Deck 2: The Environment of Administration

Question 1

The police do not need to measure up to citizen expectations.

Answer 1

False

Question 2

Police chiefs do not get involved in politics.

Answer 2

False

Question 3

In a closed system, status among employees is directly related to positions and ranks.

Answer 3

True

Question 4

Environmental conditions that affect the structure and nature of government include:

A) technological
B) political
C) economic
D) all of these choices

Question 5

The open system model takes the view that organizations exist in a complex environment that they cannot shut out.

Question 6

The city commission form of government is usually found in smaller cities.

Question 7

As cultural diversity increases, the task of law enforcement becomes more complex.

Question 8

Most police managers are able to work cooperatively with their municipal executives.

Question 9

Which of the following is an example of cultural conditions that influence the environment of police organizations?

A) a contentious election
B) lack of tolerance for certain behaviors such as panhandlingt
C) The chief's time on the job
D) the percentage of whites in the population

Question 10

Police organizations are quite insulated from environmental pressures.

Question 11

A pretextual traffic stop occurs when an officer uses the pretext of a minor traffic violation to stop and possibly search a vehicle.

Question 12

Ecological conditions in the environment of government include:

A) geographic location
B) natural resources
C) climate
D) all of these choices

Question 13

The community decides police goals via the political process.

Question 14

An open-systems-oriented police department attempts to tailor its operations and services to community conditions and needs.

Question 15

Community policing and the professional model are synonymous.

Question 16

Police authority must be applied assertively within the context of the department's values and goals.

Question 17

Community policing, as it is known today, has been around since the birth of policing.

Question 18

Demographic conditions that influence law enforcement include:

A) changes in the proportion of young people
B) recessions and economic downturns
C) political disagreements
D) none of these choices

Question 19

Which of the following is NOT a part of the police environment?

A) social conditions
B) cultural conditions
C) physical conditions
D) labor conditions

Question 20

Separation of powers refers to the division of political power among the federal, state, and local levels.

Question 21

Characteristics of an open model of police organization include:

A) decentralized decision making
B) accountability through superiors and peers
C) all employees and the public contribute to resolving problems and changing the organization
D) all of these choices

Question 22

Nowadays, perhaps the most significant threat to police-community relationships is:

A) rudeness
B) racial profiling
C) politics
D) authoritarianism

Question 23

__________ involves taking more than one idea, concept, principle, or element into account.

Question 24

"Uncertainty" in an organization refers to:

A) natural selection
B) contradictions in citizen preferences for crime control
C) a lack of information about the environment
D) the absence of a policy manual

Question 25

Which of the following is NOT a characteristic of a closed system?

A) centralized decision making
B) authority based on position and knowledge rather than rank
C) organizational members isolated from society
D) hierarchical structure of organization shaped like a pyramid

Question 26

__________ refers to the fact that in our form of government the act of governing is divided into three constitutionally defined branches: legislative, executive, and judicial.

Question 27

A good example of the open systems model in action is:

A) CompStat
B) community policing
C) fusion centers
D) hot spots policing

Question 28

The __________ of government consists of technical, legal, political, economic, demographic, ecological, and cultural conditions.

Question 29

The __________ is rooted in biology and basically states that organizations react to their environment, some more efficiently than others.

Question 30

The __________ model of policing was very similar to the military or bureaucratic model of management.

Question 31

The __________ takes the view that organizations exist in a complex environment that they cannot shut out.

Question 32

Threats to police-community relationships include:

A) excessive force
B) rudeness
C) authoritarianism
D) all of these choices

Question 33

In the __________ form of city government, the mayor is the primary administrator exercising control over departments, including hiring and firing department heads and administering policies.

Question 34

Who makes up the so-called "fourth branch of government?"

A) citizens
B) lobbying groups
C) the private security apparatus
D) the media

Question 35

Open systems attempt to maintain a/an __________ with the environment.

Question 36

__________ is defined as the politics, decision making, and other processes that determine community direction.

Question 37

The council-manager form of government:

A) consists of elected council members who make policies that are carried out by administrators
B) gives the mayor primary control over hiring and firing department heads
C) has each member of the city council serving as the head of one or more of the city's departments
D) is characterized by a weak mayor

Question 38

__________ is any police-initiated action that relies on race, ethnicity, or national origin rather than the behavior of an individual.

Question 39

Which two strategies spawned a rethinking of American police?

A) random patrol and problem solving
B) broken windows policing and problem solving
C) hot spots policing and CompStat
D) racial profiling and proactive community building

Question 40

Which of the following conceives of organizations as being insulated and closed off from their environments?

A) closed system model
B) natural selection model
C) open system model
D) normal accident model

Question 41

__________ refers to the number and population of various cultural and ethnic groups which reside in a community.

Question 42

The __________ is the police department's window to the world.

Question 43

The __________ theory views community disorder as a precursor to crime.

Question 44

Many police departments use a __________ to deal with the media.

Question 45

For the past 200 years, the United States has been the great __________, with immigrants from every other country in the world.

Question 46

Explain the main threats to police-community relationships.

Question 47

What three main themes distinguish community policing from other more traditional strategies?

Question 48

Distinguish between the open and closed system models of organizations.

Question 49

Explain the concept of an organizational environment.

Question 50

What are some complaints often voiced by the police with respect to the media?