Police Culture
Marissa Efros,
Lysa Lawson, Awele Meju, Makita Walker, Joseph Washington
CJA/214
May 24, 2012
Jesse Banks

Police Culture

The history of policing can be traced back to the beginning of time. When looking at the subject of police work there is a large culture and history that follows along with it. There are many topics that can be analyzed when identifying, and describing the elements and the significances that are associated with policing. A large element of the police job that plays a large factor in the work and attributes to the policing culture is the amount of stress that an office will face while performing on the job. Another part of the job that plays a large part in the culture …show more content…

In particular, a woman officer may encounter resistance when they assert their authority. Women officers are often subjected to sexist remarks, more overt forms of sexual harassment, and may also find it hard to gain promotions. The role of women in police work will undoubtedly evolve along with changes in the nature of policing, in cultural values, and in the organization of law enforcement. Before the
Police Culture

1970’s, many police departments did not hire nonwhites. As this practice declined, the makeup of police departments changed, especially in large cities. A study of the nation’s fifty largest cities found that from 1983 to 1995, 35 percent of the departments reported an increase of 70 percent or more in the number of African-American officers, and 40 percent reported a similar increase in the number of Hispanics officers (Walker and Turner, 2000). A recent Bureau of Justice Statistics study found that minority police officers made up about 40 percent of all local departments (BJS, 2000). As political power shifts toward minorities in some American cities, the makeup of their police forces is changing as well. The election of an African-American or a Hispanic-American mayor does not always produce an immediate change in the composition of the police force. Three-quarters of Detroit’s population is now African American, as are about half of the city’s police officers. A survey of Detroit residents found that African Americans held more