CJ100
Randall Rhodes
Chapter 6
Critical Issues in Policing
Multiple Choice
1. What question does a police officer consider when deciding how to exercise his/her discretion?
a) Should I intervene?
b) When does my shift end?
c) Is anyone watching?
d) All of the above
2. Why is selective enforcement of the law problematic?
a) Officers may abuse their power.
b) Judges are upset that police are not arresting more people.
c) Citizens want full enforcement of all laws, including motor vehicle laws.
d) All of the above.
3. Which of the following is NOT a legal factor that can affect the decision to arrest?
a) offense seriousness
b) race of offender
c) prior arrest record
d) presence of evidence
4. Which of the following is an extralegal factor that can influence the decision to arrest?
a) attitude
b) gender
c) social class
d) all of the above
5. Which of the following is a possible reason that lower-class individuals are arrested more often than middle and upper class?
a) Middle class individuals do not commit crime.
b) Wealthy people pay off the police to avoid being arrested.
c) Police are more likely to observe criminal behavior in lower class neighborhoods that they patrol more often.
d) All of the above.
6. Which of the following statements is NOT true regarding the impact of officer characteristics on arrests?
a) Younger officers are more likely to arrest suspects than older officers.
b) College-educated officers are less likely to make arrests than officers with no college education.
c) African American officers make proportionately more arrests than white officers.
d) Married officers make more arrests than single officers.
7. What is the most widely used method of controlling police discretion?
a) weekly supervisory meetings
b) additional training
c) written rules
d) stricter hiring qualifications
8. How do officers become involved in corruption?
a) seek out opportunities for economic gain
b) observe other officers engaged in corruption
c) result of bad decision making in dealing with offenders
d) all of the above
9. A type of corruption in which an officer receives goods or services for referring business to individuals or companies is known as:
a) opportunistic theft
b) shakedowns
c) kickbacks
d) internal payoffs
10. Corruption in which an officer requests money from a citizen with a threat to enforce a law if the officer is not paid is known as:
a) opportunistic theft
b) shakedown
c) kickback
d) internal payoff
11. Which of the following is NOT a form of corruption?
a) free meals for being at a restaurant in uniform
b) stealing from intoxicated citizens
c) accepting a meritorious award for bravery
d) fixing a traffic ticket by failing to show up in court
12. What is the current purpose of the Chicago Crime Commission?
a) monitor the criminal justice system for corruption
b) ensure that offenders receive comparable and just punishments
c) create sentencing guidelines for judges to follow
d) lobby for longer prison times for convicted offenders
13. Which of the following is an explanation for police corruption?
a) limited accountability
b) lack of adequate education
c) poor pay
d) stress
14. Which of the following is NOT a common source of stress for police officers?
a) difficult decisions
b) conflict with supervisors
c) frustration with the courts
d) praise from the public
15. Why would police officers be in conflict with their superiors?
a) too much paperwork
b) lack of support
c) not enough structure
d) all of the above
Fill in the blank:
16. Formally, police ______is the authority of officers to choose one course of action over another.
17. Police treat ______with greater compassion, even when the case is serious.
18. The misuse of their authority by officers for the benefit of themselves or others is known as ______.
19. The Knapp Commission identified two types of corrupt police officers: ______(those who accept bribes when offered) and ______(those who aggressively misuse their power for personal gain).
20. The unlawful use of force, language, and application of the law is known as police ______.
Essay : Answer two
21. Why is full law enforcement considered impractical?
22. Explain the legal and extralegal factors that have been shown to influence the decision to arrest.
23. List and explain six different categories of police corruption.