Cultural Analysis Police Officers

C. History of Police Cultural Corruption

Interacting Levels of Culture That Shape Police Culture

Social Elements That Shape Police Culture

Balancing Different External and Internal Environments

Three Fundamentals of Police Culture

Durkheim & The Militarization of Policing

Administrative Irresponsibility as Enabler

Suicide and Addiction – “Machismo Syndrome”

On the NBC Nightly News show of July 8, 2002, Inglewood, California, police officers were caught on amateur video using excessive force on a 16-year-old teenager who allegedly assaulted police officers. The teen, Donovan Jackson, is represented by a lawyer who argued on the Nightly News that “Nothing has changed since Rodney King”, another infamous incident of police excessive force caught on video tape. Such notorious examples of disturbing behavior by police officers have many examining the police officer subculture at work in American society. Many feel it has evolved into a culture of corruption, violence, racism, and silence – one that lacks integrity and ethics from top to bottom.

In examining police officer subculture, we first need to define a culture. According to Keily and Peek (2002: 169),

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cers. The “blue wall of silence” is notorious among police; many who would much rather lie to protect a fellow officer or the department than tell the truth about a criminal if doing so would jeopardize either of the former. Further, as society becomes more diverse culturally and as the political scene encourages increased law enforcement measures, police attitudes change. Racism and excessive force are common charges against modern police. Some critics point out the social norms and wider cultural values have created these values inside the police culture. As one critic of modern policing notes, some of the blame lies at the feet of politicians pandering to the public through fear-mongering. Further, three fundamental elements of police culture contribute to the violent and often racist behavior of corrupt police officers: police tactics, police attitudes, police values. Modern crime-fighting tactics involve technology and responding to a number of calls, the majority of which are not crime-related. Patrolling seldom reduces crime because criminals know to hide their actions from patrols. Officer attitudes also contribute to the police culture that borders on violence, but many argue these attitudes are engender by a w
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Approximate Word count = 2703
Approximate Pages = 11 (250 words per page)

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