Policing the Media


Book Description

Drawing upon interviews, personal observations, and the author's black-and-white photographs of cops and the "clients, " Perlmutter describes the lives and philosophies of street patrol officers. He finds that cops hold ambiguous attitudes toward their televisual comrades, for much of TV copland is fantastic and preposterous. Copyright © Libri GmbH. All rights reserved.




The War on Cops


Book Description

Violent crime has been rising sharply in many American cities after two decades of decline. Homicides jumped nearly 17 percent in 2015 in the largest 50 cities, the biggest one-year increase since 1993. The reason is what Heather Mac Donald first identified nationally as the “Ferguson effect”: Since the 2014 police shooting death of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, officers have been backing off of proactive policing, and criminals are becoming emboldened. This book expands on Mac Donald’s groundbreaking and controversial reporting on the Ferguson effect and the criminal-justice system. It deconstructs the central narrative of the Black Lives Matter movement: that racist cops are the greatest threat to young black males. On the contrary, it is criminals and gangbangers who are responsible for the high black homicide death rate. The War on Cops exposes the truth about officer use of force and explodes the conceit of “mass incarceration.” A rigorous analysis of data shows that crime, not race, drives police actions and prison rates. The growth of proactive policing in the 1990s, along with lengthened sentences for violent crime, saved thousands of minority lives. In fact, Mac Donald argues, no government agency is more dedicated to the proposition that “black lives matter” than today’s data-driven, accountable police department. Mac Donald gives voice to the many residents of high-crime neighborhoods who want proactive policing. She warns that race-based attacks on the criminal-justice system, from the White House on down, are eroding the authority of law and putting lives at risk. This book is a call for a more honest and informed debate about policing, crime, and race.




Bureaucratic Propaganda


Book Description




News Media Relations for Law Enforcement Leaders (2nd Ed.)


Book Description

To one extent or another, dealing with the news media is a fact of life for every American law enforcement leader. However, news organizations, although a pain at times, can aid law enforcement in a number of ways. This text avoids theory and the intangible and concentrates on the practicalities by exploring past troubled times and focuses on what cops and reporters have to offer each other. The “news” is defined and broken down into some of its technical, component parts. The secrets for establishing a mutually beneficial relationship with reporters are revealed, including the absolute necessity for credibility on the part of the law enforcement leader. Common sense policies and procedures concerning relations with the news media, and the importance of an effective Public Information Officer (PIO) is explored. The following topics are featured: newspaper journalism; the all-seeing eye called television; a look at what radio has to offer; Internet news; and what the Net can provide the police officer in twenty-first century America. The law enforcement officer will learn how to give an effective interview, produce news releases that will be used by the media, the art of leading a successful news conference, and the dirty tricks used by the occasional, unscrupulous journalist. Solid advice for overcoming this media misbehavior is given, which will prepare the leader for dealing with the media challenges found at the scene of a major crime, disaster, or other high-profile incident. Instructions for the responses required to recover from an episode of bad news is included, aiding the leader in how to inform the public of all good news that the agency generates. Each chapter concludes with a summary of vital points to remember, and a glossary of terms appears at the end of the text. A new chapter has been added on the topic of “fake news.” Law enforcement leaders need to understand what this phenomenon is and how to protect themselves from its negative effects. This how-to-do-it book is a troubleshooting guide that will enable the law enforcement leader to undertake any challenging media situation that is encountered.




Policing and Social Media


Book Description

This book illustrates the process by which social media and related changes in communication formats have affected the public face of policing and police work in Canada. Schneider argues that police use of social media has altered institutional public police practices in a manner that is consistent with the logic of social media platforms.




Victims In The News


Book Description




Race, Riots, and the Police


Book Description

"Reflected almost daily in headlines, the enormous rift between the police and the communities they serve--especially African American communities--remains one of the major challenges facing the United States. And race-related riots continue to be a violent manifestation of that rift. Can this dismal state of affairs be changed? Can the distrust between black citizens and the police ever be transformed into mutual respect? Howard Rahtz addresses this issue, first tracing the history of race riots in the US and then drawing on both the lessons of that history and his own first-hand experience to offer a realistic approach for developing and maintaining a police force that is a true community partner."--Provided by publisher.




The Rise of Big Data Policing


Book Description

Winner, 2018 Law & Legal Studies PROSE Award The consequences of big data and algorithm-driven policing and its impact on law enforcement In a high-tech command center in downtown Los Angeles, a digital map lights up with 911 calls, television monitors track breaking news stories, surveillance cameras sweep the streets, and rows of networked computers link analysts and police officers to a wealth of law enforcement intelligence. This is just a glimpse into a future where software predicts future crimes, algorithms generate virtual “most-wanted” lists, and databanks collect personal and biometric information. The Rise of Big Data Policing introduces the cutting-edge technology that is changing how the police do their jobs and shows why it is more important than ever that citizens understand the far-reaching consequences of big data surveillance as a law enforcement tool. Andrew Guthrie Ferguson reveals how these new technologies —viewed as race-neutral and objective—have been eagerly adopted by police departments hoping to distance themselves from claims of racial bias and unconstitutional practices. After a series of high-profile police shootings and federal investigations into systemic police misconduct, and in an era of law enforcement budget cutbacks, data-driven policing has been billed as a way to “turn the page” on racial bias. But behind the data are real people, and difficult questions remain about racial discrimination and the potential to distort constitutional protections. In this first book on big data policing, Ferguson offers an examination of how new technologies will alter the who, where, when and how we police. These new technologies also offer data-driven methods to improve police accountability and to remedy the underlying socio-economic risk factors that encourage crime. The Rise of Big Data Policing is a must read for anyone concerned with how technology will revolutionize law enforcement and its potential threat to the security, privacy, and constitutional rights of citizens. Read an excerpt and interview with Andrew Guthrie Ferguson in The Economist.




Law Enforcement, Communication, and Community


Book Description

Given widespread media attention to issues of crime and its prevention, police heroism, and new modes of police-community involvements, this international collection is timely. It is unique in examining ways in which police and citizens communicate across a range of contexts and problem areas. While much attention is afforded the critical roles of communication by police agencies, there has been little recourse to communication science and its theories. Likewise, the latter has not, until recently, concerned itself with analyzing police-citizen interactions. This volume examines the character of such encounters, forging new theoretical frameworks having implications for practice in many instances. Topics include media portrayals of law enforcement, communication and new technologies within police culture, domestic violence, hate crimes, stalking, sexual abuse, and hostage negotiations. This book should be relevant not only to a range of social sciences besides Communication scholars and students, but also to practitioners working in the field.




Encyclopedia of Law Enforcement


Book Description

Click ′Additional Materials′ for downloadable samples Although there is a plethora of studies on crime and punishment, law enforcement is a relatively new field of serious research. When courts, sentencing, prisons, jails, and other areas of the criminal justice system are studied, often the first point of entry into the system is through police and law enforcement agencies. Unfortunately, understanding of the important issues in law enforcement has little general literature to draw on. Currently available reference works on policing are narrowly focused and sorely out-of-date. To this end, a distinguished roster of authors, representing many years of knowledge and practice in the field, draw on the latest research and methods to delineate, describe, and analyze all areas of law enforcement. This three-volume Encyclopedia of Law Enforcement provides a comprehensive, critical, and descriptive examination of all facets of law enforcement on the state and local, federal and national, and international stages. This work is a unique reference source that provides readers with informed discussions on the practice and theory of policing in an historical and contemporary framework. The volumes treat subjects that are particular to the area of state and local, federal and national, and international policing. Many of the themes and issues of policing cut across disciplinary borders, however, and several entries provide comparative information that places the subject in context. Key Features • Three volumes cover state and local, federal, and international law enforcement • More than 250 contributors composed over 400 essays on all facets of law enforcement • An editorial board made up of the leading scholars, researchers, and practitioners in the field of law enforcement • Descriptions of United States Federal Agency law enforcement components • Comprehensive and inclusive coverage, exploring concepts and social and legal patterns within the larger topical concern • Global, multidisciplinary analysis Key Themes • Agencies, Associations, and Organizations • Civilian/Private Involvement • Communications • Crime Statistics • Culture/Media • Drug Enforcement • Federal Agencies/Organizations • International • Investigation, Techniques • Types of Investigation • Investigative Commissions • Law and Justice • Legislation/Legal Issues • Military • Minority Issues • Personnel Issues • Police Conduct • Police Procedure • Policing Strategies • Safety and Security • Specialized Law Enforcement Agencies • Tactics • Terrorism • Victims/Witnesses Editors Marie Simonetti Rosen Dorothy Moses Schulz M. R. Haberfeld John Jay College of Criminal Justice Editorial Board Geoffrey Alpert, University of South Carolina Thomas Feltes, University of Applied Police Sciences, Spaichingen, Germany Lorie A. Fridell, Police Executive Research Forum, Washington, DC James J. Fyfe, John Jay College of Criminal Justice David T. Johnson, University of Hawaii at Manoa Peter K. Manning, Northeastern University Stephen D. Mastrofski, George Mason University Rob Mawby, University of Plymouth, U.K. Mark Moore, Harvard University Maurice Punch, London School of Economics, U.K. Wesley G. Skogan, Northwestern University