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CRJS 385: Policing Report a Broken Link

The relationship between police and society is fraught with challenges. On the one hand, police officers may be viewed as protecting and ensuring the safety of communities, but on the other, police may be viewed as untrustworthy and even dangerous. The purpose of this course is to establish foundational knowledge through the description and interrogation of empirical evidence and criminological theories shaping the relationships between police and the communities they serve. The course will include examination of the historical and current roles of police; ethics, oversight, and accountability of police; current issues involving police patrol, use of force, crime prevention, and community (dis)engagement; and racial profiling. Whether you hold largely positive or negative views of police, this course should challenge your perspectives on the role and activities of police in society and provide you with the foundational skills and knowledge needed to assess what, if any, changes may be needed in policing.

Module 1: The Social and Historical Context of Policing in Canada

Bernadette, B. (2020). State sanctioned violence: The relationship of the RCMP and Indigenous Canadians. Prandium: The Journal of Historical Studies, 9(1).
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada. (2015). The journey: “The train of tears.” In The survivors speak: A report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada (pp. 23–30). Author.
LeBeuf, M.-E. (2011). The role of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police during the Indian residential school system. Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

Module 2: Policing Structures in Canada

Jones, N. A., Ruddell, R., & Summerfield, T. (2019). Community policing: Perceptions of officers policing Indigenous communities. Canadian Journal of Criminology and Criminal Justice, 61(1), 41–65.
Reisig, M. D., & Correia, M. E. (1997). Public evaluations of police performance: An analysis across three levels of policing. Policing: An International Journal, 20(2), 311–325. 

Module 3: Becoming a Police Officer

Prokos, A., & Padavic, I. (2002). “There oughtta be a law against bitches”: Masculinity lessons in police academy training. Gender, Work & Organization, 9(4), 439–459.
Huey, L. (2018). What do we know about in-service police training? Results of a failed systematic review. Sociology Publications, 40, 1–19.

Module 4: Police Culture

Campeau, H. (2019). Institutional myths and generational boundaries: Cultural inertia in the police organization. Policing and Society, 29(1), 69–84. 
Couto, J. L. (2018). Hearing their voices and counting them in: The place of Canadian LGBTQ police officers in police culture. Journal of Community Safety and Well-Being, 3(3), 84–87.

Module 5: Ethics in Policing

Puddister, K., & McNabb, D. (2021). When the police break the law: The investigation, prosecution and sentencing of Ontario police officers. Canadian Journal of Law and Society, 36(3), 381–404.
Tankebe, J. (2013). Viewing things differently: The dimensions of public perceptions of police legitimacy. Criminology, 51(1), 103–135.

Module 6: Theories of Policing I

Wilson, J. Q., & Kelling, G. L. (1982). Broken windows. Atlantic monthly, 249(3), 29–38.
Harcourt, B. E., & Ludwig, J. (2006). Broken windows: New evidence from New York City and a five-city social experiment. University of Chicago Law Review, 73(1), 271–320.

Module 7: Review

No readings

Module 8: Theories of Policing II

Bucerius, S. M., Oriola, T. B., & Jones, D. J. (2021). Policing with a public health lens: Moving towards an understanding of crime as a public health issue. The Police Journal.
Kearns, E. M. (2017). Why are some officers more supportive of community policing with minorities than others? Justice quarterly, 34(7), 1213–1245.
Leroux, E. J., & McShane, K. (2017). Changing youth attitudes toward the police through community policing programming. Journal of Community Psychology, 45(6), 810–822.

Module 9: Theories of Policing III

Gillespie-Smith, K., Brodie, Z., Collins, K., Deacon, K., & Goodall, K. (2020). Moving towards trauma-informed policing: An exploration of police officers’ attitudes and perceptions towards Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs). The Scottish Institute for Policing Research.
Jones, D. J. (2020). Pandemic policing: Highlighting the need for trauma-informed services during and beyond the COVID-19 crisis. Journal of Community Safety and Well-Being, 5(2), 69–72.
Christmas, H., & Srivastava, J. (2019). Public health approaches in policing. Public Health England, College of Policing.

Module 10: Private Policing

White, A. (2020) What is the privatization of policing? Policing: A Journal of Policy and Practice, 14(3). 766–777. 
Nøkleberg, M. (2019). The public-private divide revisited: Questioning the middle ground of hybridity in policing. Policing and Society: An International Journal of Research and Policy, 30(6), 601–617. 
Shearing, C. D. (1992). The relation between public and private policing. Crime and Justice, 15, 399–434. 

Module 11: Contemporary Debates in Policing

Maynard, R. (2020). Police abolition/Black revolt. TOPIA: Canadian Journal of Cultural Studies, 41, 70–78. 
McDowell, M. G., & Fernandez, L. A. (2018). “Disband, disempower, and disarm”: Amplifying the theory and practice of police abolition. Critical Criminology, 26(3), 373–391. 

Module 12: Policing in the Future

Alikhademi, K., Drobina, E., Prioleau, D., Richardson, B., Purves, D., & Gilbert, J. E. (2022). A review of predictive policing from the perspective of fairness. Artificial Intelligence and Law, 30(1), 1–17. 
Brayne, S. (2017). Big data surveillance: The case of policing. American Sociological Review, 82(5), 977–1008.