Contemporary Readings In Crime Control Strategy

The readings in this collection are bound by a singular purpose: identifying effective strategies to reduce and prevent crime on America's streets and in her neighborhoods. For frontline law enforcement this is a central mission - a mission increasingly informed by the findings of social science. What strategies work? Which ones don't and why? The answers are found in the methods and measures of social science. Because criminal justice professionals rely on their findings, the work of today's social scientists carries special responsibility. Crime control is no ivory tower exercise. It requires going to those dark places in society where urban crime has its roots. This book is about shining light into those dark places. Among more content, Contemporary Readings in Crime Control Strategy includes: - Criminal justice research methods - Criminal statistics and the extent of crime - Police and neighborhood safety - Excellence in problem-oriented policing - Evidence-based policing - Targeting career criminals with DNA evidence - Reorienting crime prevention research and policy - Genetic factors and criminal behavior - Evaluation research and policy analysis An adjunct instructor in criminal justice at San Diego State University, Gregory Thompson serves as Senior Policy Advisor to the Sheriff of San Diego County, a jurisdiction situated against an international border renowned for human and drug trafficking. Thompson previously served as San Diego County's Director of Forensic Services, responsible for a full-service crime laboratory and crime scene investigations. He has extensive experience in the development of crime control strategies, including violence against women and children. The only Californian to serve in the top appointed position of three urban District Attorneys'offices -- Sacramento, San Diego, and Los Angeles -- Thompson is known as an advocate for balancing targeted enforcement efforts with intervention and prevention strategies.

This collection reviews & analyzes aspects of community policing that have prompted increased attention at both the academic & practitioner levels.

The past 30 years have seen vast changes in our attitudes toward crime. More and more of us live in gated communities; prison populations have skyrocketed; and issues such as racial profiling, community policing, and "zero-tolerance" policies dominate the headlines. How is it that our response to crime and our sense of criminal justice has come to be so dramatically reconfigured? David Garland charts the changes in crime and criminal justice in America and Britain over the past twenty-five years, showing how they have been shaped by two underlying social forces: the distinctive social organization of late modernity and the neoconservative politics that came to dominate the United States and the United Kingdom in the 1980s. Garland explains how the new policies of crime and punishment, welfare and security—and the changing class, race, and gender relations that underpin them—are linked to the fundamental problems of governing contemporary societies, as states, corporations, and private citizens grapple with a volatile economy and a culture that combines expanded personal freedom with relaxed social controls. It is the risky, unfixed character of modern life that underlies our accelerating concern with control and crime control in particular. It is not just crime that has changed; society has changed as well, and this transformation has reshaped criminological thought, public policy, and the cultural meaning of crime and criminals. David Garland's The Culture of Control offers a brilliant guide to this process and its still-reverberating consequences.

Police Science: Key Readings provides students with a collection of carefully curated articles that present a broad overview of the academic study of the field. The readings equip students with the knowledge they need to become consumers of information on policing and prepare them to make informed decisions on police policy and operational efficiency. The book is organized into four units, which address the overarching concepts of policing history, the criminology of policing, police and education, and public policy and policing. Individual topics addressed include the evolution of contemporary policing, crime prevention through environmental design, new perspectives on police education and training, factors affecting the supply of police recruits, the militarization of American police, and more. Each unit includes an introduction, pre-reading questions, and post-reading questions to support the student learning experience and inspire critical thought. A highly timely and relevant resource, Police Science is an exemplary textbook for courses in law enforcement, policing, and criminal justice.

An anthology of 24 essays on major developments in contemporary criminological theory

Deterrence, Choice, and Crime explores the various dimensions of modern deterrence theory, relevant research, and practical applications. Beginning with the classical roots of deterrence theory in Cesare Beccaria’s profoundly important contributions to modern criminological thought, the book draws out the many threads in contemporary criminology that are explicitly mentioned or at least hinted by Beccaria. These include sanction risk perceptions and their behavioral consequences, the deterrent efficacy of the certainty versus the severity of punishment, the role of celerity of punishment in the deterrence process, informal versus formal deterrence, and individual differences in deterrence. The richness of the volume is seen in the inclusion of chapters that focus on the theoretical development of deterrence across disciplines such as criminology and economics. In an innovative section, the role of agents of deterrence is considered. Lessons are learned from the practical applications of deterrence undertaken in the areas of policing, corrections, and the community. The closing section includes Michael Tonry’s "An Honest Politician’s Guide to Deterrence: Certainty, Severity, Celerity, and Parsimony," a reminder of Beccaria’s dictum that "it is better to prevent crimes than punish them." In the current environment, deterrence arguments are routinely used to justify policies that do just the opposite. Ray Paternoster, who contributed two chapters, passed away as this volume was being finalized. Fittingly, this book is dedicated to him and ends with Alex Piquero’s poignant remembrance of Ray, a path-breaking deterrence scholar, beloved mentor, and ardent supporter of social justice. Suitable for researchers and graduate students as well as for advanced courses in criminology, this book breaks new ground in theorizing the effects of punishment and other sanctions on crime control.

This three-volume set of original (classic and contemporary) readings is designed to reveal the broad range of crime control strategies typically encountered in criminal justice systems worldwide. Such a collection is particularly timely not only because of growing concerns over the development of `new punitive' responses to offenders (mass incarceration; new cultures of control, surveillance and security; naming and shaming) but also because of the imperative to unravel the impact that the emergence of supranational legal orders and international standards is likely to have on questions of national sovereignty and the democratic accountability of the nation state. Volume One - outlines the many and varied competing conceptions of justice in national and international settings. Volume Two - explores the varied means of punishment and correction that currently make up the penal landscape. Volume Three - examines how crime prevention, risk assessment and crime science strategies are significantly extending the reach of criminal justice into everyday lives.

Police in America provides students with a comprehensive and realistic introduction to modern policing in our society. Utilizing real-word examples grounded in evidence-based research, this easy-to-read, conversational text helps students think critically about the many misconceptions of police work and understand best practices in everyday policing. Respected scholar and author Steven G. Brandl draws from his experience in law enforcement to emphasize the positive aspects of policing without sugar-coating the controversies of police work. Brandl tackles important topics that center on one question: “What is good policing?” This includes discussions of discretion, police use of force, and tough ethical and moral dilemmas—giving students a deeper look into the complex issues of policing to help them think more broadly about its impact on society. Students will walk away from this text with a well-developed understanding of the complex role of police in our society, an appreciation of the challenges of policing, and an ability to differentiate fact from fiction relating to law enforcement.

The Second Edition of Criminological Perspectives offer the most comprehensive guide to the major topics and areas of debate that constitute contemporary criminology. It will be essential reading for students of criminology, criminal justice stud

This book represents an effort by a number of leading criminologists to articulate a pragmatic crime policy for America—a policy that combines academic insights about crime prevention with the realities of contemporary politics.