Police Subculture Analysis

The New Zealand Police is the lead agency responsible for helping the community to decrease or reduce crime, corruption and improve the responsibility of safety and protection in New Zealand. There is a need to make changes to the police culture in order to improve the performance of their organisation. However there are three fundamental errors that need to be addressed which will be discussed in this essay. Firstly, there is a lack of an established sense of urgency which has the potential to jeopardize the future of the organization. Secondly is, not creating a powerful enough guiding coalition which means there is a lack of communication which resulted in an absence of leadership and teamwork from frontline staff to

Every culture is composed of four elements: “values, norms, beliefs, and expressive symbols” (Peterson, 1979, p. 137). Each police officer is influenced by the police organizational culture during training. After graduation fro the police academy, the officer is influenced by the more experienced officers of the department. Research conducted by several authors has found that peer influence never ceases even after years of experience in the field.

The threat of danger is continuously present, which contributes to the officer’s constant suspicion in trying to identify a potential danger or a law being broken (Skolnick, p. 4). Because of this constant mode of thinking, many people find themselves not wanting to establish a social relationship or friendship with police officers. The danger element isolates the police officer from citizens that he finds representative of danger as well as isolating him from the more predictable people that he might ordinarily identify with (Skolnick, p. 4).

Among police, there are stark differences between male and female officers. Cara E. Rabe-Hemp researched these sex differences by conducting a series of interviews with policewomen. These interviews reveal how policewomen cope with the seemingly impossible task to find a balance between feminine values that they were raised to uphold and masculine values that their male-dominated field demands. According to the individual perspective, employees’ performance is more shaped by their unique personal experiences as opposed to standardized formal training (Britt 185). Since neither police officers’ formal training nor their subculture reduce or eliminate the differences between policemen and policewomen, sex differences have a much more significant

Ever since September 11th, 2001 a lot of Law Enforcement agencies were created. Many were federal level agencies and others were state level agencies. When asked to compare two different Law Enforcement Agencies, I chose to compare and analyze the Drug and Enforcement Administration (DEA) and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). The reason I chose to compare these two agencies is because I feel that these two agencies have a lot in common and at times can even overlap in job descriptions and or duties. I will go into further detail to fully detail my analysis of these two agencies.

Policing has definably evolved over the last thousand years. Not only to progress crime fighting methods, but also show our community and greater service. The old way of policing which was primarily based on random patrol, hoping for the chance to accidently walk up on a crime in progress, police agency started focusing on social problem, and even more effective, statistics. Community policing has been enhanced through a management accountably process called (CompStat).

As a police officer, the major objectives are to maintain order, enforce the law, protect one’s property, and to save lives. In addition, police are divided into two roles based on how they perform their duties. The two roles of a police officer are a public servant and a crime fighter. A police officer whose role as a public servant is to serve all types of people, as well as criminals. Public servants regularly provide advice and make judgments as to the degree of risk they should take with the public. Many decisions involving risk are relatively easy to make, but others are complex and significant consequences (Kernaghan and Langford, 2016). These risks may involve using force and the consequences could be media backlash or a potential termination. Public servants abide by the oath and uphold the integrity and honor of the organization as an officer. Also, public servant officers like to play it safe because they like to be known as ordinary citizens who like to go home to their

The Frontline documentary, Policing the police, makes the argument that there are many problems with police departments across the United States and uses his correspondence with the Newark, New Jersey Police Department to make that point.

In the Training Day film, directed by Antoine Fuqua (2005), it depicted many cop code regarding police subculture. Subculture is "a subdivision of a national culture or an enclave within it with a distinct integrated network of behavior, beliefs, and attitudes" (Collins English Dictionary, n.d., as cited by Jones, 2005, p. 60). Although subculture has its positive impacts, the negative ideas about police subculture are more likely to garner attention. Alonzo and Jake portrayed many cop codes that include, “don't make waves,” “don’t leave work for the next tour,” “don't give up another cop,” and “protect you ass” (Pollock, 2015). These ideas contradict the code of ethics, values of the police organization, and society as whole

Working in law enforcement can bring in all types of characteristics. From a rookie to a veteran there are attitude changes and different ways things are looked at. Something that doesn’t change or at least shouldn’t change is the police personality. This paper will take a look at the police personalities and how it has effects on other parts of the police like the subculture.

Since the founding of this country, to the wild west, and up to the present, the agenda of the policing bodies have been clear: to uphold and enforce the laws of our society. Of course the way they do this today had undergone changes from the first police forces of early America, law enforcement has seen trends come and go.

I would like to receive clarification on the what is meant in The Police Assemblage by the statement "these populations are brutally overpoliced at their periphery and under police in their midst"(20) that was written in relation to the discussion of those living in reservations, refugee camps and slums. I understand the terms used but do not understand what is being alluded to with its use. My attempted understanding of the aforementioned is that it is describing a population that is being policed by individuals without legitimate authority but not properly by state authorized police.

There are three sociological perspectives on police bureaucracy. The sociological perspectives on police bureaucracy are functionalism, conflict, and interactionism. The police bureaucracy is an efficient way for the society to carry out the three functions that are typically associated with policing which includes crime fighting, order maintenance, and service. (Palmiotto & Unnithan, 2011) Each of these sociological perspectives are different from each other. They all focus on different things.

A traditional police department’s structure was a top-down, hierarchal system which generated policies and programs from a centralized authority. They were also almost strictly reactive in that they went from call to call and handled each incident by priority. The built-in rigidity of this structure hampered adaptability which became glaringly obvious in the late 1960’s when cultural and societal influences required a certain amount of flexibility. Additionally, communities are organic in that they change; which requires adaptability and flexibility.

Subcultures within police departments are an unfortunate everyday occurrence, but the issue goes much deeper than just that of officers failing to report misconduct of a few. These types of subcultures will erode any department’s ethical standards and policies because the clear line between right and wrong becomes blurred. Police subcultures are destructive and not only threatens the officer’s wellbeing, but the department’s reputation and its ability to maintain good order and discipline among the officers and the community.