Deck 5: Problems and Solutions in Modern Policing

Question 1

Identify an element of police discretion.

A) The attitude of a wrongdoer toward a police officer
B) The relationship between a victim and a police officer
C) The victim's criminal record
D) The human rights policy

Answer 1

A

Question 2

Which of the following is a counterterrorism strategy employed by the federal government?

A) DNA fingerprinting
B) Preventive policing
C) Racial profiling
D) Incident-driven policing

Answer 2

B

Question 3

Which of the following is determined by forensic experts using items found at a crime scene?

A) The time of death or injury
B) The motive behind a crime
C) The identities of the witnesses to a crime
D) The extent of evidence tampering

Answer 3

A

Question 4

Shirley is a police sergeant. She has twenty-one patrol officers directly reporting to her. Based on the span of control, which of the following assumptions can be made about Shirley?

A) She will be eligible to be promoted as a police lieutenant.
B) She will not take part in patrolling activities herself.
C) She will not be able to effectively manage her team.
D) She will efficiently supervise sixteen patrol officers in her team.

Question 5

Which of the following is a factor on which the judicial support of police discretion is based?

A) Police officers use intuition when a suspect gives a contradictory testimony.
B) Police officers may find themselves in danger of personal, physical harm and must be allowed to take steps to protect themselves.
C) Due to the nature of their jobs, police officers lack knowledge of human behavior.
D) Training allows police officers to determine threats to society but does not allow them to take action to prevent such activities.

Question 6

In which of the following types of policing are calls for service the primary instigators of action?

A) Community policing
B) Incident-driven policing
C) Problem-oriented policing
D) Intelligence-led policing

Question 7

Which of the following statements is true of detectives?

A) They are lower in the hierarchy than are patrol officers.
B) Their job is primarily preventive in nature.
C) Their job is limited to law enforcement.
D) They have been the focus of much more reform attention than patrol officers.

Question 8

In the context of the basic purposes of police patrol described by police accountability expert Samuel Walker, which of the following is NOT one of the purposes?

A) The deterrence of crime by maintaining a visible police presence
B) The maintenance of public order and a sense of security in the community
C) The twenty-four-hour provision of services that are not crime related
D) The prevention of crime by punishing suspected criminals

Question 9

Which of the following activities can be categorized under field services?

A) DNA fingerprinting
B) Forensic testing
C) Special operations
D) Questioned document examinations

Question 10

Ken is a patrol officer. He has several duties as part of his patrol activities. However, Ken spends the first half of the day responding to citizen complaints and emergencies on 911 on a daily basis. According to the general categories of patrol activities specified by William Gay, Theodore Schell, and Stephen Schack, under which of the following categories can Ken's daily routine be classified?

A) Preventive patrol
B) Calls for service
C) Administrative duties
D) Officer-initiated activities

Question 11

Barry is involved with a group of criminals who smuggle illegal items out of the country. Occasionally, he is summoned by the police to provide information about the people involved in the crime, the items smuggled, and potential routes for smuggling. In this scenario, Barry is a(n) _____.

A) cover agent
B) undercover officer
C) confidential informant
D) agent provocateur

Question 12

Concentrated areas of high criminal activity that draw a directed police response are called _____.

A) hot spots
B) crime labs
C) blue curtains
D) cold cases

Question 13

Which of the following environmental factors influences the way a police department is organized?

A) The kind of infrastructural facilities in a given area
B) The dominant class of police officers in a given jurisdiction
C) The number of crimes it must deal with
D) The demographics of the population it must police

Question 14

A factor of police discretion is _____.

A) human rights policy
B) a bill of rights
C) a referendum
D) departmental policy

Question 15

Which of the following is a characteristic of directed patrols?

A) It targets all areas under a police department's jurisdiction.
B) It identifies potential criminals using government records.
C) It keeps a few targets under surveillance.
D) It attempts to prevent a specific type of crime.

Question 16

In which of the following ways can trace evidence be used in criminal investigations?

A) It is used to determine how a victim and an offender reached a crime scene.
B) It is often documented and can be used as evidence in court.
C) It is used to link evidence to a suspect, which increases the likelihood of a conviction.
D) It is gathered from a victim's body during the autopsy and is used to indicate the time of death.

Question 17

Clark is a patrol officer who is on duty. He is using his vehicle to patrol the streets in order to detect any disruptions to public life or potential criminal activity. In this scenario, Clark is engaging in _____ patrol.

A) clearing
B) random
C) directed
D) combat

Question 18

Kevin works in a police department and specializes in homicide cases. He has detailed knowledge on firearms. In his last homicide case, Kevin found a bullet at the crime scene and knew that the bullet was fired from a gun that is no longer manufactured. He immediately got his technicians to create a 3D image of the bullet and looked it up in a national firearms database to identify the gun and its last owner. This scenario illustrates that Kevin is:

A) participating in a sting operation.
B) working as a forensic psychologist.
C) extracting trace evidence.
D) using ballistics technology.

Question 19

Craig is a detective working with the crime investigation department. His team receives information about a cross-border drug smuggling case. In order to expose the smugglers, Craig decides to assume a false identity and obtain first-hand information from the people involved in the process. In this scenario, Craig is a(n) _____.

A) undercover officer
B) homicide detective
C) cold case detective
D) auxiliary police officer

Question 20

As a bureaucracy, which of the following is most likely the ultimate goal of a police department?

A) To provide the best service for the community within the confines of its limited resources
B) To recruit individuals from the community to serve in the department
C) To prevent criminal activities from taking place rather than solving a crime after it has happened
D) To maintain communal harmony and conduct public awareness campaigns

Question 21

Which of the following terms is used to describe the basic assumptions and values that permeate law enforcement agencies and are taught to new members of these agencies as the proper way to think, perceive, and act?

A) Police subculture
B) Bureaucracy
C) The blue curtain
D) A force matrix

Question 22

Which of the following is an occupational stressor particularly faced by police officers?

A) The need to increase the clearance rate
B) Continuous exposure to harmful chemicals
C) The need to close every cold case
D) Negative media coverage

Question 23

Sean is an officer with a law enforcement agency. He was assigned a job to provide assistance in an area that was hit by an earthquake. Sean accepted the assignment and completed it successfully. However, by the end of his assignment, Sean started suffering from insomnia, showed signs of detachment, and often had flashbacks of his experiences on the mission. In this case, Sean is displaying symptoms of _____.

A) stress shielding
B) the Alzheimer's disease
C) post-traumatic stress disorder
D) a panic attack

Question 24

_____ is a traditional type of police corruption.

A) Larceny
B) Battery
C) Blackmail
D) Mooching

Question 25

Steffi is a police officer. Lately, she has been working long hours with two shifts of patrolling and has had additional paperwork to complete. Her friends and colleagues have noticed that she is stressed and dejected due to exhaustion. If Steffi continues to work like this, she is likely to _____.

A) become a division chief
B) suffer from burnout
C) suffer from carpal tunnel syndrome
D) get additional administrative responsibilities

Question 26

In which of the following ways can crime mapping be used to predict future crime patterns?

A) Arrests made with the help of existing information can be used to collect evidence about other criminals and crime gangs.
B) Information can be gathered using geographic information systems to track criminal acts as they occur in time and space.
C) Investigators can collect trace evidence by following cold trails that were deserted due to lack of witnesses.
D) Police departments can use digital maps of their jurisdiction to monitor quality-of-life crimes in residential areas.

Question 27

According to police theorist Harry J. Mullins, a ritual critical to a police officer's acceptance of police subculture is:

A) witnessing a felony arrest being made.
B) witnessing deadly force for the first time.
C) participating in sports activities for physical fitness.
D) identifying potential criminals for the first time.

Question 28

Which of the following is a characteristic of community policing?

A) It focuses on community development and social service rather than fighting crime.
B) It allows police officers to work in smaller shifts.
C) It promotes proactive problem solving.
D) It offers additional protection to minorities.

Question 29

From the first day on the job, police officers are taught the values and rules of police work in a process called _____.

A) reformism
B) incarceration
C) communalization
D) socialization

Question 30

Robert is a responsible citizen and actively takes part in initiatives introduced by the government and local police. Recently, he enrolled in a program that requires residents of the locality to collaborate with the police in order to prevent nighttime robberies. Robert is now involved in a popular version of a community policing initiative called a _____.

A) blue curtain
B) neighborhood watch program
C) crime displacement program
D) crisis intervention task

Question 31

Which of the following best describes noble cause corruption?

A) Officers arrest people from a minority community to cover for a dominant group.
B) Officers do bad things because they believe the outcomes will be good.
C) Officers attempt to coerce money or goods from a citizen or criminal.
D) Officers accept free gifts such as cigarettes, liquor, or services in return for favorable treatment.

Question 32

Which of the following is a privilege granted to patrol officers under community policing?

A) They have discretion to formulate their own arrest policies.
B) They have the freedom to improvise.
C) They can work in teams of their choice.
D) They can request for a transfer to another community.

Question 33

In the context of community policing, which of the following is a feature of collaborative reform?

A) Law enforcement officials form partnerships with local leaders to address difficult issues.
B) Police departments devote most of their resources to react to calls for service.
C) Law enforcement officials form external partnerships with countries to address cross-border terrorism.
D) Police departments turn to confidential informants for information concerning illegal activities in a community.

Question 34

Which of the following stressors is exclusive to female police officers?

A) Lack of media coverage
B) Lack of acceptance
C) Lack of community support
D) Lack of sleep

Question 35

Which of the following is a characteristic of problem-oriented policing?

A) It involves responding to crime-related incidents and notifying the appropriate authorities.
B) It encourages police officers to look at their work as a day-to-day proposition.
C) It encourages police officers to shift the patterns of criminal behavior in a negative direction.
D) It attempts to control or even solve the root causes of criminal behavior.

Question 36

Which of the following terms describes police action based on race, ethnicity, or national origin of a suspect rather than any reasonable suspicion that he or she has broken the law?

A) Racial profiling
B) National profiling
C) Ethnic penalty
D) Entrapment

Question 37

In most states, the use of nondeadly force is regulated by the concept of _____.

A) reasonable force
B) deadly force
C) noble cause corruption
D) police corruption

Question 38

In which of the following cases can a law enforcement agent use deadly force?

A) To interrogate a suspicious individual
B) To demonstrate the importance of respecting the law
C) To protect himself or herself from serious harm
D) To inflict serious injuries on another person

Question 39

Which of the following statements is true of the blue curtain?

A) It is a bureaucratic response to an officer-involved shooting.
B) It sets the guiding principles that help police officers make decisions.
C) It separates the police from the civilians they are meant to protect.
D) It is a popular counterterrorism strategy employed by the federal government.

Question 40

Which of the following rules related to the use of deadly force was amended following the Tennessee v. Garner (1985) case?

A) The search and seizure rule
B) In dubio pro reo
C) The fleeing felon rule
D) Mens rea

Question 41

Explain a civil rights violation and how it is affected by racial profiling.

Question 42

Explain the four categories of ethical dilemmas typically faced by a police officer as identified by criminologists Joycelyn M. Pollock and Ronald F. Becker.

Question 43

Dr. Anthony J. Pinizzotto and Charles E. Miller believe that although intuitive policing is often difficult to explain to those outside law enforcement, it is a crucial part of policing and should not be discouraged by civilian administrators.

Question 44

In the United States, all police departments have a strict body-worn camera policy, which disallow the devices to be employed at the discretion of an officer.

Question 45

In order to provide guidance to police officers regarding the misuse of force, law enforcement agencies create a(n) _________
A. non-lethal weapon
B. chain of command
C. use of force matrix
D. officer's instruction manual ​

Question 46

The application of science to establish facts and evidence during the investigation of crimes is called _________
A. forensics
B. profiling
C. retrospective diagnosis
D. data mining ​

Question 47

In the context of the elements of ethics, the concept of discretion is linked with duty or an obligation to act in a certain manner.

Question 48

Trace evidence does not require technological aid for detection.

Question 49

The blue curtain refers to the witnessing of major traumatic incidents for the first time.

Question 50

Reasonable force is force that an objective police officer realizes will place the subject in direct threat of serious injury or death.

Question 51

How do crisis intervention teams benefit law enforcement agencies especially with regard to mentally ill individuals?

Question 52

The abuse of authority by a law enforcement officer for personal gain is called _________
A. noble cause corruption
B. racial profiling
C. entrapment
D. police corruption ​

Question 53

In a(n) _________, formal rules govern an individual's actions and relationships with co-employees
A. bureaucracy
B. aristocracy
C. community
D. adhocracy ​

Question 54

The purposes of police patrols are to prevent and deter crime and also to provide social services.

Question 55

Explain the difference between random and directed patrols. How do computer-aided dispatch (CAD) systems assist police officers in their patrol duties?

Question 56

According to the chain of command in a police department, the chief of police delegates authority to division chiefs, who delegate authority to commanders.

Question 57

_________ is a bureaucratic response to an officer-involved shooting
A. Administrative leave
B. Preventive patrol
C. Crime mapping
D. Incident-driven policing ​

Question 58

A shakedown is a type of police corruption in which an officer accepts free gifts such as cigarettes, liquor, or services in return for favorable treatment of the gift giver.

Question 59

A vast majority of patrol shifts are completed without a single arrest.

Question 60

Explain the factors of police discretion that influence a police officer's decisions.