Innovative Policing: An Instructional and Administrative Guide for Law Enforcement Personnel (Police, Corrections, and Security Officers)

Copyright 2013 Asongwe N. Thomas.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the written prior permission of the author.

isbn: 978-1-4669-8227-7 (sc)

isbn: 978-1-4669-8229-1 (hc)

isbn: 978-1-4669-8228-4 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2013906876

Trafford rev. 05/14/2013

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Contents

Preface

Acknowledgment

Introduction

Chapter 1

Origin and Evolution of the

Modern Police

I-   Definition and Basic Concepts

II-   The Birth of Police Professionalism

Chapter 2

Police Mission

Police Duties

Chapter 3

Police Tools and Equipment

I-   Self-Defense Equipment

II.   Education and Training

III.   The Use of Coercive Force

IV.   The Use of Force Continuum

V.   Qualities of a Good Officer

VI.   Firearm: Maintenance and Use

VII.   Range Training and Evaluation

Chapter 4

Information Technology

in Law Enforcment

I-   COMPUTER SYSTEMS: SOFTWARE AND HARDWARE TOOLS

II-   Types of Systems and Application

Chapter 5

Public Perception of the Police

I-   Why People Hate The Police

II- Police Moral Dilemma

Chapter 6

Discretional Powers

Chapter 7

Police Corruption

I.   What Is Police Corruption?

II.   How Are Police Officers Corrupted?

III.   Degree of Involvement

IV.   Causes of Police Corruption

V.   Solutions to Police Corruption

Chapter 8

Police Violence: When Is It Justifiable?

Chapter 9

Proactive Policing:

Undercover Police Work

Chapter 10

Police Communication

I.   What Is Communication?

II.   Forms of Communication

Chapter 11

Promoting Police Compliance

with the Law

I.   Legal and Constitutional Rule

II.   Enforcement of Criminal Law

III.   The Tort Theory or Civil Liability

IV.   Internal Policies and Regulations

V.    Education and Training

Chapter 12

Community Policing

I.   Basic Theories and Concepts

II.   Community Policing Goals

III.   Police Accountability: Lawfulness and Legitimacy

IV.   Miranda Warnings

V.   Fear Reduction Through Police Accessibility

VI.   Crime Control and Prevention

VII.   Providing the Police a Better Face-Lift

VIII.   Community Policing: Performance Assessment

IX.   Community Policing: Implementation Tactics and Strategies

X.   Community Policing: Difficulties of Implementation

XI.   Elements of Innovation

XII.   People-Oriented Policing

Chapter 13

Police Reforms: Inevitable Reality

I.   Evidence-Based Policing (Sherman)

II.   The New Structure of Policing (Bayley and Shearing)

III.   Case Study: The Importance of Community Policing

IV.   The Police and Terrorism

Chapter 14

The Criminal Justice Chain and Discretional Powers

I-   Structural Organization

II.   The Prosecutor’s Office

III.   Fairness in the Criminal Justice System

IV.   Prevalence of Violent Crimes

V.   Effects of Imprisonment: Case Study

Chapter 15

Some Contraband Drugs

Glossary

Bibliography

This book is dedicated to the living memory of my beloved parents, Pa Ashungwe Tamukong and Mami Rosa Manka, of Agam Quarters Bambili, Bamenda for their blessed gift of life and care.

Nubong

Preface

Training manuals and textbooks on law enforcement services (Police, Corrections, and Security) are generally very scarce. The few that exist are no doubt kept in seclusion in law enforcement institutions or training academy libraries and, for the most part, accessible only to the instructors that use them to prepare their lectures. Hardly are they available to the officers after training or to those in the field to use as reference guide. Such works are even less accessible to the public that would like to know the basic about their law enforcement services. This scarcity raises a series of questions in the minds of curious persons like the author of this book. Why do professionals or specialists in the field of law enforcement especially in developing countries, in particular Africa, not write on this important area of public service? Is their failure to do so due to lack of will or are there professional, legal, or statutory constraints in the legislations of these countries that prevent their professionals from writing on this topic?

This vacuum is particularly very palpable in Cameroon from where this author originates. Is there any piece of Cameroonian legislation that bars its law enforcement professionals or social science specialists in Cameroon from writing on this topic? Are there internal policies or regulations in these agencies that prohibit their professionals from writing about their profession? If there are legal or statutory constraints against this initiative, then are these policies and statutes not promoting stagnation and consequently inefficiency in this important area of public service? Law enforcement agencies, like all other agencies that provide services to the public, need to evolve with changing time and technology. It is no exaggeration that technology has virtually reduced the world into a global village, changing work performance and lifestyles in all human communities. There is need for law enforcement services everywhere to keep pace with and adjust to these technological changes.

The point that this author wants to convey is that general knowledge or information about law enforcement services that might be resourceful to officers in training or those already working in the field is treated with unparalleled sacredness only comparable to the secret society Kwi-Fon or Ngumba¹ in the traditional administration of the northwest region of Cameroon. There is no basic informative material at all for public consumption on law enforcement agencies. There is no post-training resource material for officers in the field to use to refresh or update their knowledge in the subject. It seems a taboo to talk, let alone write, about these agencies. The need for professional or academic contribution to this very important area of the public service cannot be overemphasized. My intention in this work is to attempt to fill this vacuum. Provide helpful resource material on law enforcement (the Police, Corrections, and Security officers) in training, in the field as well as for senior officers in management or administrative positions. This is not an academic thesis or treatise on policing. In brief, this work is just a little and may be a less-than-perfect effort intended to serve as training guide on law enforcement. I hope my target readers and the general public that like to read on this topic will find the material in this manual useful and enriching. Besides the material needed for the training of law enforcement personnel as well as some important resources for the Police, Corrections, and Security administrators or managers, I have included in this manual a few personal reviews of sample criminal cases. My intention here is to enable young officers not yet acquainted with the criminal justice process to understand the basic legal intricacies involved in case processing. For instance the role of processes like the DNA, the Miranda Warnings and the Due Process in ensuring fairness in the administration of justice as well as the various parts played in the process by each member of the criminal justice chain of which these officers are integral parts. As stated in my acknowledgments, a single hand cannot tie a bundle. Therefore all criticisms or corrections on this work that may enhance and improve on these very important professions (Policing, Corrections, and Security) will be highly appreciated. Thanks.

Acknowledgment

A local proverb commonly in use by the elderly wise people in my native locality (Bambili-Bamenda, Cameroon), translated into English goes thus, A single hand cannot tie a bundle. It is in the light of this concept that I consider the accomplishment of the task of writing this book. I therefore extend my very sincere gratitude to the following persons whose contributions tremendously helped in the tying of this bundle (book). Firstly, to my beloved wife Na-Nde Susana for all the love, care, and encouragement she always gave me, especially when I was too tired and dispirited by official work and other family issues even to look at my scripts. Secondly, my appreciation goes to my children: Mengwi, Na-Nde Jr., Manka, Nubong Forbah-Sama, Manyi-Lehna, and Che-Nubong (grandson) for their love and care. Special thanks go to Manyi-Lehna for helping in arranging the bibliography. Above all, I extend my appreciation to the following personalities who shared their wisdom and professional expertise with me in producing this work: Dr. Thurman McClain (author), Department of Education, Washington DC; Dr. Anthony Barnes, Information Technology, Department of Education, Washington DC; Mr. Ngongbo Edwin Che, LLM, International Law, database administrator, Titan Corporation, Virginia; and Dr. Funwi F. Ayuninjam, (author), director of global education at Central State University, Ohio. Lastly, I extend my appreciation to all those not mentioned here who, in one way or another, inspired or encouraged me to embark on this work. Thanks.

Introduction

The enormity and complexity of law enforcement services in general (Police, Corrections, and Security services) warrant not only police scientists and academicians alone but most importantly practitioners or professionals in these fields as well as social scientists to reflect deeply and openly on the subject. All fields of study and professions, law enforcement inclusive, are in perpetual evolution. Professionals of the Police, Corrections, and Security services need to carry out research in their various specialized fields, write and feed their officers and the curious public on innovations relevant to their agencies/services. "Innovative Policing" is an attempt to fill this gap. It is not a lopsided glorification of police practices in advanced democratic societies. It is neither condemnation of policing in developing democracies. Policing everywhere has a record of its merits and demerits. As a matter of fact, policing even in the best of democracies has records of its immoderations, abuses, and lawlessness. Human rights watchdogs like Amnesty International, International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), Human Rights Watch, all have stockpiles of police abuses all over the world. My intention in this book is to appeal to law enforcement policy makers and all law enforcement officers (the Police, Corrections, and Security officers) in training, those on the job, and those in managerial or administrative positions, irrespective of political ideologies or systems where they serve, to embrace innovations and orientations both in missions and functions that reflect democratic principles (i.e. promoting and protecting human rights and values), applying innovative operational approaches that eschew bias in all its forms, employing new equipment and logistics to provide satisfactory services commensurate with their professional standards, ethics, and morality. The professional law enforcement officers should be able to blend their understanding of democratic principles and values with their job callings and act in accordance to ensure public peace and safety. The democratic officer should be well educated, well trained and equipped. He should be a well-informed and polite individual, a public servant, an educator, and a problem solver. He should be someone who has learned to work in partnership with the community to solve community’s problems rather than continuously posing as the ever-powerful gun-toting bully who cows down citizens and chases everyone on his path. This is what is expected of a true professional, the democratic officer, the modern law enforcement officer that is the public servant and not always the master, the brute, or the extortionist. This is the message contained in this book for all officers. "Innovative Policing" is also intended to provide basic informative material to the curious public that wants to know what operates in the Law Enforcement field. The public wants to know the legitimacy of law enforcement existence and operations, the basics about the training they undergo, their equipment and uses, the odds they face, and the sacrifices they make in ensuring community safety. This knowledge will enable them to become active participants and contributors (knowing clearly their limitations) in ensuring their own peace and safety through collaboration with the Police, Corrections and Security in programs such as neighborhood watch, community crime education and prevention, reformation, probation and rehabilitation. In this light, they will be able to appreciate the work of these law enforcement agencies better instead of remaining uninformed and unappreciative consumers. As stated above, policing in every era and nation irrespective of political system exhibits its own perfections and imperfections. Jack R. Greene² writing on Police sciences admits that although the modern police has experienced some reforms, such reforms are insufficient because they are merely superficial and do not touch the main core of the Police such as, their functions and operational approaches. Policing in this modern era has changed its language, symbols, technology, and analytics, while also broadening its range of interventions, clients, and outcomes. Yet in some ways the police remarkably resemble their nineteenth-century predecessors, presenting themselves in symbolic and substantive ways as singularly responsible for public safety in its broadest sense, while often replicating bygone service delivery patterns. As much as the police are thought to have changed, they continue to present themselves in very consistent ways over time (Jack Greene).

In the light of the above assessment, a comparative look at the provision of law enforcement services (i.e. service delivery) in more democratic societies or better developed economies and those of developing countries (Africa in particular) reveals a very bleak picture of those of the latter (Global Integrity Reports³), thereby emphasizing the need for reform and renovation in these agencies. Most of the agencies in these countries remain conservative, evolving very reluctantly in the areas of personnel education and training, operational style, and service delivery, infrastructure, equipment, and modern logistics for deterring and combating crime and above all in professional ethics and morality. Inasmuch as one may blame the governments for their heavy-handed control of these agencies (Global Integrity Report for 2010 on Cameroon⁴) and for failing to develop innovative policies or provide the necessary infrastructure, equipment, and logistics to their police commensurate with the democratic era in which these services operate, these law enforcement agencies collectively and individually must take the blame for their corruption, below-the-standard service delivery, and lack of professional ethics and morality (Global Integrity Report for 2010 on Nigeria⁵). In fact, these agencies just like other governmental departments need to undergo serious reforms in order to evolve and keep pace with the global marketplace.

The Internet and technological advancement in the areas of communication, transport, politics, trade, have made crime control, human rights abuse, terrorism, security, and public safety concerns in general a global problem requiring international concert, collective commitment, popular participation, coordination, and resolution. Thanks to modern technology that has facilitated performance and virtually reduced the world into a global village, democratic aspirations for freedom and respect of human rights, concern for safety, and the desire for popular participation in political decisions affecting the people of every nation are easily shared. Thanks to this important tool therefore, no nation on the globe is thus expected to lag behind in its participation in ensuring national and global security and preventing crimes, especially drug smuggling and sale, human trafficking, and terrorism that surreptitiously slide across international borders. Talking of terrorism, the latest case in point is al-Qaeda that is infiltrating and destabilizing nations through the preaching of fundamentalist concepts of Islam. In fact, Al-Qaeda has now metamorphosed into various forms and is operating as Ansar al-Sharia in Libya and other North African states, Boko Haram⁶ in Nigeria and surrounding mid-Saharan African states, and al-Shaabab in Somalia, Ethiopia, and Kenya in East Africa, including other forms in Indonesia.

In developed nations where democracy is more deeply rooted, law enforcement missions have long witnessed a lot of innovations and structural orientation from the traditional maintenance of order and crime resolution that entails a rather re-active policing approach to that of crime control and prevention requiring a pro-active policing approach. The Police force and related law enforcement agencies in most developing African countries, since independence in the ’60s, have very reluctantly embraced reforms that reflect democratic practices and values. Their creators and policy makers (the governments) seemingly have no interest in doing so. As a result, their orientations and service delivery methods have remained tied to the outdated traditional missions mentioned here above with greater concentration on political leadership idolization and regime sustenance as the incumbents continue to shower them with bounteous financial benefits. There is no doubt that in these countries and for the reasons cited here above, law enforcement personnel are high-handedly controlled by their governments that pamper and treat them as enfants chéris. Consequently, their conservatism and their unwillingness to sincerely embrace reforms continue to breed brutality, inhumanity, and corrupt practices. Their lawlessness and human rights abuses that persistently incite public outcry are stealthily covered up by the incumbent regimes with justification for the need to protect republican institutions. Of course this brainwashing concept inherited from the colonial past incidentally only ensures and prolongs dictatorship. In fact the Police, Corrections, Security and other law enforcement agencies in developing countries honestly need reforms that may usher in modern policing orientations and innovations to improve on their outdated service delivery and downtrodden image. For instance, how many law enforcement officers guilty of senseless brutality or murder in developing democracies do face the law squarely and are properly sanctioned for their offenses? Results of investigations on barefaced brutality on civilians or offenses committed by law enforcement officers are scarcely ever made public or tendered in any court of law for proper trial and punishment. The culprits often receive government protection⁷ and go scot-free. Even when a case of blatant brutality or senseless killing of a civilian is tried in court, the culprits (officers) never respond to court subpoenas or summons, and no action is ever taken against them. Where judgment is passed at all, justice is often twisted and made a mockery. The guilty officer often walks away scot-free to the bewilderment of the victim’s family. In order to diminish the number of abuses and senseless killings, modern nonlethal equipment like the expandable baton, stun guns, Taser guns, Stun-Cuffs, tear gas or OC (pepper) sprays, are recommended alternatives for use by law enforcement officers in less confrontational or less deadly encounters instead of deadly weapons like the firearm. Meanwhile, specialized forces to fight terrorism need to be adequately trained and equipped as the criminals and terrorists nowadays train and equip themselves with the latest and more sophisticated weaponry than expected.

No one can underestimate the usefulness or the important role law enforcement agencies play in the life of a nation. It is no understatement that some unscrupulous and less professional officers (rookies) do go astray and tarnish the image of their agencies. In general, law enforcement officers do play a very vital role in deterring crimes and terrorist acts while ensuring public safety and peace. The good ones that constitute the majority need some pat on their backs and not total condemnation as most often is the case by the public. On the other hand, law enforcement officers in turn need to have an open mind and show proof of professionalism by their behavior and practices. It obviously pays and makes the job easier for an officer to be polite but firm than to be harsh and hostile towards a suspect. They need to read a lot in order to stay abreast of evolving issues, innovations, and new technology in their specialized fields. Those that can, need to write and keep the public informed of their good services to the community. Reading and writing about their services would enable them to draw both from theory and empirical evidence obtained from field experiences or research results on emerging technologies. They would blend these with practical experience in order to be the professionals that society looks up to from this important profession.

In a bid to initiate or encourage innovations or reforms in their respective services, committed law enforcement professionals may engage in research and writing. They can carry out evaluation of their performances, stating their successes or failures while proposing corrections or solutions to their errors. They can also write to educate the public on what they (public) expect from these services or on those aspects of the law that affect citizens positively or negatively. The professional officer is or should be an educator and a problem solver to users of his services. He has to stop making himself looked upon as the brute that bullies people into submission.

Law enforcement officers also need to create avenues for the public to know and appreciate their work rather than give the public the reason to curse and condemn them all the time. The Police in particular need to eschew that can do it all mentality and open up for partnership with the community. They need to honestly face and accept the bitter fact that part of their functions are already being contracted out by their governments to private security firms that are providing the services equally well. They need to involve the public to participate in activities that relate to their security and safety. It is their duty to involve communities in ensuring their own security and safety. In brief, the Police, Corrections, Security and other law enforcement services need to give the public the opportunity to interact and collaborate with them more closely and cordially, by creating avenues for them to participate in ensuring their own (public) security and safety. This is community policing. This is a form of pro-actively policing that involves partnership with community residents to solve problems that breed crimes. It is a more effective approach to crime deterrence and prevention. Community policing is an innovative policing approach that this book is promoting. It is an approach that helps in detecting and resolving issues that would potentially breed crimes if not solved early enough. A stitch in time saves nine, goes the saying.

Chapter 1

Origin and Evolution of the

Modern Police

T he first model of the police force different from the model established during the feudal land tenure system in Europe, is alleged to have been established in France in 1667 under the reign of King Louis XIV but remained underdeveloped till later. However, the truly modern police concept that we know today originated from England in 1829 (the London Metropolitan Police and the Glasgow Police), by Sir Robert Peel. The Metropolitan Police Act of 1829 established this new model following an intensely debated parliamentary bill introduced to organize and regulate the hitherto parish constables, justices of the peace, and yeomanry that were used to maintain public order. To complete the structure as it was lacking the crime investigative capability, Lord Henry Fielding (magistrate) introduced the detective force. This model emphasized and promoted the preventive role of policing as a means of deterring urban crimes and disorder. A historical review of the English society by the 19 th century justifies the origin of the modern police model. This is not to infer that the police or a certain system of law enforcement never existed elsewhere before then. Surely older forms of police force existed notably in England and the rest of medieval Europe, where the feudal land tenure systems provided legitimacy for private jurisdiction peacekeeping and order maintenance to protect namely the feudal land tenure systems, enforce royal justice, or maintain the social class structures instituted by the monarchs. Even then, the need to protect the officers and reduce casualties among them was felt as we see in fig. 1 and fig. 2 below. In fact, pre-modern law enforcement and order maintenance in the community-based English society was done by the Anglo-Saxon tithing-men, who ensured peace and order by enforcing the law within their respective groups. Elsewhere, in South Africa, there existed a sort of paramilitary organization formed by Dutch settlers in the Cape regions in 1755 to protect white civilians against attacks as well as to maintain law and order. This form of Dutch watchmen soon evolved to become the South African Police Service (SAPS). In 1795, British officials took over control of this form of watchmen, and by 1825, they reorganized and transformed it into the Cape Town Police Force. By 1913, other forms of police forces in South Africa consolidated to form what is known till today as the South Africa Police (SAP).

The Norman Conquest in Britain introduced a system of police constables developed from the earlier structures employed by royalties. The Norman police constable system existed right up to the early nineteenth century. While the rest of Europe enjoyed a period of peace and tranquility between 1815 and 1914 following the Vienna Peace Treaty, the English society was experiencing an alarming rate of criminality and violence. The fortunate outcome of this criminality and violence was a faster growth rate in urban development and industrialization in England as compared with other states or nations of Europe. Prompted by this high crime rate, the idea of having a police force serving as an arm of the executive power of the government to control crime was very welcome albeit with reserve out of fear by the other branches of the government of tipping the balance of power too much to the executive branch.

Some Early Police Equipment

Figure: 1 Medieval knights’ body armor

Figure: 2 Early 19th-century police armored car

(Courtesy: The Occleston family website)

Early 19thCentury Police Uniform and Equipment

Fig: 3 Britain, Cardiff City Police Constable-1920

(Source: Source:british policehelmet.co.uk)

Fig: 4 US, Vermont Police Department-1920

(Source: Source:badgehistory.com)

Fig: 5 New and old models of police whistle

Fig: 6 British police revolver-1880

(Source: wikipedia.org)

Fig: 7 Dublin Metro Police baton and helmet-1838

Fig: 8 England, Southampton police badge-1928

(Source: badgehistory.com)

The fundamental principle of democracy is the equitable distribution of power among the three main branches of government namely: the executive, the legislature, and the judiciary. In a parliamentary democracy like the British, too much power concentrated in the hands of the executive would undermine this principle and lead to suppression of civil rights and liberties. Thomas Jefferson, one former American president once said, When people fear their government, you have tyranny. When the government fears the people, you have liberty.

In Europe, the aftermath of Napoleon’s wars introduced another form of social turbulence and disorder in the societies other than crimes. Urban riots and violence against the governments were so prevalent. To quell them required energetic intervention by governments. The use of brutal military force to suppress these riots only resulted in further destruction of life and property without actually deterring them.