Policing's Problems in the Twenty-First Century: Misconduct, Malfeasance, and Murder

by Tom Barker

Overview

Based on personal experience and academic research, Tom Barker shines a light on the dark side of American policing by examining misconduct and corruption as occupational and workplace forms of deviance. Barker outlines patterns of rule breaking and criminal behavior while providing strategies for management and control. This textbook is appropriate for undergraduate and graduate courses in criminal justice, criminology, justice studies, sociology, and public administration.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781538188194
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	09/11/2024
Pages:	306
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.75(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Dr. Tom Barker is a former police officer, a police academy instructor, a college and university instructor, and a college dean. He is a past president of the Academy of Criminal Justice Studies. He has authored or coauthored seventeen books, including six that have gone into multiple editions—one, nine editions. Dr. Barker is considered a national and international expert in several areas: law-enforcement practices, including reform, and adult criminal gangs—street, prison, and outlaw motorcycle gangs. Since his retirement from college teaching in 2000, he has devoted his time to full-time writing and research.

Table of Contents

Preface: Looking in the Rear View Mirror

First Attempt at Police Deviance Classification

Intersection of Occupational and Organizational Factors: Workplace Setting

Policing’s Dark Side

Part I: The Genesis

Chapter 1: Overview of Police Deviance

Local American Policework Misconduct, Malfeasance, and Homicide

Police Misconduct is a Social Justice Issue

American Police Reform

Conclusion

Discussion Questions

Chapter 2: Policing’s Paradox

Evolution of Policing

The Development of American Policing

Code of Ethics Violated from the Beginning

Conclusion

Discussion Questions

Part II: Types and Patterns of Police Deviance: Police Misconduct

Chapter 3: Police Sexual Misconduct and its Types

Police Sexual Misconduct: The Sleazy Blue Line

Typology of American Police Sexual Misconduct

Conclusion

Discussion Questions

Chapter 4: Police Misconduct: Police Lying

Police Lying Is Normal Police Behavior

Police Lying in Its Historical Context

American Policing and Police Lying

Categories of Police Lies

Dealing With Cops with Known Credibility Problems

Conclusion

Discussion Questions

Chapter 5: Wrongful Convictions: False Confessions and Official Misconduct

False Confessions Resulting from Police Torture

The American Accusatory Interrogation System: Through the Guilt-Presumptive Lens

Wrongful Convictions

Conclusion

Discussion Questions

Chapter 6: Expanding Police Misconduct: Misuse of Confidential Information, Identity Theft, and Stealing Time

Misuse of Confidential Information

American Crime-Sharing Database Misuse

Identity Theft by Law-Enforcement Officers

Police Misconduct: Stealing Time

Conclusion

Discussion Questions

Part III: Police Corruption and Criminal Law-Enforcement Officers: Malfeasance

Chapter 7: Rule Breaking Cops: Malfeasance

Patterns of Police Corruption

Conclusion

Discussion Question

Chapter 8: Criminal Cops: When the Bad Guys Wear Badges

A Brief History of American Criminal Cops

Police Graft in America: The Beginning

American Systematic Police Corruption and Crime in the 1970s and 1980s

What is the Nature and Extent of American Police Crimes?

Conclusion

Discussion Questions

Chapter 9: "Bad to the Bone" Killer Cops and Criminal Cop Drug Dealers

Criminal Cops: A Historical Fact

National and International Police Occupational Problems

Conclusion
Discussion Questions

Chapter 10: Federal and Corrections Law-Enforcement Occupational or Workplace Deviance

Corrections Agencies and Corrections Officers

Federal Law-Enforcement Agencies

Discussion Questions

Chapter 11: Twenty-First-Century American Policing

American Police-Work Occupation

Twenty-First-Century American Policing Behavior

Déjà Vu All over Again

Conclusion

References

Index

About the Author

Editorial Reviews

Policing's Problems in the Twenty-First Century addresses current issues in law enforcement today, especially when focusing on police accountability and transparency. This text gives me the opportunity to dig deeper into the issues of policing in my 21st Century Policing course, with great examples to support the material. Realistic, bold, honest, eye-opening, and transparent.

Mildred Johnson

I have been working in the field of law enforcement for over twenty years as a researcher, trainer, and consultant, and I learned a great deal from this text myself. Tom Barker has crafted a well-supported text that, even for those who might disagree with some of its content, one cannot argue with the quality and breadth of material used to inform it. Barker’s presentation of his experience in policing and academia adds a layer of nuance and complexity to this book that makes ignoring his premise difficult and delivers the message all the more clearly. I would assign this book to my police cadets in our police academy to illustrate the problems in the profession, as it would complement some of the other material we cover. This book will make students and instructors rethink some of their assumptions about the history of policing. We need texts like this to continue the discussions about change in law enforcement, which are so desperately needed for a future generation of officers and law enforcement executives to improve the profession.

David Bugg

Solid book about policing and criminal justice from a critical perspective.

Scott Mathers

This book is a wonderful read for students, researchers, police practitioners, and policymakers who are interested in understanding why the American police have encountered such a tremendous national crisis at this very moment.

Xiaochen Hu