Deck 8: Police Ethics and Police Deviance

Question 1

Which of the following is an example of the standards governing police ethics?

A) U.S. Constitution
B) Bill of Rights
C) case law as determined by appellate courts and the U.S. Supreme Court
D) all of these choices

Answer 1

D

Question 2

____________________ is an administrative action coordinated through the state police standards organization that will determine if cause exists to strip an officer of his or her state certification to be a police officer.

A) Certification suspension
B) Interstate certification
C) Background certification
D) Decertification

Answer 2

D

Question 3

Noble cause corruption is also known as:

A) Dirty Harry syndrome
B) blue line crossing
C) blue corruption
D) meat-eating

Answer 3

A

Question 4

Jerome Skolnick wrote that police deception, if it occurs, usually occurs at three stages of the police detection process. Which of the following is not one of those stages?

A) investigation
B) arrest
C) interrogation
D) testimony in court

Question 5

A tort is a:

A) felony case
B) misdemeanor case
C) criminal wrong
D) private wrong

Question 6

Which of the following is an example of the ethical standards established to determine how police officers should act?

A) organizational value systems or codes of ethics designed to educate and guide the behavior of those who work in the organization
B) the Law Enforcement Code of Ethics
C) an oath of office
D) all of these choices

Question 7

Police testimony that narcotics they found on the ground were dropped by persons they arrested has been called:

A) dropsy testimony
B) fallen testimony
C) on-the-ground testimony
D) all of these choices

Question 8

What is the most prevalent type of corruption in law enforcement today?

A) "rotten apples"
B) biased-based policing
C) police deception
D) noble cause corruption

Question 9

An investigation initiated by a small law enforcement agency would be difficult to keep quiet and confidential because relationships are such that ____________________ would probably be too close to the investigation, if not involved themselves.

A) employees
B) victims
C) suspects
D) witnesses

Question 10

According to the author's definition of police corruption, which of the following would be an example of police corruption?

A) A police officer receives $15 from a driver for not giving him or her a summons for speeding.
B) A police officer receives sexual favors from a driver for not giving him or her a summons for speeding.
C) An off-duty police officer escorts a drug dealer as he or she delivers illegal drugs to customers and receives $100 per delivery.
D) all of these choices

Question 11

The honest New York City plainclothes officer whose revelations about police corruption led to the legendary Knapp Commission was:

A) Philip Mass
B) Patrick V. Murphy
C) Ernest Verdeschi
D) Frank Serpico

Question 12

Early warning systems typically use ____________________ to flag officers who may be prone to problems when interacting with the public.

A) first-line superiors
B) field training sergeants
C) computer programs
D) citizen review boards

Question 13

Many departments today rely on units described as "professional standards" units, "compliance" units, or "integrity" units as a major resource to combat corruption. These are other names for:

A) programs created to increase the number of superior officers in departments
B) civilian complaint review boards
C) internal affairs divisions
D) units created to provide greater liaison with district attorney offices

Question 14

When excessive or unreasonable force is used in dealing with a citizen, suspect, or offender and there is a significant disparity between the level of compliance by the person and the level of force used by the officer, the use of force is considered to be:

A) police misconduct
B) police malfeasance
C) police mistreatment
D) police brutality

Question 15

What was the end result of the arrest of Henry Louis Gates, Jr. (a Harvard University scholar) by a Cambridge, Massachusetts, police sergeant?

A) The police sergeant was convicted of a civil rights violation.
B) Dr. Gates was convicted of burglary.
C) Both Dr. Gates and the police sergeant were convicted of state crimes.
D) The charges were dropped against Dr. Gates and a meeting took place between the sergeant, the president of the United States, and Dr. Gates.

Question 16

The Greek philosopher who wrote the classic Nicomachean Ethics was:

A) Aristotle
B) Plato
C) Socrates
D) Onassis

Question 17

According to the Department of Justice, of the more than 26,000 complaints of excessive force against officers reported in 2002, the most common disposition was:

A) the complaints were unfounded
B) the officers were exonerated
C) the complaints were sustained and the officers were disciplined
D) the investigation turned up insufficient evidence to prove the allegation

Question 18

The first national commission to discuss police brutality was the:

A) Knapp Commission
B) Wickersham Commission
C) Presidential Commission on Law Enforcement and Administration of Justice
D) National Commission on Causes and Prevention of Police Brutality

Question 19

The 193l National Commission on Law Observance and Enforcement was more popularly known as the:

A) Kerner Commission
B) Volmer Commission
C) Wickersham Commission
D) Kefauver Commission

Question 20

What name is used for a loyalty test given to rookie officers by the training officer and other officers?

A) Mama Rosa's test
B) Miami test
C) B-Pad test
D) Junction Boy test

Question 21

What stems from ends-oriented policing and involves police officers bending the rules to achieve the "right" goal of putting a criminal in jail?

A) "rotten apple" corruption
B) biased-based policing
C) police deception
D) noble cause corruption

Question 22

In a Gallup poll, when asked to rate the standards of various occupations, ____________________ percent of respondents rated the police either very high or high in honesty and ethical standards.

A) 12
B) 42
C) 56
D) 91

Question 23

Police officers who violate a person's civil rights by unlawfully searching or detaining them can be sued under what law?

A) 42 U.S.C. Section 1983
B) Federal Interstate Compact
C) Civil Rights Act of 1965
D) Civil Rights Act of 1991

Question 24

__________ is defined as the study of what constitutes good or bad conduct.

Question 25

__________ are the rather broad moral principles that govern all conduct.

Question 26

The code of silence is often referred to as the blue curtain or ____________________.

A) red curtain
B) blue shop
C) blue veil
D) blue sky

Question 27

Section 1983 of Title 42 of the U.S. Code was originally enacted by Congress as a means of enforcing the ____________________ Amendment guarantee of rights to the newly freed slaves.

A) Fourth
B) Fifth
C) Tenth
D) Fourteenth

Question 28

____________________ holds that crime is basically "imitative"-we learn crime the same way that we learn other behavior.

A) Cultural deviance theory
B) Control theory
C) Differential association theory
D) Leftist realism theory

Question 29

In the case of ____________________, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that to be liable, police departments must be deliberately indifferent to the needs of the people with whom police come in contact.

A) Mapp v. Ohio
B) Terry v. Ohio
C) Lawrence v. Texas
D) Canton v. Harris

Question 30

Today, ____________________ of the major U.S. cities have some form of citizen oversight in place.

A) a few
B) about half
C) none
D) most

Question 31

Which of the following is not an argument against citizen review?

A) When a system is formed hastily after a highly charged incident, it might not be the best one for the department.
B) It allows people who know nothing about police work to make decisions for the department.
C) It prevents lawbreakers from being punished for their crimes.
D) A citizen review board may cause unnecessary expense by duplicating the work of the internal affairs department.

Question 32

__________ is concerned with the study of what constitutes right and wrong behavior in certain situations.

Question 33

Which of the following has been proposed as a solution to police brutality?

A) improved training
B) better screening of applicants
C) citizen review
D) all of these choices

Question 34

The Knapp Commission was created:

A) because an incident in which police used excessive force was caught on tape
B) in response to a series of articles in the New York Times detailing widespread corruption
C) after a city councilperson's son was illegally detained and searched
D) due to a political mandate by a newly elected governor

Question 35

Officers who participate in more aggressive types of corruption by seeking out and taking advantage of opportunities for corruption are called ____________________.

A) meat-eaters
B) grass-eaters
C) dirt-eaters
D) tree-eaters

Question 36

The Knapp Commission was a(n) ____________________ commission.

A) international
B) federal
C) state
D) local

Question 37

Which of the following is not an argument in favor of citizen review?

A) It improves public trust and confidence in law enforcement.
B) A citizen review board can monitor and review departmental policies that lead to citizen complaints.
C) It will make police officers more aggressive in enforcing the law.
D) A citizen review board can provide an independent evaluation of citizen complaints.

Question 38

What commission was formed to investigate New York City police corruption in the 1990s?

A) Knapp Commission
B) Mollen Commission
C) Wickersham Commission
D) Watson Commission

Question 39

Police officers who participate in more passive types of police corruption are referred to as:

A) meat-eaters
B) grass-eaters
C) dirt-eaters
D) bug-eaters

Question 40

Any police-initiated activity that relies on a person's race or ethnic background rather than on behavior as a basis for identifying that individual as being involved in criminal activity is called ____________________.

A) noble cause policing
B) situational stereotype policing
C) biased-based policing
D) dispositional policing

Question 41

The most notable commission established to investigate allegations of police corruption was the __________ Commission in New York City in 1970.

Question 42

Police officers who are assigned to internal affairs divisions are highly respected by other police officers in a department.

Question 43

The National Commission on Law Observance and Enforcement is more popularly known as the __________ Commission.

Question 44

In the 1990s, the __________found some serious corruption among patrol officers in high-crime areas of New York City.

Question 45

The police subculture often works against the official ethical precepts of police departments.

Question 46

__________ is the process by which the actions of the police in such areas as arrests, search and seizure, and custodial interrogation are reviewed by the court system to ensure their constitutionality.

Question 47

A 1996 federal law (18 U.S.C. 925), widely referred to as the __________Act, prohibits anyone convicted of a misdemeanor domestic violence offense from owning or using a firearm.

Question 48

The U.S. Supreme Court decision in __________requires prosecutors to notify defense attorneys whenever an officer involved in their case has a record of knowingly lying in an official capacity.

Question 49

Meat-eaters take small bribes or relatively minor services offered by citizens seeking to avoid arrest or to get special police services.

Question 50

Today, most major cities have some type of citizen oversight to assist in the investigation of alleged police misconduct.

Question 51

Herman Goldstein has defined police corruption as "acts involving the misuse of authority by a police officer in a manner designed to produce personal gain for himself or others."

Question 52

Units within police departments that "police the police" are called __________

Question 53

Police civil liability means that a police officer may be sued in civil court for improper behavior, using such civil law concepts as negligence and torts.

Question 54

Police officers are allowed to use the level of force necessary to counter a suspect's resistance and get the suspect to comply with a lawful order.

Question 55

Investigations in which investigators provide opportunities for officers to commit illegal acts are called __________ or __________

Question 56

Recently the Department of Justice has investigated civil rights issues in only seven police and sheriffs' departments, the smallest number in its 54-year history.

Question 57

The National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders is commonly referred to as the __________Commission.

Question 58

The Knapp Commission's investigation failed to recognize police corruption in New York City.

Question 59

Polls asking respondents to rate the honesty and ethical standards of various occupations usually show that police receive a very negative rating.

Question 60

Corruption and misconduct in law enforcement are generally restricted to local police. Federal law enforcement agents rarely succumb to the temptation of corruption or misconduct.

Question 61

Detail several explanations of why police corruption exists.

Question 62

Explain Edwin H. Sutherland's theory of differential association and how it relates to police corruption.

Question 63

Explain the areas that are the source for police civil liability.

Question 64

Define police corruption and give several examples of it.

Question 65

Define police brutality and give several recent examples of it.

Question 66

What forms can police misconduct take aside from corruption and brutality? Provide some examples.

Question 67

Explain biased-based policing.

Question 68

Federal suits against police officers are known as 1983 suits, because they are based on Section 1983 of Title 42 of the U.S. Code (Civil Action for Deprivation of Civil Rights).

Question 69

Explain the slippery slope theory and how it relates to gratuities.

Question 70

Explain the different types of police misconduct review systems.

Question 71

Police administrators will tell you that honesty is the most crucial trait in a police applicant and police officer.

Question 72

The Lautenberg Act prohibits anyone convicted of a misdemeanor domestic violence offense from owning or using a firearm.

Question 73

What is the Dirty Harry problem? Give several examples.