Running head: DRAFT EXPLANATORY 1

An Exploration of Police Misconduct

Lincoln Augustin

Arizona State University

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Contents
Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 2

Police behavior................................................................................................................................ 3

Education ........................................................................................................................................ 5

Training ........................................................................................................................................... 8

Environmental ............................................................................................................................... 10

Conclusion .................................................................................................................................... 11

References ......................................................................................Error! Bookmark not defined.

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Introduction

In this explanatory paper, the goal is to determine whether higher education and training

can prevent the initiated shooting, or if it would be too late due to personal bias. Growing up

people have learned that police brutality has been a major issue throughout America. Even

though it was always a concern to society, there was not much talk about it until the last couple

of years, due to negative police interaction with the community. Due to this development, our

society was able to learn that most of the initiated shootings were against individuals in lower

socioeconomic backgrounds, and anyone that was not white. Today as a society, citizens are

more aware of what is going on. This is due to social media like; Facebook, Twitter, Google, and

YouTube. The main concerns a lot of scholars are researching have to do with the lack of

training and education that leads to police brutality. The key point for this paper will be to look

to find the main reasoning behind this issue. Today as a nation we are more educated on this

matter than ever before, due to the development of technology and the usefulness of social

media. Now that the media is informing society, and people are recording everything, people

have been able to see and hear about all the shootings and police brutalities that are going on

here within the U.S. However, we are still struggling to figure out what has happened to cause

the initiated shootings. Furthermore, the goal for this paper is to identify how personal biases,

training, and lower education affects the officer’s decision. Will different levels of education or

training the officers have really make a difference? This paper will examine if police-initiated

shootings could be prevented by higher education and training

Police behavior

Scholars believe that throughout the United States there has been lots of tension between

police and the community that is affecting both sides. According to the article Firearm Deaths by
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Law Enforcement; “the vast majority of shooting occurred with the police responding in a crime

and 90% of the decedents were armed (26 handguns, six knives, one axe, one metal pipe, and

one toy gun)” (Gill & Pasquale-Styles). However, the authors believe that when investigating

situations like that, medical examiners should consider all possible causes of deaths. Even if the

police are involved in such issues, or crimes, it does not mean the police committed the crime.

Nevertheless, should the police be blamed for all deaths that were caused during their response to

a call that was made in a high crime area? Gill and Melissa believe that some of those crimes

were caused by other peers or gang members, but people automatically blame the police officers

due to the misconceptions between the police and the people in the community.

Moreover, to better understand the tension between the police and the citizens of the

community, the United States Department of Justice Civil Right Division and the United States

Attorney’s Office Northern District of Illinois decided to do a deeper investigation on the matter.

The two organizations worked together to gather information on the Chicago Police Department

to figure out if the officers were using unlawful force and what the reason behind it was. In doing

so the two departments spent an extensive time in Chicago talking with people from all over the

city such as attorneys, researchers, lawyers, organizations etc. to get their input on that issue,

(US, DJCD and US, AOND of Illinois):

We reviewed CPD’s practice mindful that officers routinely place themselves in harm’s

way in order to uphold their commitment to serve and protect the people of the city of

Chicago, and that officers regularly encounter individuals who may be armed and

determined to avoid arrest. We likewise recognize that officers have not only a right, but

an obligation, to protect themselves and others from threats of harm, including deadly
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harm, which may arise an instant. (“The United states Department of Justice Civil Right

Division and United States Attorney’s Office Northern District of Illinois”,2017)

After long research and an eventful investigation both departments found that police

officers were using unreasonable deadly force. Especially if the citizens of the community did

not obey their rules or agree with them. Based on the investigation the authors believe that the

use of force and unlawful misconduct was due to poor police practices and lack of training. They

also believe that due to lack of training, discipline, and education it was easy for law

enforcement to discharge their weapons when it came to physical activity with the citizen.

Another quote that support the evidence from Chicago police department is: “we found officers

shoot at vehicles without justification and in contradiction to CPD policy. We found further that

officers exhibit poor discipline when discharging their weapons and engage in tactics that

themselves and public safety, including failing to await backup when they safely could and

should; using unsound tactics in approaching vehicles; and using their own vehicles in a manner

that is dangerous”

Education

Many scholars believe the different level of education can play important roll in the

decision when dealing with high risk situations. In the article “preferred Caribbean

Commissioners Recruit Attributes for Successful Police Training and Careers” the author

Richard H. Martin takes a different stance by using surveys from a different part of the country

and in the Caribbean in his research to help police departments understand what successful

recruits looking for a job, such as being a police officer, look like. Martin includes four steps that

most PD need use in their training programs for any entry level officer. The four steps are: basic,

in-service training, specialized training for career development, and pre-employment training
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(Bolton, 2017). Education can be added to the list but it is not an important aspect according to

Martin. Martin believes if any police department take those steps before hiring a recruit, she or

he would come ready to perform, whatever is required of them. Based on the study there will

always be problems involved within police departments, if the departments don’t start selecting

the right candidates for the job or start spending time to training officers correctly.

There have been many questions about how the police have been using deadly force to

take down citizens when facing risk in the community. According to Pub, in the article

“Accountability” police officers are using deadly force to take citizens down who do as little as

refuse to provide their name to the officer. Officers think it is their duty or that they are required

to use deadly force when facing a situation that is high risk. Pub also talks about how sometimes

officers get aggressive, or unlawful, because they abuse their authority. This may happen even if

they are a good cop, but they lose their composure. Officers also use force because they do not

have a complete understanding of the law in the book, so they act based on personal experience.

According to the article, a way to prevent this from happening is to train the officers more on

intention of acts, on the rules, on what is too much force and discipline the sue of too much force

(Pub, 2012). The police department needs to take these steps seriously to reduce the behavior of

police officers who brutalize citizens. Nevertheless, that may not end the problem but for now it

will slow it down enough until scholars can come up with a better situation.

In addition to the above article other scholars looking to find a solution that can work for

both the police but also the justice system. The scholar believes the environment the police are a

part of is also part of the problem. In the article “Gathering evidence: problems, training

requirements, and good practices in the Italian Judicial Police force” the authors take a different

angle by looking at what training can be provided to assist both the police and the judicial
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system. Anna Bussu believes that you cannot provide training for one group but not the other. If

that’s the case, then society is more likely to be fair to the citizens when it comes to officers’

misconduct. The study believes that the judicial system and police department need to work

together to help each other out and to come up with a solution to help the citizens, in the

community, regain the police trust again. For example, the next article takes a completely

different route to educate citizens about the situation.

Like the author below many scholars use their personal experiences to education readers

about police misconduct within the America culture. In the article “combining Storytelling with

problem solving to Improve Criminal Justice Education and Training” the author used his own

personal storytelling to give his student another way to analyze and problem solve instead of

using only statistical data. Michael Bolton believes that students learn best from personal and

professional experiences. In his way of teaching, he told the students personal experiences and

real-life examples of what he did as a police officer. “Few can dispute the obvious risks

associated with combining well-told tales from one’s personal and professional experiences with

that of materials taken from textbooks and other academic writings.” Personal experience does

not always replicate academic findings, which can always become a problem. (Bolton, 2017).

Other scholars like the author of this article believe police need more than just agency’s

training and education to be great at their job. Police need culture training in all aspects before

there can be a low rate of police misbehavior. The article, “promoting a Culture of Fairness:

Police Training, Procedural justice, and compliance” suggest that we do not use procedural

justice as a training tool for a police officer because they will not follow the rules. According to

the article, cultural training would be the program for officers; because it would teach them about

the culture and the community they are a part of. However, there was another post and pre-
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training done with several recruit’s officers using (voice 4 values), or control condition, to show

how the officers would respond to the procedural justice or compliance with supervisor. After

selecting enough information, the study showed that those recruits who receive the voice 4

values did not respond as well as those who did not receives it, (Sargeant, Antrobus, and Platz,

2017).

Training

Many scholars believe the lack of training is the reason for police unlawful misbehavior

against citizens in the community. In the article Police Education, Experience, and the Use of

Force the author discussed the most likely cause of an officer to use force and what can prevent

that from happening. Based on the article even though education plays a key role in police

officer’s decision, it's still not the most important part of reducing officer involved shootings.

What was found to be the most effective in training program was the police officers experience

on the job. Even though they believe officers with higher education are less likely to be involved

compared to a lower educated officer, they still believe experience on the job is the way to go to

reduce unlawful behavior. On the other hand, according to James P. Mcelvain and Augustine J.

Kposowa officers who have already been involved in a shooting, are more likely to be in an

encounter with another shooting in the future. “Interestingly, there was no difference between

officers with some college and those with a high school diploma when it comes to using physical

force” (Mcelvain and Kposowa 2008). The author of this article believes that education level has

nothing to do with police officer misbehavior. Based on their research, they found that from

1990 to 2004 most of the officers that were involved in incidents like police shootings were

officers between 30 to 34 years of age. However, the more experience you have the more likely
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you will have an encounter that contains the using force, which lead to the next article that over

look all the area where police officers provide on if they reservice the right training.

According to the article, Evaluation of Violence Risk (threat) Assessment Training

Program for police and Other Criminal Justice Professionals, “training can increase knowledge,

skills, and attitudes related to violence risk assessment in criminal justice professionals.” (Story,

Gibas, Reeves, & Hart, 2008). The author believes that all police officers can be trained to act

the right way and its very important for them to get the right training if they want to improve

their careers as policemen. There was a post and pre-training done with a number of officers,

and other CRJ professions, which showed the increase of knowledge, skills and attitudes. The

author believe training is the key to reduce police shooting in the community.

Scholars are working together to come up with other resources that will be useful for

agencies to help police officers become better at their duty. According to Hyeyoung Lim and

Hoon Lee in the article the effects of supervisor education and training on police use of force,

misbehavior is shaped by their environments. In addition, the article argues that higher or lower

education does not have an effect on police officers; neither can education reduce officers’

unlawful behaviors. The author believes that, the only way to reduce police officers’ misconduct

is daily supervision and training programs. “education is the development of knowledge and

attitude in performing job tasks and in understanding the reason behind those tasks.” (Lim and

Lee, 2015). They have confidence education will benefit the supervisor more than the actual

officers. Many believe better supervisors make better officers, because officers do what their

boss tells them to do. That’s why its more important for police departments to focus on high

education levels for the supervisors while doing daily field training programs with police

officers.
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Environmental

In addition to affects scholars have named a few more issues that can be leading to the

tension between the police and the citizens in the community. In the Officer versus Suspect

resistance: A gendered analysis of patrol officers in an urban police department the author

believes gendered different play a rule when it came to use aggravated force against criminal in

the community, “male officers, however, tended to act aggressively to control situations.”

(Bazley, Lersch, and Mieczkowski, 2007). Moreover, the article argues that female officers had

to go through hard training to prove themselves, where it was not the same for the male officers.

Based on the finding scholars were able to find that male officers were more likely to be

involved a misbehavior situation compare to the female officer. Moreover, the study found that

both female and male officers have used the capacity and their authority to overpower the

resistance.

Another way scholars believe police officers can be affected by, are the environments

they apart of; which mean the officers can be acting based on what their boss or peers told them

to do. Based on the article Wellbeing, occupational justice and police practice: an affirming

environment’? Philip Birch, Margaret H, Vickers, Michael Kennedy and Sally Galovic believe

the use of force and police misconduct can be caused by the environment that they are part of.

For example, facts such as a persons workplace environment and the colleagues they work with

contribute to levels of wellbeing. According to the study it’s great that the researchers focus and

worry about the citizens in the community. What happened to the officer’s wellbeing? Does

anyone care how they can be affected as well? In addition, the authors believe there should be

high training programs being provided to law enforcement to help support their wellbeing. Also,
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they believe that the classes will reduce unreasonable force and improve police relationship

within the community.

There are also many questions scholars ask about whether or not the police officers are

healthy enough to perform their duties. According to the article, “Shooting Behavior: How

working Memory and Negative Emotionality” Influence Police Officer Shoot decisions “Study

indicate that when threatened and experiencing highly arousing negative emotion, police officers

with limited working memory capacity are at increased risk of shooting error.” Based on this

article, the short-term memory and high-speed memory are affecting the officer’s decision. It’s

not their education level or the experience on the job. The author believes that the agencies

should spend some time training their officers on making healthy decision so all the problems the

officers face on the field don’t affect their decision making.

Conclusion

In conclusion this paper, can police-initiated shootings be prevented by higher education

and training? There was not a specific answer to the question. However, there was a lot of

suggestions on what can be done in regard to that matter. In addition, there was a 50/50 argument

on both sides whether or not education and training can help reduce police-initiated shooting. Some

researchers believe it is the training and experience that get you ready for the job and education

will tag along as you grow in the field. Others argue it is the high education that gets you prepared

for the job. Officers will be gaining the experience they need to become more comfortable at the

job during work. Moreover, other studies believe that lack of supervision and environment play a

key role on police officers shooting and poor preforming. Many scholars and studies give a handful

of suggestions on how the police departments and other organizations can work together to fix the
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issue. That’s something that can be addressed later since the goal of this assignment was to be

determining whether or not high education and training can prevent police-initiated shootings.
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Reference

Bazley, T. D., Lersch, K. M., and Mieczkowski. (2007) Officer force versus suspect resistance:

A gendered analysis of patrol officers in an urban police department. Journal of Criminal

Justice, 35, 2, 183-192. Doi: 10.1016/j.jcrimjus.2007.01.005.

Investigation of the Chicago Police Department. Washington, D.C.: Department of Justice.1

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Kleider H. M., Parrott D. J., & King T. Z. (2009). Shooting behavior: How working memory and

negative emotionality influence police officer shoot decisions. Applied Cognitive

Psychology, 24, 5, 707-717. DOI: 10.1002/acp.1580.

Klinger, D. A. (2012) Police Training as an Instrument of Accountability. Ross-Blakley Law

Library 32 St. Louis U. Pub. L. Rev.111.

Lebrón, M. (2012). Neocolonial Policing in Puerto Rico. NACLA Report on the Americas,45(1),

12-16. doi:10.1080/10714839.2012.11722106.

Mcelvain, J. P., & Kposowa, A. J. (2008). Police Officer Characteristics and the Likelihood of

Using Deadly Force. Criminal Justice and Behavior,35(4), 505-521.

doi:10.1177/0093854807313995.

Paoline III, E. A., & Terrill, W. (2007). Police Education, Experience, and the Use of Force.

Criminal Justice and Behavior,34(2), 179-196. doi:10.1177/0093854806290239.

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Storey, J. E., Gibas, A. L., Reeves, K. A., & Hart, S. D. (2011). Evaluation of a Violence Risk

(Threat) Assessment Training Program for Police and Other Criminal Justice

Professionals. Criminal Justice Behavior, 38, 554-563. doi:10.1177/0093854811403123.

The United States. Department of Justice, Civil Right Division. (2017)