King, W. R. (1999). “Time, Constancy, and Change in American Municipal Police Organizations.” Police Quarterly, Vol. 2:3, 338-364.
1.  What is organizational age, and what theories of organizational age are applied to police departments in this study?
2.   According to the authors of this article, is there a relationship between the organizational age of a department and its propensity to employ civilians?
3.  Did the author’s findings support the notion that the era in which a police department was formed affects its organizational structure?

Chappell, A. T., & Gibson, S. A. (2009). “Community Policing and Homeland Security Policing:  Friend or Foe?” Criminal Justice Policy Review, 20: 326-343.
1.   According to Chappell and Gibson, does the move toward homeland security policing signal the end of community policing?
2.  Are police departments that fully implemented the community policing model prior to 9/11 reluctant to give it up?
3.  After reading this article, do you believe community policing and homeland security policing can coexist?

Pynes, J. E. (2001). “The Triumph of Techniques Over Purpose Revisited: Evaluating Police Officer Selection.” Review of Public Personnel Administration, 21: 219-236.
1.  According to the Census Bureau, what percentage of a local government’s budget is usually spent on police operations?
2.  Has high intelligence always been a desired quality in police recruits in the United States? Are police departments in the United States guilty of “dumbing down” selection examinations?
3.  According to Pynes, what skills are the most important for police officers to possess?

Ho, T. (2005). “Do Racial Minority Applicants Have a Better Chance to Be Recruited in Predominantly White Neighborhoods? An Empirical Study.” Police Quarterly, 8: 454-475.
1.  What is still the main race-related recruitment issue in police departments?
2.  How do socioeconomic constraints adversely affect the recruitment of minority applicants?
3.  According to Ho, do racial minority applicants in the police selection process receive preferential privilege in predominantly white communities?

Bradford, D., & Pynes, J. E. (1999). “Police Academy Training: Why Hasn’t It Kept Up With Practice?” Police Quarterly, 2: 283-301.
1.  According to Bradford and Pynes, is police training properly preparing new recruits to do the job? Why or why not?
2.  What special skills does the community policing philosophy require of a police officer?
3.  What do the authors of this article recommend should replace traditional “task-oriented “police training?

Hughes, J. J. (1972). “Training Police Recruits for Service in the Urban Ghetto: A Social Worker’s Approach.” Crime and Delinquency, 18: 176-183.
1.  What valuable skills does Hughes suggest could be taught to police cadets by social workers?
2.  What are the characteristics of the officer as “peacemaker” described by Hughes?
3.  According to Hughes, what are the strong systemic forces that tend to isolate the police officer from the community he/she serves?

Nolan, T. (2009). “Behind the Blue Wall of Silence: Essay.” Men and Masculinities, 12: 250-257.
1.  How does Nolan describe and define the term “blue wall of silence?”
2.  According to Nolan, in the Boston Police Department where he worked, what was the most serious offense an officer could commit in the eyes of his/her fellow officers?
3.  After reading this article, are you convinced the police subculture is inherently homophobic, or do you think the author overstated his case?

Paoline III, E. A. (2004). “Shedding Light on Police Culture: An Examination of Officers’ Occupational Attitudes.” Police Quarterly, 7: 205-236.
1.  According to Paoline, what are the competing conceptualizations of police culture? 
2.  What are the seven analytically distinct attitudinal groups to which police officers belong? 
3.  After reading this article, do you think it is accurate to think of the police subculture as one universal and monolithic entity? Why or why not?

Griffin, S. P., & Bernard, T. J. (2003). “Angry Aggression Among Police Officers.” Police Quarterly, 6: 3-21.
1.  What is aggression theory and how does it relate to policing?
2.  According to this article, what is the difference between “excessive force” and “unnecessary force?”
3.  How does the social isolation of police work contribute to the aggressiveness displayed by police officers in dealing with perceived threats?

Sacks, S. R. (2000). “Optimal Spatial Deployment of Police Patrol Cars.” Social Science Computer Review, 18: 40-55.
1.  What is the Desktop Hypercube computer implementation described in this article?
2.  What criteria are used by Sacks in this article to measure the quality of police service? Do these criteria match your personal definition of quality police service? Why or why not?
3.  How do workload and patrol time relate to one another, and how do both affect the quality of police service?

Panatela, R., & Funk, J. (1987). “Police Deception Tactics and Public Consent in the United States and Great Britain.” Criminal Justice Policy Review, 2: 133-149.
1.  What are deception practices in policing? Why are they used? How have courts traditionally viewed such practices?
2.  Does the public view deception practices in policing as legitimate tools of investigation?
3.  What types of deceptions receive the most support from civilians? From professionals? What types of deceptions receive the least support from each?

Mignon, S. I., & Holmes, W. M. (1995). Police Response to Mandatory Arrest Laws.” Crime and Delinquency, 41: 430-442.
1.  What are mandatory arrest statutes, and why have they been enacted by so many states?
2.  According to this article, what factors most affect whether a police officer decides to affect an arrest in a domestic battery situation?
3.  According to Mignon and Holmes, what role does training play in determining the effectiveness of mandatory arrest laws?

Garcia, A. (1987). Miranda Revisited: The Erosion of a Clear Standard.” Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice, 3: 19-29.
1.  How has the Supreme Court decision in Miranda v. Arizona affected the duties of police officers? How is Miranda tied to the Fifth Amendment?
2.  What is the public safety exception to Miranda and what case(s) established it?
3.  According to Garcia, has the Supreme Court weakened Miranda too much with its subsequent decisions? Do you agree?

Hays,  K. L., Regale, R. M., & Hewitt, J. D. (2007). “Police Chiefs, Anomia, and Leadership.” Police Quarterly, 10: 3-22.
1.  What is anomia, and according to this article, how is it related to police supervision?
2.  Who is more likely to display the symptoms of anomia, line officers or police chiefs? Why?
3.  What role, if any, does a police chief’s level of education play in determining their social integration in society?

Hoover,  L. T. (2005). “From Police Administration to Police Science: The Development of a Police Academic Establishment in the United States.” Police Quarterly, 8: 8-22.
1.  How does Hoover define the ‘police academic establishment?” Does it represent a real science of policing?
2.  Describe the contribution of O.W. Wilson to the study of policing in general, and police administration in particular.
3.  According to Hoover, what changes need to take place to move the research of policing in a more effective and science-driven direction?  

Krimmel,  J. T., & Lindenmuth, P. (2001). “Police Chief Performance and Leadership Styles.” Police Quarterly, 4: 469-483.
1.  According to this article, what leadership attributes in police chiefs were most appealing to the city managers that supervise them.
2.  Given the results of this study, does graduating from the FBI National Academy make one a better police chief?
3.  What characteristics, if any, in the attitude of police chiefs are probable indicators of poor performance?

Mastrofski, S. D. (2004). “Controlling Street-Level Police Discretion.” The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 593: 100-118.
1.  According to this article, has previous research accurately described factors that determine police use of discretion? Why or why not?
2.  Describe when and how discretion is employed by police officers? Is it only when determining whether or not to arrest a suspect?
3.  Have community policing policies affected police officers’ use of discretion? If so, how?

Wortley, R. K. (2003). “Measuring Police Attitudes Toward Discretion.” Criminal Justice and Behavior, 30: 538-558.
1.  According to Wortley, how does the attitude of an officer affect his/her use of discretion?
2.  What are the two views regarding the desirability of police using discretion, described in the article?
3.  What are the differences in behavior between officers who employ the service, legalistic, or watchman approaches to policing?  

Alpert, G. P., & Noble, J. J. (2009). “Lies, True Lies, and Conscious Deception: Police Officers and the Truth.” Police Quarterly, 12: 237-254.
1.  According to Alpert and Noble, why do police officers regularly tell lies?
2.  Describe the “deception continuum” discussed in this article. At what point on this continuum do you believe the behavior of most officers falls?
3.  How does the practice of deception relate to police interrogations, and how might videotaping interrogations benefit the administration of justice?

Rothwell, G. R., & Baldwin, J. N. (2007). Whistle-Blowing and the Code of Silence in Police Agencies: Policy and Structural Predictors.” Crime and Delinquency, 53: 605-632.
1.  What does the term “whistle-blowing” refer to, and how does it relate to policing?
 2.  According this article, does the kind of misconduct an officer commits affect whether his/her fellow officers blow the whistle?
 3.  How important are mandatory reporting policies in determining whether officers blow the whistle on misconduct?

Son, S., & Rome, D. M. (2004). “The Prevalence and Visibility of Police Misconduct: A Survey of Citizens and Police Officers.” Police Quarterly, 7: 179-204.
1.  According to the findings of Son and Rome, is police misconduct a common occurrence? Explain.
2.  Do police and the citizens they serve generally agree or disagree about the prevalence of police misconduct? Why?
3.  How do demographic factors affect the way citizens and officers view police misconduct?

Gabbidon, S. L., Higgins, G. E., & Potter, H. (2011). Race, Gender, and the Perception of Recently Experiencing Unfair Treatment by the Police: Exploratory Results From an All-Black Sample.” Criminal Justice Review, 36: 5-21.
1.  How do race and gender affect citizens’ perceptions of how they are being treated by the police?
2.  According to this study, does the region of the country a black citizen lives in affect their perceptions of the fairness of the police? If so, how?
3.  What characteristics did this study identify to be the best predictors of whether a black citizen feels fairly or unfairly treated by the police? 

Miller, S. L., Forest, K. B., & Jurik, N. C. (2003). “Diversity in Blue: Lesbian and Gay Police Officers in a Masculine Occupation.” Men and Masculinities, 5: 355-385.
1.  Do work organizations like police departments possess certain general tendencies in the way they view gender and sexuality? If so, how?
2.  According to the authors of this study, do homosexual officers have to pretend to be heterosexual to be accepted into the police subculture?
3.  Do Lesbian and Gay police officers perceive themselves as being especially sensitive to the disenfranchised in society? If so, how?

Lee, J. V. (2010). “Policing After 9/11: Community Policing in an Age of Homeland Security.” Police Quarterly, 13: 347-366.
1.  What are the primary differences between community policing and homeland security policing? What are the major goals of each philosophy?
2.  Does this study suggest that community policing and homeland security policing are incompatible?
3.  Do a department’s characteristics like size and budget affect which policing philosophy it emphasizes? If so, how?

Carter, D. L., & Carter, J. G. (2009). “Intelligence-Led Policing: Conceptual and Functional Considerations for Public Policy.” Criminal Justice Policy Review, 20: 310-325.
1.  Define and describe intelligence-led policing.
2.  How have the events of 9/11 affected the implementation of intelligence-led policing in the United States?
3.  Are community policing, problem-oriented policing, and intelligence-led policing compatible? If so, describe how?

Wallace, A. (2009). “Mapping City Crime and the New Aesthetic of Danger.” Journal of Visual Culture, 8: 5-24.
1.  Describe crime-mapping and explain what kinds of information it provides citizens about criminal activity in their communities.
 2. According to the authors of this article, does the crime information provided in crime-mapping lead to more political engagement or just an ethic of self-preservation? Explain.
 3.  Do you agree with the authors that crime-mapping represents a larger move toward the privatization of personal security? If not, why not?

Wilson, D. B., McClure, D., & Weisburd, D. (2010). “Does Forensic DNA Help to Solve Crime? The Benefit of Sophisticated Answers to Naïve Questions.” Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice, 26: 458-469.
1.  Describe the utility of using DNA testing in criminal investigations as described in this article.
2.  What is a volume crime, and how might DNA testing be useful in such cases?  Is it financially feasible to use DNA testing for volume crimes?
 3.  How might a national DNA database affect the investigation of crime? Are there any arguments against creating such a resource?

Oliver, W. M. (2009). “Policing for Homeland Security: Policy and Research.” Criminal Justice Policy Review, 20: 253-260.
1.  According to Oliver, what is the role of local police and sheriff’s departments in implementing a homeland security program?
2.  In what sense are police officers actions in the era of homeland security “data-driven?”
3.  How have changes in policing in the era of homeland security led to better local capabilities in dealing with natural disasters?

Harfield, C. (2008). “The Organization of ‘Organized Crime Policing’ and Its International Context.” Criminology and Criminal Justice, 8: 483-507.
1.  According to Harfield, what are the prerequisites upon which the policing of organized crime are based?
2.  What role if any does international law and international treaties play in the investigation and prosecution of organized crime?
3.  Describe at least two international organizations that operate to assist law enforcement in different countries in controlling organized crime and apprehending international criminals.

McGarrell, E. F., Freilich, J. D., & Chermak, S. (2007). “Intelligence-Led Policing As a Framework for Responding to Terrorism.” Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice, 23: 142-158.
1.  According to this study, how can ILP or intelligence-led policing be used to combat terrorism in the United States?
2.  What significant challenges exist to complicate employing intelligence-led policing both in the United States and in other countries?
3.  How does the acceptance and implementation of intelligence-led policing mirror that of community policing?

Vindevogel, F. (2005). “Private Security and Urban Crime Mitigation: A Bid for BIDs.” Criminal Justice, 5: 233-255.
1.  What is a Business Improvement District (BID) and how can it work to improve the level of public safety in an area?
2.  Is it fair and accurate to assert that BID’s defend the specific interest of the corporate community to the detriment of the public interest?
3.  According to Vindevogel, how do BID’s prevent crime and reduce the level of fear in a community?

Fixler, P. E., & Poole, R. W. (1988). “Can Police Services Be Privatized?” The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 498: 108-118.
1.  Briefly describe the evolution of the privatization of police services in the United States.
2.  What are the primary arguments, outlined in this article, against the privatization of police services?
3.  Do labor unions complicate the process of privatizing police services? Is so, how? Is there less opposition to such privatization in traditionally non-union areas of the country?

Murray, N. (2010). “Profiling in the Age of Total Information Awareness.” Race and Class, 52: 3-24.
1.  What is total information awareness as described by Murray, and how did the events of 9/11 lead to its popularity as an investigative technique? 
2.  Has the domestic surveillance apparatus which emerged in the past ten years led to state- sanctioned racial profiling? Explain.
3.  How do Joint Terrorism Task Forces in local law enforcement employ “predictive policing?”

Marenin, O. (2005). “Building and Global Police Studies Community.” Police Quarterly, 8: 99-136.
1.  How have the roles of law enforcement changed in an increasingly interconnected world?
2.  Describe the general characteristics of democratic policing systems. Are these systems transferrable to all nations and conditions? Why or why not?
3.  Is it time for an international police force to be formed to investigate crime committed across borders? Why or why not?