010:118), the ‘working personality’ of the police (Skolnick, 1966, 2010:15), the ‘police mind’ (Fielding & Fielding, 1991) and, ‘police sub-culture’ (Waddington, 1999). Research has shown that police culture influences officer’s attitudes, behaviors’ and work ethics (Scaramella et al., 2011); and the way officers perceive society and their role within it (Reiner, 2000). Schein (2004: 17) defines police culture as ‘A pattern of shared basic assumptions that was learned by a group as it solved its problems of external adaptation and internal integration, that has worked well enough to be considered valid and,

With the legitimate use of force and the confrontational nature of their interaction of community, the police work offers opportunity to officers to abuse their authority when their authority is perceived as being threatened. For example, police have to be suspicious even in regular duties like patrolling the district. They remain suspicious to everyone in the street. Most of the time, police officers work on their own without much monitoring, for instance, no one guide them when they patrol, when they face challenges from the public, they have to make the decision on their own of whether respond to the challenge by abusing their authority. It is the vagueness of their work train the police to be suspicious to any minor change in the surrounding environment in order to maintain the social order. The ambiguities also offer room for them to make choice as well as the possibility of corruption.

A majority of the population have erroneous beliefs concerning law enforcement agencies. Many believe police should not have the authority to use force, no matter what the situation. Often people believe everything can be resolved in peaceful terms with no one injured or killed. Likewise, people do not understand the need to use force and the responsibility of use of force by the police. Sometimes problems cannot be solved in a

An article in the Washington Post revealed that across the nation 963 people were shot and killed by police in 2016. This puts police in a losing situation. Not only have they lost the trust of many, but they are now portrayed as the enemy. A police officer’s duty is to protect the people and enforce the law. After the shootings, people don’t see them as protecting anyone, but instead harming the population. More than often now the perception is that they are the bad guys who take advantage of their power.

As stated in the reading police have subcultures that help to guide officers actions some being good and others not so good. Pollack (2017) list three factors that help to form these subgroups, "police typically form a homogenous social group, they have a uniquely stressful work environment, they participate in a basically closed social system” (p. 129). The Ramparts scandal took place within the Los Angeles police department which was known as one of the worst police corruptions. These group of police officers had formed their own subculture one where illegal activity was the norm and getting paid on the side from stealing drugs and falsely accusing people was acceptable. If the police officer Perez wasn't caught stealing drugs and forced to get a lesser sentence by turning evidence against the department who knows how many more years the subculture at the LAPD would have continued.

As described by the textbook in relation to the police subculture, the components of the police subculture include Control, Territoriality, Use of Force, Danger, Unpredictability, Suspicion, and Solidarity (Schmalleger & Worrall, 2009). While knowing that each piece is essential to the make up of the police subculture, to me the most important component would have to be the suspicion part of the subculture. Since it’s the polices priority to protect the area they are responsible for, officers develop a keen sense, which is developed through training and experience, allows them to gain a “six sense” about their area’s an instinctively know that there is something amiss (Schmalleger & Worrall, 2009). While developing suspicion, police officers

In recent years, society has heard cases of police brutality at an increasingly shocking rate, thus creating a sense of distrust among communities towards police officers and other authority figures. As the first line of defense against crimes such as home invasions or crimes against persons, police officers are expected to be an ally towards victims; however, it seems that society is now viewing officers as the perpetrators of crimes as opposed to the protectors. This has already posed an issue because community members are choosing not to seek police help when needed, and when they do decide to seek help, forgoing police assistance results in being uncertain of where else to go.

A cop on the street endures continual contact with drunks, druggies, the mentally disturbed, and violent criminals. On a daily basis, they deal with life-and-death situations, and know quite well that any situation - without notice - can turn very bad where the only immediate option is to use deadly force necessary for their own personal safety and survival. Those who are family-members and close friends of a law enforcement officer are also fully aware of the public dangers and human risk that are actually involved with the job. On the other hand, a lot of the general public typically has an ill-conceived and unrealistic notion that a cop has full control in any situation in

Police culture consists in various characteristics regarding how police officers conduct their behavior on the job. Their objective is to serve and protect the citizens of communities they work in. Police officers are skilled to handle tough situations and conditions they may encounter and will require discretion to prevent further issues from arising. Officers perceive their working environment to be overwhelming with the risk of danger and ultimately, become preoccupied with danger and violence that surrounds them. Police officers are there to protect the citizens in their communities. However, there are some issues concerning the culture that has a strong negative atmosphere towards citizens. Throughout many studies about police culture,

Companies like Nintendo, Sony, Marvel, and DC have well known brands that are spotted miles away and around the world. Theses same companies re-brand themselves every couple of years in order to please the new generations. Artist like Drake, Shameik Moore, and Minh Hang are three people that had brand themselves in a certain styles before they became celebrities. The police just like any other party need to change their look, style and way of responding to actions. Policing is more than just a career or a job, it is a culture that is just as complex as a the combs in a beehive. The culture of the police can be broken down into into subcultures such as K-9 and Homicide. Both have a set definitions beliefs by being cops but those beliefs are changed to help fit your job experience. There are even ranking of culture between the east and west. Rank could differ by any area such as graduate versus veteran.

Although majority in our Society seem to dislike police officers because they term them as “Bullies” who enjoy handing out summons,stop and frisk people and making arrests because they have the right to do so, Police officer however make some of this decisions because they believe they are keeping the society safe.

Police culture is a type of organizational culture that contains unwritten roles and social codes that dictate the way within the culture will function. It as well is a strong sense of closeness with others in a group and a will to work together. Authoritarian personalities is basically an attitude or one’s state of mind in which it is a belief by one’s own authority. People rarely realize that an officer is affected by culture on a day to day basis. Also, this is what can affect officers or people with some type of authority with the way their personality maybe. Police culture an authorities personalities are alike, because an officer’s environment can affect their personality or persona of how an officer deals with a situation given upon

In policing, officers are given the role to serve and protect citizens, and carry out justice. In addition, are expected by society to protect lives and property. When a police officer fails to comply with these general principles, he or she is considered deviant. Corruption and misconduct have been present in society since the beginning of policing. An infamous case in American policing history is the Michael Dowd case, where a former NYPD officer was convicted for engaging in numerous criminal activities. When analyzing the film The Seven Five, several aspects in the case can be applied to concepts found in the Introduction to Policing book, including, police culture, personality, minorities in policing, ethics, and patrol operations.

Anne Robinson (2006) found that these are significant issues because the 2002 survey of their police staff members by Unison found that: 1) over half of respondents did not feel valued by their forces 2) the principal reason for staff wishing to leave the service was that they felt undervalued 3) 63% perceived there was a status divide between police staff and officers. US police culture mirrors some of the issues about acceptance and the differential status of civilian staff present in the UK.

Hi Melissa, great examples! on the negative side of police perception is very sad to hear stories like this. Especially when the outcome is fatal and the damage impacts not only the suspect but their family and society.