Chapter 02
The History of the American Police

Multiple Choice Questions
 
1. American policing is a product of _____. 
A. American expansion
B. English heritage
C. medieval history
D. European descendants

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2. Almost every other country in the world has a centralized national police force. In American policing, there is a tradition of _____. 
A. local control
B. continuous reform
C. racial profiling
D. strategic planning

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3. Who among the following is known as the father of modern policing? 
A. August Vollmer
B. Darryl Gates
C. Theodore Roosevelt
D. Robert Peel

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4. The early method of policing used to guard against fires, crime, and disorder throughout the day was known as the _____. 
A. constable
B. fragmented system
C. watch
D. maintenance of order

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5. During the political era in American policing, local politicians rewarded their friends with jobs on the police force. This practice was known as _____. 
A. political payback
B. patronage
C. job security
D. nepotism

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6. The failure of police reform is attributed to _____. 
A. reform by politicians
B. police professionalization
C. police corruption
D. lack of citizen support

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7. Who among the following is known as the father of American police professionalism? 
A. August Vollmer
B. Darryl Gates
C. Theodore Roosevelt
D. Robert Peel

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8. The most important new figure in American law enforcement in the 1930s was the director of the Bureau of Investigation, _____. 
A. Ernesto Miranda
B. J. Edgar Hoover
C. Elliot Ness
D. Darryl Gates

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9. One of the most famous studies on the effect of different levels of patrol on crime that challenged the traditional assumptions about policing was the _____. 
A. Research Revolution Study
B. Crime Commission Study
C. Kerner Commission Study
D. Kansas City Preventive Patrol Experiment

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10. The policing strategy requiring police to develop partnerships with neighborhood residents, develop programs for specific problems, and lower decision-making in the chain of command is known as _____. 
A. problem-oriented policing
B. team policing
C. neighborhood-oriented policing
D. community policing

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11. In the nineteenth century, the major component that influenced every aspect of American policing was _____. 
A. politics
B. incompetence
C. minorities
D. inefficiency

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12. Which of the following statements is true about the first American police officer who went out on patrol in 1838? 
A. He had to go out on foot.
B. He had access to two-way radio.
C. He had a manual of policies and procedures.
D. He had received formal preservice training.

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13. Police officers began to carry _____ as standard equipment as crime and violence increased in the late 1800s. 
A. batons
B. vehicles
C. firearms
D. tactical training manuals

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14. During the nineteenth century, a major issue for political reformers of police was _____. 
A. training
B. organizational professionalism
C. corruption
D. salaries

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15. Which of the following statements is true about police officers in the 1950s? 
A. They were mostly African Americans and Hispanics.
B. They received police manuals containing policies on when to use deadly force.
C. They were disciplined enough to use their billy club to beat someone up only when required.
D. They were unconcerned about Supreme Court rulings on search and seizure.

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16. Which of the following statements characterizes the professionalization movement of police reform through the 1960s? 
A. The reformers sought to define policing as a profession.
B. The reformers sought to eliminate the influence of politics on policing.
C. The reformers argued in favor of hiring qualified chief executives to head police departments.
D. All of the answers are correct.

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17. The great innovation of Robert Peel's new police, the London Metropolitan Police, was its mission of _____. 
A. supervising elections
B. firearms training
C. crime prevention
D. collecting taxes

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18. One of the most dramatic expressions of the new police subculture was the emergence of _____. 
A. police unions
B. alienation of individual officers
C. stress management programs
D. sexual harassment legislation

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19. The two most important law enforcement agencies that appeared before World War I were _____. 
A. organized local and state police
B. the DEA and Homeland Security
C. Pennsylvania State Constabulary and Texas Rangers
D. the state police and the Bureau of Investigation

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20. Communications technologie like the two-way radio and the telephone changed policing by _____. 
A. lowering crime and raising arrests
B. changing the nature of police-citizen contacts and police management
C. reducing response times and lowering insurance costs
D. reducing fires and lowering juvenile delinquency

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21. Which of the following U.S. Supreme Court cases established the requirement that police officers advise criminal suspects of their rights before interrogation? 
A. Mapp v. Ohio
B. Miranda v. Arizona
C. Terry v. Ohio
D. Gideon v. Wainwright

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22. Which of the following U.S. Supreme Court cases established that evidence gathered in an illegal search and seizure could not be used against the defendant? 
A. Mapp v. Ohio
B. Miranda v. Arizona
C. Terry v. Ohio
D. Gideon v. Wainwright

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23. The policing strategy requiring police to address particular issues and develop creative responses to each one rather than thinking in terms of global concepts such as crime and disorder is known as _____. 
A. community policing
B. neighborhood-oriented policing
C. reassurance policing
D. problem-oriented policing

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24. The study of criminal investigation that shattered traditional myths about detective work was known as the _____. 
A. Kerner Commission study
B. Vollmer study
C. Rand Corporation study
D. CID Efficiency Measures study

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25. Which of the following is the purpose of the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies (CALEA)? 
A. To improve the nature of the medical insurance ratings for law enforcement agencies
B. To establish and maintain a set of professional standards in police work
C. To improve the standardization of training for officers in law enforcement agencies
D. To improve standards for officers throughout the nation

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26. Which of the following statements is true about police officers during the political era in American policing? 
A. They were selected entirely on the basis of their political connections.
B. They received formal preservice training before they were sent out on patrol duty.
C. They were generally paid lower salaries than those holding blue-collar jobs.
D. They patrolled in cars and had access to two-way radios.

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27. Which of the following statements is true about J. Edgar Hoover? 
A. He failed to clean up the scandal-ridden Bureau of Investigation after being appointed as the director in 1924.
B. He promoted civil rights, and this reinforced the success of city police departments to address the growing police-community relations problem in America.
C. He manipulated the media to project an image of a Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agent as the paragon of professionalism.
D. He concentrated on organized crime, white-collar crime, and violations of federal civil rights laws, but ignored small-time bank robbers.

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28. The most important new development in policing in the 1980s and 1990s was the advent of _____. 
A. computers
B. cell phone technology
C. an influx of minorities in policing
D. community policing

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29. The practice of police making traffic stops solely on the basis of the drivers' race and not on the basis of any suspected criminal activity is formally referred to as _____. 
A. selective enforcement
B. driving while black
C. racial profiling
D. illegal traffic enforcement

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30. The legislation allowing federal authorities to sue law enforcement agencies if there is a "pattern or practice" of abuse of citizen rights is called _____. 
A. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act
B. the 1994 Violent Crime Control Act
C. the 1999 CALEA, Section 6
D. Section 1983 of Federal Civil Rights Act

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31. The police today are a product of their _____. 
A. biology
B. race
C. sex
D. history

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32. The greatest changes in policing came during 
A. the police professional movement of the 1920s.
B. the last decade of the twentieth century.
C. the radical upheavals of the 1960s.
D. the 1850s in England.

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33. Which of the following countries had the greatest impact on American policing? 
A. France
B. Holland
C. Italy
D. England

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34. The idea of local control of police agencies was contributed to American policing by our _____. 
A. German heritage
B. English heritage
C. French heritage
D. Roman heritage

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35. Which of the following U.S. presidents was once the police commissioner of New York City? 
A. Theodore Roosevelt
B. Franklin Roosevelt
C. William Taft
D. Woodrow Wilson

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36. On December 3, 1882, the New York City Police arrested 137 people for violating _____. 
A. the Sunday Closing Law
B. the prohibition against drinking
C. immigrations laws
D. nudity laws

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37. Who among the following is most famous for advocating higher education for police officers, hiring college graduates in Berkeley, and organizing the first college-level police science courses at the University of California in 1916? 
A. O. W. Wilson
B. Theodore Roosevelt
C. August Vollmer
D. Alice Stebbins Wells

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38. Who among the following started the International Association of Policewomen in 1915? 
A. Alice Stebbins Wells
B. Gale Sweeney
C. Jennifer Rossi
D. Nicole Waters

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39. Which of the following statements is true about the first policewomen? 
A. They did not perform regular patrol duty.
B. They usually did not wear uniforms.
C. They did not carry weapons.
D. All of the answers are correct.

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40. Pennsylvania is noted for 
A. starting the first modern police department in America.
B. starting the first modern state police force.
C. starting the first crime lab.
D. All of the answers are correct.

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41. The Federal Bureau of Investigation was originally known as _____. 
A. the Attorney General Investigative Unit
B. the General Investigation Bureau
C. the Bureau of Investigation
D. the Federal Police Institute

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42. The use of the two-way radio by police became widespread in the _____. 
A. 1920s
B. 1930s
C. 1940s
D. 1950s

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43. Which of the following was a finding of the Kansas City Preventive Patrol Experiment (1972-1973)? 
A. Follow-up detective work, of the kind portrayed in the movies and on television, is relatively unproductive and involves routine paperwork.
B. Most crimes are solved through information obtained by the first officer on the scene, using information from victims or witnesses.
C. A restrictive shooting policy that clearly specified when an officer can and cannot shoot effectively reduced the number of shootings.
D. Increased patrol did not reduce crime and reduced patrol did not lead to an increase in crime or public fear of crime.

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True / False Questions
 
44. The Kerner Commission was created by President Herbert Hoover in 1929 to study a wide range of issues in the American criminal justice system. 
FALSE

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45. Germans had the greatest influence in the development of American policing. 
FALSE

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46. In 1941, August Vollmer developed a formula for assigning patrol officers on the basis of a workload formula that reflected reported crime and calls for service in each area. 
FALSE

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47. The most common effort to curb racial profiling is through administrative rulemaking and the adoption of a department policy on when race or ethnicity can and cannot be used in police actions. 
TRUE

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48. The first mission of the new London Metropolitan Police in 1829 was criminal investigation. 
FALSE

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49. The term "sheriff" was first coined in the American West. 
FALSE

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50. The first American police departments wore bright red uniforms. 
FALSE

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51. The most notorious case of violation of the civil liberties of Americans in U.S. history involved J. Edgar Hoover's secret attempt to destroy Martin Luther King Jr. as a civil rights leader. 
TRUE

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52. The employment of African Americans and Hispanics as police officers decreased significantly from 1970 to 2016. 
FALSE

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53. Many historians argue that the police served the interest of businessmen and were used to harass labor unions and break strikes. 
TRUE

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54. One of the most dramatic expressions of the new police subculture that was a consequence of professionalization was the emergence of police unions. 
TRUE

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55. The requirement that police officers advise criminal suspects of their rights before interrogation was established by the 1961 U.S. Supreme Court case of Mapp v. Ohio. 
FALSE

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56. Traditional barriers to women in policing collapsed under the impact of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, which barred discrimination on the basis of sex, and the women's movement. 
TRUE

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57. A police union involves a legally recognized collective bargaining agent that has the authority to negotiate a binding contract with the city over wage and working conditions. 
TRUE

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Essay Questions
 
58. What are the three enduring features that the English heritage contributed to American policing? 
Answer may vary

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59. What was the agenda of the police professionalization movement? What did they wish to accomplish? 
Answer may vary

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60. Write a short history of law enforcement in colonial America. 
Answer may vary

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61. How did corruption become so much a part of American police history? 
Answer may vary

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62. What did Theodore Roosevelt contribute to American policing? 
Answer may vary

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63. What did August Vollmer contribute to American policing? 
Answer may vary

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64. Describe the working conditions of the first policewomen. 
Answer may vary

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65. How did the invention of new communications technology change policing? 
Answer may vary

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66. What was the Wickersham Commission? 
Answer may vary

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