ST. JEROME'S UNIVERSITY

UNIVERSITY OF WATERLOO

DEPARTMENT OF SOCIOLOGY

SOCIOLOGY 327 POLICING IN A DEMOCRATIC SOCIETY

Dr. Frederick J. Desroches

September, 2011

Room 3024 St. Jerome's University Phone: 519-884-8110

X 28221

Office Hours: 2:30-3:30 M & W email: fjdesroc@uwaterloo.ca

You are welcome to speak to me before or after class, drop by my office during my office hours,

or make an appointment to discuss assignments etc.

Email etiquette: When emailing, please type in the course number in the subject heading so that

it is not mistakenly identified as SPAM. Please identify yourself and the course and keep your

messages/inquiries brief and to the point. Please do not ask for information that can be found on

the course outline (e.g., office hours, midterm date, reading assignments etc.). Please do not

forward essays by email. Please do not ask for your grades by email. If you have missed classes,

it is your responsibility to obtain notes from a fellow student. Please do not email me asking what

you have missed or for copies of my lecture notes.

COURSE DESCRIPTION

A critical examination of the role of police as social control agents in contemporary democratic

societies. Topics to be examined include: the historical evolution of policing; police recruitment,

training, and education; community policing; the police as a quasi-military and bureaucratic

organization; the occupational subculture of the police; patrol and detective work; the police use

of the polygraph in criminal investigations; police authority and discretion; policing morality;

racial profiling and the police; police deviance and criminality; the police and protest

movements; and police and the media.

Required Textbooks

Seagrave, Jayne

1997 Introduction to Policing in Canada. Scarborough. Prentice-Hall.

Desroches, Frederick

2005 The Crime that Pays: Drug Trafficking and Organized Crime in Canada. Toronto:

Canadian Scholars' Press.

Lecture Topics

1. A Historical Overview of Policing

The Metropolitan Police Act – 1829

2. Police Recruitment, Training, Education, and the Professional Model

Functions of Policing: Service, Order Maintenance, and Law Enforcement

3. The Occupational Subculture of Policing

Stress, Danger, Murder, and Suicide

4. Police Patrol Work – Reactive and Proactive Policing

5. Police Discretion – The Decision to Arrest

The Due Process vs Crime Control Model

Racial Profiling and Discrimination

6. Patterns and Theories of Police Deviance

Police Corruption – Canada vs Other Nations

Overzealous Policing The MacDonald Commission on RCMP Wrongdoing

Police Violence and The Morand Commission Report on the Metropolitan Toronto Police

Force and Fear: Robbery in Canada – The Hold-Up Squad’s Use of Force in

Interrogations

The Special Investigative Unit (SIU) of Ontario

The Rodney King Case in the United States

7. The Role of the Police in Wrongful Conviction Cases

8. The Police Use of the Polygraph in Criminal Investigations

Strategies and Techniques of Interrogation

9. Policing Morality

The Police Surveillance of Public Washrooms in Ontario (Tearoms)

The Crime Control vs Order Maintenance Model

10. The RCMP Drug Branch – Investigating High Level Drug Traffickers

Undercover and Surveillance Work

Informants and Agents

Proceeds of Crime Legislation

The Use of Conspiracy Laws

Money Laundering Stings

Drug Usage, Drug Trafficking, and Social Policy

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11. Domestic Violence and Police Response

Spousal Abuse and the Mandatory Arrest Policy

Elder Abuse

12. Policing Protest Movements, Crowds, and Hooligans

13. Community Based Policing

Underlying Principles

Community Based Policing Programs

Required Readings from Introduction to Policing

Chapter 1 The Concept of Policing

Chapter 2 The Origins and Development of Policing in Canada

Chapter 3 The Organization and Administration of Canadian Policing

Chapter 4 The Police Role

Chapter 5 Police Personnel: Selection, Training, Promotion and The Representation of

Minority Groups

Chapter 6 Theories of Police Organizations, Subcultures, Leadership and Change

Chapter 7 Police Decision-Making, Behaviour, and Patrol

Chapter 8 Stress and Hazards of Work (Pages 162-169)

Chapter 9 Police Deviance, Accountability and Control

Chapter 10 Community Policing: Definitions and Interpretations

Chapter 11 Community Policing: The Canadian Perspective

Chapter 12 Policing Aboriginal Peoples

It is also recommended that you look over Appendix A The Royal Canadian Mounted Police Act

and Appendix B The Police Services Act of Ontario. Both are found in the back of the text.

Required Readings from The Crime that Pays

Chapter 7 Police Investigations of Higher-Level Drug Traffickers

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Chapter 8 Higher-Level Drug Trafficking in Canada: Social Policy Implications

Course Requirements

There will be an essay requirement and a final examination valued as follows:

1. Essay Assignment 40% November 2, 2011

2. Final Examination 60% To be announced

The final examination will cover the entire course.

Essay Requirements Value 40%. Due Date November 2, 2011.

Write a brief sociological essay analyzing theory and research on any one component of policing

in a democratic society.

The essay must be no longer than seven typed pages double spaced (one inch margins, & size 12

font). The essay should be well written and fully documented.

Examples of appropriate topics include: policing domestic violence; enforcing traffic laws;

preventing impaired driving offences; investigation drug trafficking or other consensual illicit

activities; police patrol work; criminal investigations; reactive vs proactive policing; police

discretion; police deviance; policing minority communities; policing public protests; policing

morality offences; community based policing.

Please consult with me regarding the appropriateness of your topic if you have any doubt.

In your essay, please make reference to at least one of the following:

1. The crime control and/or the order maintenance model of policing.

2. Limitations of policing because of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

3. Research on the effectiveness of police strategies.

4. Policing and feminist issues/critiques.

Do not ignore length restrictions, use three or four paragraphs on each page, use one inch

margins, use size 12 font, and please ensure that the essay is double spaced (not 1.5 etc.). Essays

that not follow these requirements will be returned ungraded. Your title page, references, and

appendices do not count towards the seven page limit.

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Each essay should incorporate a minimum of eight academic sources including at least four

journal articles. You must also attempt to include a sociological perspective. You may include

magazine and newspaper articles but these will not be counted as part of the minimum required

sources.

The essay will be graded in part by the variety and quality of the references used, their relevance

to the topic, how current they are, and their application to the problems discussed in the paper.

Your essay may require some brief description but the focus should be analytical. In other words,

you are required to apply sociological theory to your topic and offer critical evaluations of theory

and research on policing. An analytical paper is one in which you attempt to make connections,

explain, evaluate, illustrate, compare, contrast, criticize, and apply theory to the issues discussed.

Please avoid using a psychological or social work perspective.

The essay should also include Canadian data or a focus on Canadian policing if possible.

Statistics Canada provides relevant up-to-date information related to crime and policing. If your

topic deals with legal issues, please include a reference to relevant legislation dealing with the

particular topic your essay covers.

Number each page, staple the pages together, and please do not use plastic binders. Please use

APA style http://www.apastyle.org/elecre.html for references and bibliography. Do not use

footnotes but instead, refer to your sources by the author's last name, year of publication, and

page number(s) e.g., (Desroches, 2005:102). Please ensure that all references are fully cited in

your bibliography. Journal articles should include the author(s), title of the article, title of the

journal, year, volume number, and page numbers. Do not use websites as references in the body

of your essay.

Internet materials may only be used if the sources are from academic journals and government

publications typically found in university libraries. You may use internet sources as long as you

include a copy of the first page of the article (with author, journal, title, volume, page numbers

etc.) in an appendix.

Please make sure of the following:

The essay must deal primarily with policing and not a criminal activity, social policy, the law etc.

Your introductory paragraph must tell the reader precisely what the essay is about.

Do not use vague concepts or theories.

If you choose to write on police deviance, choose either police corruption or overzealous

policing.

Ensure that your concepts are clearly explained and applied consistently throughout the essay.

Include research studies in your essay, discuss the findings, and apply theory to the findings.

Offer critical analysis of research, theory, concepts, etc.

Do not make unsubstantiated or vague assertions even if they come from a source.

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Be certain that journal articles are from academic journals (and include the author, title of the

article and title of the journal, year, volume, and page numbers).

UW POLICY REGARDING ILLNESS AND MISSED TESTS

The UW Examination Regulations (www.registrar.uwaterloo.ca/exams/ExamRegs.pdf) state that:

· A medical certificate presented in support of an official petition for relief from normal academic requirements must provide all of the information requested on the “University of Waterloo Verification of Illness” form or it will not be accepted. This form can be obtained from Health Services or at www.healthservices.uwaterloo.ca/Health_Services/verification

.html. · If a student has a test/examination deferred due to acceptable medical evidence, he/she

normally will write the test/examination at a mutually convenient time, to be determined

by the course instructor.

· The University acknowledges that, due to the pluralistic nature of the University

community, some students may on religious grounds require alternative times to write tests

and examinations.

· Elective arrangements (such as travel plans) are not considered acceptable grounds for

granting an alternative examination time.

A NOTE ON THE AVOIDANCE OF ACADEMIC OFFENCES Academic Integrity: In order to maintain a culture of academic integrity, members of the University of Waterloo and its Federated University and Affiliated Colleges are expected to promote honesty, trust, fairness, respect and responsibility. Discipline: All students registered in courses at St. Jerome’s University are expected to know what constitutes academic integrity, to avoid committing academic offences, and to take responsibility for their actions. A student who is unsure whether an action constitutes an offence, or who needs help in learning how to avoid offences (e.g., plagiarism, cheating) or about “rules” for group work/collaboration should seek guidance from the course professor, academic advisor, or the Associate Dean. When misconduct has been found to have occurred, disciplinary penalties will be imposed following St. Jerome’s University Academic Discipline Procedure and UW Policy 71 – Student Discipline. For information on categories of offenses and types of penalties, students should refer to Policy 71 •] Student Discipline, www.adm.uwaterloo.ca/infosec/Policies/policy71.htm. Grievance: A student who believes that a decision affecting some aspect of his/her university life has been unfair or unreasonable may have grounds for initiating a grievance. In such a case, contact the St. Jerome’s University Grievance Officer. Read St. Jerome’s University Handbook, Section 4, item 8, www.sju.ca/faculty/SJU_handbook/grievance_policy.html.

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Appeals: A student may appeal the finding and/or penalty in a decision made under St. Jerome’s University Academic Discipline Procedure or Grievance Policy if a ground for an appeal can be established. In such a case, contact the St. Jerome’s University Appeals Officer. Read St. Jerome’s University Handbook, Section 6.4, www.sju.ca/faculty/SJU_handbook/examinations_grades_standings_and_appeals.html. Academic Integrity website (Arts): http://arts.uwaterloo.ca/arts/ugrad/academic_responsibility.html Academic Integrity Office (UW): http://uwaterloo.ca/academicintegrity/ Accommodation for Students with Disabilities: The Office for Persons with Disabilities (OPD), located in Needles Hall, Room 1132, collaborates with all academic departments to arrange appropriate accommodations for students with disabilities without compromising the academic integrity of the curriculum. If you require academic accommodations to lessen the impact of your disability, please register with the OPD at the beginning of each academic term.