Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-2plfb Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-26T04:15:58.316Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Progress in American Policing? Reviewing the National Reviews

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 December 2018

Abstract

This essay uses three publications—the 1967 President's Crime Commission report on police, The Challenge of Crime in a Free Society; the National Research Council's review of research on policing, Fairness and Effectiveness in Policing: The Evidence; and David Weisburd and Anthony A. Braga's edited collection, Police Innovation: Contrasting Perspectives—as reference points for reflecting on the extent to which the American police institution has moved toward a progressive and professional ideal over the past forty years. I argue that unless the scope and complexity of the policing function is more fully taken into account, and unless the causes of crime and disorder and the police role in controlling and preventing them are reconsidered, the ideals of police reform will remain elusive.

Type
Review Essay
Copyright
Copyright © American Bar Foundation, 2009 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Altizio, Alicia, and York, Diana. 2007. Robbery of Convenience Stores. (Problem‐Oriented Guides for Police Series, Guide No. 49.) Washington, DC: US Department of Justice.Google Scholar
American Bar Association. 1973. Standards Relating to the Urban Police Function. New York: Institute of Judicial Administration.Google Scholar
Bittner, Egon. 1990. Aspects of Police Work. Boston, MA: Northeastern University Press.Google Scholar
Brogden, Mike, and Preeti, Nijhar. 2005. Community Policing: National and International Models and Approaches. Cullompton, UK: Willan Publishing.Google Scholar
Christopher, Warren. 1991. Report of the Independent Commission on the Los Angeles Police Department. Los Angeles: Independent Commission on the Los Angeles Police Department.Google Scholar
Conley, John A. 1994. The 1967 President's Crime Commission Report: Its Impact 25 Years Later. Cincinnati, OH: Anderson Publishing Company.Google Scholar
Dawson, Robert O. 1969. Sentencing: The Decision as to Type, Length, and Conditions of Sentence, ed. Remington, Frank J. Boston, MA: Little, Brown and Co.Google Scholar
Felson, Marcus. 2006. Crime and Nature. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.Google Scholar
Feucht, Thomas E., and Zedlewski, Edwin. 2007. The 40th Anniversary of the Crime Report. National Institute of Justice Journal 257:2022.Google Scholar
Findley, Keith A., and Scott, Michael S. 2006. The Multiple Dimensions of Tunnel Vision in Criminal Cases. Wisconsin Law Review 2:291397.Google Scholar
Fogelson, Robert M. 1977. Big‐City Police. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Fridell, Lorie, Lunney, Robert, Diamond, Drew, and Kubu, Bruce, with Scott, Michael, and Laing, Colleen. 2001. Racially Biased Policing: A Principled Response. Washington, DC: Police Executive Research Forum.Google Scholar
Goldstein, Herman. 1977. Policing a Free Society. Cambridge, MA: Ballinger.Google Scholar
Goldstein, Herman. 1979. Improving Policing: A Problem‐Oriented Approach. Crime & Delinquency 25:236–58.Google Scholar
Goldstein, Herman. 1993. Confronting the Complexity of the Policing Function. In Discretion in Criminal Justice: The Tension Between Individualization and Uniformity, ed. Ohlin, Lloyd and Remington, Frank, 2364. Albany: State University of New York Press.Google Scholar
Harocopos, Alex, and Hough, Mike. 2005. Drug Dealing in Open‐Air Markets. (Problem‐Oriented Guides for Police Series, Guide No. 31.) Washington, DC: US Department of Justice.Google Scholar
Kahan, Dan M., and Meares, Tracey L. 1998. The Coming Crisis of Criminal Procedure. Georgetown Law Journal 86 (2): 1153–84.Google Scholar
Kennedy, David M. 2008. Deterrence and Crime Prevention: Reconsidering the Prospect of Sanction. New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
Knapp, Whitman. 1972. Commission Report: Commission to Investigate Allegations of Police Corruption and the City's Anti‐Corruption Procedures. New York: Bar Press.Google Scholar
LaFave, Wayne R. 1965. Arrest: The Decision to Take a Suspect into Custody, ed. Remington, Frank J. Boston, MA: Little, Brown and Co.Google Scholar
Laycock, Gloria. 2005. Defining Crime Science. In Crime Science: New Approaches to Preventing and Detecting Crime, ed. Smith, Melissa J. and Tilley, Nick. Cullompton, UK: Willan Publishing.Google Scholar
Masuda, Barry. 1997. Reduction of Employee Theft in a Retail Environment: Displacement vs. Diffusion of Benefits. In Situational Crime Prevention: Successful Case Studies, 2nd ed., ed. Clarke, Ronald V., 183–90. Guilderland, NY: Harrow & Heston Publishers.Google Scholar
McKay, Robert B. 1987. Philadelphia and Its Police: Toward a New Partnership. A Report by the Philadelphia Police Study Task Force. Philadelphia, PA: Philadelphia Police Study Task Force.Google Scholar
Miller, Frank W. 1969. Prosecution: The Decision to Charge a Suspect with a Crime, ed. Remington, Frank J. Boston, MA: Little, Brown and Co.Google Scholar
Mollen Commission. 1994. Report of the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Corruption and Anti‐corruption Procedures of the Police Department. New York: Mollen Commission.Google Scholar
National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders. 1968. Report of the National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders. Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office.Google Scholar
National Advisory Commission on the Causes and Prevention of Violence, Task Force on Law and Law Enforcement. 1969. Law and Order Reconsidered. Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office.Google Scholar
National Advisory Commission on Criminal Justice Standards and Goals. 1973. Report on Police. Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office.Google Scholar
National Commission on Law Observance and Enforcement. 1931. Report on Police. Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office.Google Scholar
National Research Council. 2004. Fairness and Effectiveness in Policing: The Evidence, ed. Skogan, Wesley and Frydl, Kathleen (Committee to Review Research on Police Policy and Practices and Committee on Law and Justice, Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education). Washington, DC: National Academies Press.Google Scholar
Newman, Donald J. 1966. Conviction: The Determination of Guilt or Innocence without Trial, ed. Remington, Frank J. Boston, MA: Little, Brown and Co.Google Scholar
President's Commission on Campus Unrest. 1970. The Report of the President's Commission on Campus Unrest. Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office.Google Scholar
President's Commission on Law Enforcement and Administration of Justice. 1967. The Challenge of Crime in a Free Society. Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office.Google Scholar
Punch, Maurice. 2007. Zero Tolerance Policing (Researching Criminal Justice Series). Bristol, UK: Policy Press.Google Scholar
Rampart Independent Review Panel. 2000. Report of the Rampart Independent Review Panel. Los Angeles: Rampart Independent Review Panel.Google Scholar
Ratcliffe, Jerry. 2008. Intelligence‐Led Policing. Cullompton, UK: Willan Publishing.Google Scholar
Ruth, Henry, and Reitz, Kevin R. 2003. The Challenge of Crime: Rethinking Our Response. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Sampson, Rana. 2003. Drug Dealing in Privately Owned Apartment Complexes. (Problem‐Oriented Guides for Police Series, Guide No. 4.) Washington, DC: US Department of Justice.Google Scholar
Scott, Michael S. 2005. Shifting and Sharing Police Responsibility to Address Public Safety Problems. In Handbook of Crime Prevention and Community Safety, ed. Tilley, Nick, 385409. Cullompton, UK: Willan Publishing.Google Scholar
Scott, Michael S., and Kelly, Dedel. 2006. Clandestine Methamphetamine Labs, 2nd ed. (Problem‐Oriented Guides for Police Series, Guide No. 16.) Washington, DC: US Department of Justice.Google Scholar
Sherman, Lawrence W., Gottfredson, Denise, MacKenzie, Doris, Eck, John, Reuter, Peter, and Bushway, Shawn. 1997. Preventing Crime: What Works, What Doesn't, What's Promising. A Report to the United States Congress. Washington, DC: US Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs.Google Scholar
Slobogin, Christopher. 1996. Testilying: Police Perjury and What to Do about It. University of Colorado Law Review 67:1037–60.Google Scholar
Tiffany, Lawrence P., McIntyre, Donald M. Jr, and Rotenberg, Daniel. 1967. Detection of Crime: Stopping and Questioning, Search and Seizure, Encouragement and Entrapment, ed. Remington, Frank J.. Boston, MA: Little, Brown and Co.Google Scholar
US Department of Justice. Office of Justice Programs. 1998. The Challenge of Crime in a Free Society: Looking Back, Looking Forward. Symposium on the 30th Anniversary of the President's Commission on Law Enforcement and the Administration of Justice. Washington, DC: US Department of Justice.Google Scholar
Walker, Samuel. 1978. Reexamining the President's Crime Commission: The Challenge of Change in a Free Society after Ten Years. Crime & Delinquency 24 (January): 112.Google Scholar
Walker, Samuel. 1985. Setting the Standards: The Efforts and Impact of Blue‐Ribbon Commissions on the Police. In Police Leadership in America: Crisis and Opportunity, ed. Geller, William A., 354–70. Chicago: American Bar Foundation and Praeger Publishers.Google Scholar
Weisburd, David, and Braga, Anthony A., eds. 2006. Police Innovation: Contrasting Perspectives. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Wilson, James Q., and George, L. Kelling. 1982. Broken Windows: The Police and Neighborhood Safety. Atlantic Monthly, March, 2938.Google Scholar
Zucotti, John E. 1987. Mayor's Advisory Committee on Police Management and Personnel Policy. New York: City of New York.Google Scholar