Policing's Problems in the Twenty-First Century

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.

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.

• Preface: Looking in the Rear View MirrorFirst Attempt at Police Deviance ClassificationIntersection of Occupational and Organizational Factors: Workplace SettingPolicing’s Dark SidePart I: The GenesisChapter 1: Overview of Police DevianceLocal American Policework Misconduct, Malfeasance, and HomicidePolice Misconduct is a Social Justice Issue American Police ReformConclusionDiscussion QuestionsChapter 2: Policing’s Paradox Evolution of PolicingThe Development of American PolicingCode of Ethics Violated from the Beginning ConclusionDiscussion QuestionsPart II: Types and Patterns of Police Deviance: Police MisconductChapter 3: Police Sexual Misconduct and its TypesPolice Sexual Misconduct: The Sleazy Blue LineTypology of American Police Sexual MisconductConclusionDiscussion QuestionsChapter 4: Police Misconduct: Police Lying Police Lying Is Normal Police BehaviorPolice Lying in Its Historical ContextAmerican Policing and Police Lying Categories of Police LiesDealing With Cops with Known Credibility ProblemsConclusionDiscussion QuestionsChapter 5: Wrongful Convictions: False Confessions and Official MisconductFalse Confessions Resulting from Police TortureThe American Accusatory Interrogation System: Through the Guilt-Presumptive LensWrongful Convictions ConclusionDiscussion QuestionsChapter 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 OfficersPolice Misconduct: Stealing Time ConclusionDiscussion QuestionsPart III: Police Corruption and Criminal Law-Enforcement Officers: Malfeasance Chapter 7: Rule Breaking Cops: MalfeasancePatterns of Police CorruptionConclusionDiscussion QuestionChapter 8: Criminal Cops: When the Bad Guys Wear Badges A Brief History of American Criminal CopsPolice Graft in America: The BeginningAmerican Systematic Police Corruption and Crime in the 1970s and 1980sWhat is the Nature and Extent of American Police Crimes?ConclusionDiscussion QuestionsChapter 9: "Bad to the Bone" Killer Cops and Criminal Cop Drug DealersCriminal Cops: A Historical Fact National and International Police Occupational ProblemsConclusionDiscussion QuestionsChapter 10: Federal and Corrections Law-Enforcement Occupational or Workplace DevianceCorrections Agencies and Corrections OfficersFederal Law-Enforcement Agencies Discussion QuestionsChapter 11: Twenty-First-Century American PolicingAmerican Police-Work OccupationTwenty-First-Century American Policing BehaviorDéjà Vu All over AgainConclusionReferencesIndexAbout the Author