Deck 7: Ethics and the Tactics of Policing

Question 1

Deception by police would not be involved in which of the following activities?

A) Testifying in court
B) Investigating a drug dealer
C) Interrogating a suspect
D) Racial profiling

Answer 1

D

Question 2

Police undercover operations:

A) Are often announced prior to their commencing
B) Can be very resource intensive
C) Are almost always illegal, but nonetheless serve as a deterrent for certain crimes
D) None of the above

Answer 2

B

Question 3

Which of the following is a common feature of sting operations?

A) They are almost always challenged as being illegal by defendants swept up in them
B) They rarely target property crimes
C) They include a "gotcha" climax
D) All of the above

Answer 3

C

Question 4

The subjective test for entrapment:

A) Is only used by a few state and federal courts
B) Focuses on the characteristics and practices of the police officers alleged to have engaged in the misconduct
C) Considers such factors as the prior criminal record of the defendant(s) in the case
D) Was developed by the U.S. Supreme Court in the case Bush v. Gore (2000)

Question 5

One significant problem with police use of deception during interrogation is that it can lead to:

A) False arrests
B) False charges
C) False confessions
D) None of the above

Question 6

The Reid Technique of interrogation:

A) Was declared unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court
B) Includes a structured interrogation consisting of nine steps
C) Can be adjusted to account for local conditions
D) None of the above

Question 7

Police perjury can be traced to several contributing factors, including:

A) The power of the noble cause
B) The "blue wall of silence"
C) The criminal justice system's failure to sanction police who lie during courtroom proceedings
D) All of the above

Question 8

Relying on public attitudes as one basis for supporting the use of deception by police can lead to:

A) Violations of the Principle of Right Desire
B) Morality by majority
C) Morality by minority
D) Violations of the Principle of Noncontradiction

Question 9

Using traffic cameras strategically placed at busy intersections to identify motorists who run red lights would be an example of local police using which of the following tactics?

A) Passive surveillance
B) Active deception
C) Passive deception
D) All of the above

Question 10

Criticisms raised with profiling (generally) and racial profiling (specifically) include:

A) Both rely on confirmation bias
B) Both suffer from the post hoc fallacy
C) Both involve illusory correlation
D) All of the above

Question 11

Police officers learn early in their careers that deception and lying are "part of the job."

Question 12

There is no longer any doubt that people falsely confess to crimes they have not committed.

Question 13

Deception is a commonly used police tactic to identify those involved with crimes.

Question 14

Sting operations target a variety of crimes using different techniques.

Question 15

Entrapment is a legal defense that argues "but-for" the actions of the police an otherwise innocent offender would not have engaged in the illegal behavior of which she is accused.

Question 16

In the objective test for entrapment, the court focuses on the character and predispositions of the defendant.

Question 17

The Reid technique involves a series of steps designed to isolate the arrestee, ingratiate her to the police interrogator, and get the arrestee to confess.

Question 18

Explicit bias involves subconscious feelings, perceptions, attitudes, etc., we develop from prior influences.

Question 19

Concerns have been raised both by political commentators and scholars that certain kinds of passive surveillance by police can result in biased policing.

Question 20

The ethics of police surveillance can be assessed using guiding principles from just war theory.

Question 21

__________ is one or more officers surveilling a specific target suspected of involvement with criminal activities.

Question 22

__________ occur s when police engage in a "fishing" expedition in the hope of catching unsuspecting people engaging in illegal behavior.

Question 23

__________ involves law enforcement stopping individuals, conducting searches, and making arrests and other decisions based on factors outside those that are legally allowed to influence these decisions.

Question 24

_________ indicates that people are consciously aware of their prejudices and attitudes toward members of certain groups and of their behavior toward these groups.

Question 25

_________ describes a screening process by authorities where some members of a larger group are selected for investigation of possible illegal behavior, based on one or more observable characteristics.

Question 26

__________ is a screening process in which race is the primary observable characteristic used to select individuals for investigation of possible illegal behavior.

Question 27

__________ involves subconscious feelings, perceptions, attitudes, etc., we develop from prior influences.

Question 28

The guiding principles of __________ can be used to assess the ethics of police surveillance.

Question 29

As a goal for police officer ethics training, __________ refers to officers keeping their moral bearings or values and a continuing commitment to them despite the pressures and stresses of the work.

Question 30

While not intended to replace traditional preventive patrol __________ is supposed to enhance existing proactive approaches used by police.

Question 31

Pick any of the contexts in which the police use deception-during investigations, while interrogating suspects or defendants, or in court-and explain how the tactic is ethically justified using guiding principles from any of the systems of ethics with which you are familiar.

Question 32

Discuss profiling (generally) and racial profiling (specifically) and explain why these tactics are unethical using guiding principles from any of the systems of ethics with which are familiar.

Question 33

Differentiate passive from active surveillance and discuss the ethical issues associated with each tactic.

Question 34

Discuss the issues associated with police ethics training, including justifications for such training, whom should be the target(s) of the training, the content of the training, and where the training should occur.