Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Patrol Organization and Operation
Patrol Organization and Operation
Patrol officers - are uniformed officers assigned to monitor specific geographical areas, that is to move through their areas at regular intervals
looking out for any signs of problems of any kind.
History of Patrol
1. Ancient China - law enforcement was carried out by prefect. Prefects were government officials appointed by local magistrates who
reported to higher authorities such as the governors who in turn were appointed by head of state usually the emperor of the dynasty.
2. Ancient Greece - publicly owned slaves were used by magistrates as police. In Athens, a group of 300 Scythian slaves (rod-bearers) was used
to guard public meetings to keep order and for crowd control and also assisted with dealing with criminal, handling prisoners and making
arrests.
3. Roman empire - the army rather than a dedicated police organization provided security. Local watchmen were hired by cities to provide
some extra security. Magistrates such as procurators, fiscals and quaestros investigated crime. Under the reign of Augustus, 14 wards were
created, the wards were protected by seven squads of 1000 men called vigiles who acted as firemen and night watchmen. Their duties
included apprehending thieves and robbers and capturing run away slaves. The vigiles were supported by the urban cohorts who acted as a
heavy duty riot force and praetorian guard if necessary.
4. Medieval England - the Anglo-Saxon system of maintaining public order since the Norman conquest was a private system of tithing, led by a
constable to enforce the law.
5. Spain - modern police in Europe has a precedent in the Hermandus or (brotherhood) - peace keeping association of individuals, a
characteristic of municipal life in medieval Spain. The first recorded case of the formation of the hermandad occurred when the towns and the
peasantry of the north united to police the pilgrim road to Santiago de compostela in galicia and protect the pilgrims against robber knights.
6. France - The first police force in the modern sense was created by the
government of king Louis XIV in 1667 to police the city of Paris, then the largest
city in Europe.
Sheriff - is a contraction of the term "shire-reeve" - designated a royal official responsible for keeping the peace through out a shire
or county on behalf of the king.
Reeve - a senior official with local responsibilities under the crown. ex., chief magistrate of a town or district.
Shire - traditional term for a division of land in the UK and Australia.
Jury - is a sworn body of people convened to render impartial verdict officially submitted to them by a court or to set a penalty or
judgement.
Thief taker - a private individual hired to capture criminal.
Bow street runners - London's first professional police force.
Henry Fielding - a magistrate educated at Elton college who founded the Bow street runners originally numbered just six.
Statute of Winchester - in 1285, obliged the authorities of every town to keep a watch at the city gates and arrest all suspicious night
walkers.
Sir Robert Peel - prime minister of England from Dec. 1834 to April 1835 and again From Aug.1841 to June 1846. While home
secretary, help create the modern concept of the police force leading to officers being known as bobbies in England and peelers in
Ireland.
Patrick Colquhoun - (1745 - 1820) - a Scottish merchant and a magistrate who founded the first regular preventive police force in
England, the Thames river police.
8. In the US - the first city police services were established in Philadelphia in 1751, Boston 1838 and new york 1845.
August Vollmer - first police chief of Berkeley California. He is sometimes called the father of modern law enforcement in the US.
1. He was the first chief to require that police officers attain college degrees.
2. First police chief to create a motorized force placing officers on motorcycles and cars so that they could patrol broader areas with
greater efficiency.
3. He was also the first to use the lie detector in police work.
O.W. Wilson - studied under August Vollmer. Became Chief of Police of the Fullerton police department. He also became chief of police of the
Wichita police department. He introduced the following reforms and innovations:
Community policing - is the process by which an organized group of citizens devoted a time to crime prevention within a neighborhood. When
suspecting criminal activities, members are encourage to contact the authorities and not to intervene.
Beat patrol - the deployment of officers in a given community, area or locality to prevent and deter criminal activity and to provide day to day
services to the community.
Sting Operations - organized groups of detectives who deceived criminals into openly committing illegal acts of conspiring to engage in criminal
activity.
Hotspots of Crime - the view that a significant portion of all police calls in cities typically radiate from a relatively few locations.
Models of Policing
1. Neighborhood Oriented Policing - a philosophy of police suggesting that problem solving is best done at the neighborhood level, where issues
originate not at a far-off central headquarters.
2. Pro Active Policing - aggressive law enforcement style in which patrol officers take the initiative against crime instead of waiting for criminal acts
to occur.
3. Problem Oriented Policing - a style of police management that stresses pro active problem solving instead of reactive crime fighting.
4.Community Oriented Policing - programs designed to bring the police and the public closer together and create more cooperative working
environment between them.
5. Reactive Policing - the opposite of Pro Active policing where the police wait for crime to occur.
Blue Curtain - describes the secrecy and insulation from others in society that is a consequence of the police subculture.
Cynicism - the belief that most peoples actions are motivated solely by personal needs and selfishness.
Civilian Review Board - ex. PLEB - organized citizen groups that examine police misconduct.
Fleeing Felon Rule - the oldest standard relating to the use of deadly force.
Deadly Force - police killing of a suspect who resists arrest or presents a danger to an officer or the community.
Booking - the administrative record of an arrest listing the offenders name, address, physical description, date of birth, time of arrest, offense and
name of arresting officer. It also include photographing and fingerprinting of the offender.
Line Up - placing a suspect in a group for the purpose of being viewed and identified by a witness.
Stop and Frisk - the situation in which police officers who are suspicious of an individual run their hands lightly over the suspects outer garments to
determine if the person is carrying a concealed weapon. Also called Inquiry of Pat Down.
Foot Patrol - police patrol that takes officer out of cars and puts them in walking beat to strengthen ties with the community.
Excited Delirium - an overdose of adrenaline that can occur in heated confrontation with the police.
Sworn Date - the date that a sworn employee took the oath of office for their position.
Definition of Terms
1. Section - a primary subdivision of a bureau with a department wide responsibility for providing aspecific specialized functions.
2. Unit - a subdivision of a section usually small in size with personnel assigned to perform a specialized activity, one or two employees
performing assigned work.
3. Squad - a subdivision of a unit.
4. Detail - a subdivision of a squad.
5. Precinct -the primary geographic subdivision of the patrol operation bureau.
6. Sector - the primary geographic subdivision of a precinct, supervised by a sergeant.
7. Beat - the primary subdivision of a sector.
8. Watch/Shift - one of several tours of duty.
9. Post - a fixed geographic location usually assigned to an individual officer.
10.Task Force - an adhoc work group normally established by bureau commander to respond to a specific incident or series of related incidents.
Task Force assignment is temporary.
11.Chief of Police - overall commander of the department.
12.Chain of Command - a fundamental component of proper supervision.The chain of command requires that each employee reports and is
accountable to only one direct supervisor.