Regardless of the fact that women have been employed in American law enforcement since the early 1900s, a historical pattern of bias and discrimination has continued, even in the face of substantial evidence, which shows that not only are women capable of doing police work, but often they out perform men in important aspects of...Read More

Women in American law enforcement face substantial obstacles to integration when entering the ranks of police organizations. While racial/ethnic minorities have faced significant discrimination in policing because of racial prejudice, women entering law enforcement have confronted gender ideology and gender bias as major impediments. Gender ideology is defined as a system of beliefs that attempts...Read More

By the 1960s, massive social and political changes were occurring in the United States. The civil rights movement was challenging white hegemony in the South and racist social policies in the North. The use of professional police forces to suppress the Civil Rights movement, often by brute force did irreparable damage to American policing. From...Read More

On a national basis, President Hoover appointed the Wickersham Commission in 1929 to examine what was perceived as a rising crime rate and police ineffectiveness in dealing with crime. It is no accident that in looking at those issues, the Wickersham Commission also became the first official governmental body to investigate organized crime.Read More

By the end of 19th century municipal police departments were firmly entrenched in the day-to-day political affairs of big-city political machines. Police provided services and assistance to political allies of the machine and harassed, arrested and interfered with the political activities of machine opponents. This was a curious dichotomy for an ostensibly crime control organization....Read More

In the post-Civil War era, municipal police departments increasingly turned their attention to strike-breaking. By the late 19th century union organizing and labor unrest was widespread in the United States. New York City had 5,090 strikes, involving almost a million workers from 1880 to 1900; Chicago had 1,737 strikes, involving over a half a million...Read More

Maintaining a stable and disciplined work force for the developing system of factory production and ensuring a safe and tranquil community for the conduct of commerce required an organized system of social control. The developing profit-based system of production antagonized social tensions in the community. Inequality was increasing rapidly; the exploitation of workers through long...Read More

The development of policing in the United States closely followed the development of policing in England. In the early colonies policing took two forms. It was both informal and communal, which is referred to as the "Watch," or private-for-profit policing, which is called "The Big Stick” (Spitzer, 1979).Read More

One of the more obscure requirements in the police recruitment and employment process is the residency requirement. People interested in becoming a police officer are often unaware that some agencies still have residency requirements.  While large local police departments recruit officers from around the country, other smaller agencies often have strict residency requirements limiting recruitment...Read More

Joy Anderson, former chair of the occupational therapy department at Eastern Kentucky University, said to me years ago “Once an OT, always and OT”. She was right.Read More