A brief educational piece on Psychology and the Law

1. Presented by:
Doug Aaron, Mike Green
Derrik Post & Andrew Whelton

2. Andrew Welton

3. U.S. law enforcement officers and other officials like
judges, prosecutors, and security guards have been
given tremendous power by local, state, and federal
government agencies—authority they must have to
enforce the law and ensure justice in our country.
These powers include the authority to detain and
arrest suspects, to search and seize property, to
bring criminal charges, to make rulings in court, and
to use deadly force in certain situations.

4.  police misconduct is any excessive force,
sexual assault, intentional false arrests, or
the intentional fabrication of evidence
resulting in a loss of liberty to another are all
considered form of police misconduct but
 -a basis of race, color, national origin, sex,
and religion as a reason to discriminate
against someone is also police misconduct

5.  it’s a federal crime for anyone acting under
“color of law” to willfully deprive or conspire
to deprive a person of a right protected by
the Constitution or U.S. law.
◦ “Color of law” simply means the person is using
authority given to him or her by a local, state, or
federal government agency.

6. • Federal laws that address police misconduct include
both criminal and civil statutes. These laws cover
the actions of State, county, and local officers,
including those who work in prisons and jails. In
addition, several laws also apply to Federal law
enforcement officers. The laws protect all persons
in the United States (citizens and non-citizens).

7.  Police misconduct is criminally punishable as
most other crimes. It can result in anything
from a fine to incarceration depending on the
seriousness of the offense.

8.  Police Misconduct Provision
◦ This law makes it unlawful for State or local law
enforcement officers to engage in a pattern or
practice of conduct that deprives persons of
rights protected by the Constitution or laws of
the United States. In order to be covered by this
law, the misconduct must constitute a "pattern or
practice" -- it may not simply be an isolated
incident.
 The types of conduct covered by this law can include,
among other things, excessive force, discriminatory
harassment, false arrests, coercive sexual conduct, and
unlawful stops, searches or arrests.

9.  Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964
◦ This law prohibits discrimination on the basis of
race, color, national origin, sex, and religion by
State and local law enforcement agencies that
receive financial assistance from the Department
of Justice.
 This law prohibit both individual instances and patterns
or practices of discriminatory misconduct, i.e., treating a
person differently because of race, color, national origin,
sex, or religion.

10.  Exclusionary rule: evidence that is obtained in
violation of the fourth amendment in
inadmissible in the criminal of the person
whose rights were violated.
◦ Fruit of the poisonous tree: the exclusionary rule
extends not only to the direct products of the
illegality but to “secondary evidence” as well
which is any evidence obtained as a result of the
evidence that was discovered in the initial illegal
search.

11. History and Cases
Mike Green

12.  Misconduct
◦ Procedural- violation of police department rules
and regulations
◦ Criminal- violation of state and federal laws
◦ Unconstitutional- violation of citizens’ civil rights
 Corruption
◦ Abuse of police authority for personal gain
◦ Includes:
 Bribery
 Extortion
 Both are an abuse of police authority

13.  Building Suspicion to Investigate
◦ (16 DEC. 1997) Officer David Mack arrested for
stealing $722,000 from LA Bank of America
◦ (MAR. 1998) Officers Brian Hewitt and Daniel Lujan
fired for severly beating a handcuffed prisoner in an
interrogation room
◦ All were part of Rampart CRASH (Community
Resources Against Street Hoodlums) Unit
 CRASH unit had a reputation of acting autonomously
with little oversite

14.  (MAR. 1998) 6.5lbs of cocaine disappear in LA
police evidence room
◦ Primary suspect Officer Raphael Perez (Rampart CRASH
member)
 Perez’s Criminal Trial
◦ Resulted in a hung jury
◦ Agrees to cooperate with an investigation of the Rampart
CRASH unit
◦ Testimony revealed:
 Officers in wrongful killings, indiscriminate beatings
 Theft, drug dealing, planting of evidence or contraband on
suspects
 Fabricated or coerced false statements, perjured testimony
in court

15.  Results:
◦ 75 officer implicated, 40 disciplined, 5 fired
◦ Approximately 200 lawsuits by claimed victims
◦ About 156 felony convictions dismissed or
overturned

16.  Two organizations in charge of preventing
and investigating police corruption
◦ Department of Investigation of NYC
 Authorized to investigate any agency for the best
interest of the city
 Never was seriously concerned about police
corruption
◦ Police force itself
 Several units were tasked with anticorruption affairs
 Were ineffective due to being fragmented, poorly
coordinated, undermanned

17.  “Psycho Serpico”
◦ 1966 Frank Serpico joined the NYPD
◦ Was offered a share of a “pad”
◦ Reported such corruption to the captain of the
Department of Investigation
 The captain warned Serpico that those he is trying to
reveal will find him “face-down in the East River”
◦ Continued to report corruption, yet was always
rejected

19. • Serpico and 3 colleagues turn to the New York Times
• Publicized accusations of corruption lead to a sensation of
front-page headlines
• Whiteman Knapp
• Wall Street lawyer
• Appointed to head a commission to investigate the police
corruption (May 1970)
• Commission concentrated on broader problem of corruption
in the department rather than on individual officers

21.  Final Report (DEC. 1972)
◦ First sentence read, “We found corruption to be
widespread”
◦ Corrupt cops were found to take:
 Scores- individual payments
 “Pads”- weekly or monthly payment collections from
establishments such as gambling to be shared equally
amongst the officers

22.  Placed corrupt officers into 2 categories:
◦ “meat eaters”- aggressively abused powers for
personal benefits
◦ “grass eaters”- passively accepted payoffs that
circumstances of police work would come their way
 Many of the corruption issues were not
eradicated due to the “blue code of silence”

23.  Abner Louima (AUG. 1997)
◦ Arrested during street disturbance
◦ Was beaten and sodimized with a stick by an officer
◦ Resulted in a 3 month hospitalization
 Results of this misconduct
◦ 2 precinct commanders transferred
◦ 4 officers arrested, 2 were convicted to lengthy
prison terms

24.  Amadou Diallo (FEB. 1999)
◦ Shot and killed by 4 police officers
◦ Officers fired 41 bullets, 19 hit
◦ Officers claimed Diallo was reaching for a gun, was
actually his wallet
 Results of this misconduct
◦ 4 officers charged with murder, all 4 later acquitted

25.  About 50 blows to King’s body with metal
batons
◦ One or more directly to King’s face (which is against
department policy)
◦ Several kicks were delivered to his body as well
 Soon after being taken down and handcuffed,
he was taken to the hospital

26.  Pre-employment
 On the Job
 Fitness for Duty
Doug Aaron & Derrik Post

27.  SO WHAT “TYPE” ARE WE? Remember, there’s well
over 900,000 cops in the U.S. alone. These traits
are based on LARGE samples of law enforcement
personnel.
 Compared to the general population cops tend to
be:
 Pragmatic Isolative
 Prejudice Conservative
 Suspicious Cynical
 Assertive Action oriented

28.  MMPI 2
 The MMPI-2 is designed with 10 clinical
scales which assess 10 major categories of
abnormal human behavior, and four validity
scales, which assess the person’s general
test-taking attitude and whether they
answered the items on the test in a truthful
and accurate manner.

29.  does police work change people...
 females in 1st response, the imprint of learning,
practice makes habit
The Cognitive Frame...
 cautious, proactive, solution focused, 24/7,
ordered
Aa Subgroup of First Responders...
 police vs. fire
 group cohesiveness combats inherent trust
issues

30.  Law enforcement professionals make great
clients!
 Law enforcement professionals suffer the
same illnesses as the rest of the population
with an increase in prevalence in certain
areas:
 Anxiety disorders... PTSD, Panic Disorder
 Substance Abuse Disorders.... alcoholism and
 Prescription drug abuse
 Marital difficulties

32.  A series of explosions has rocked the Indonesian capital,
Jakarta, with gun battles on the streets.
 The blasts were centered around Thamrin Street, a major
shopping and business district close to foreign embassies
and the United Nations offices.
 So-called Islamic State (IS) said it carried out the attacks, a
news agency linked to the militant group said.
 Separately, Indonesian police said they suspected a local
group allied to IS was to blame.
 Indonesian President Joko Widodo described the attacks as
an "act of terror".

36.  THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF JUSTICE
 (NIJ) FOUND:
 (1) Among officer’s with more than 10 years experience, the rate
of alcohol abuse is twice that of the general population
 (2) Officers reporting high stress (approximately 10% of all
officers),
 were 3 times more likely to report poor health, 3 times more
likely to abuse spouses or partners, and 10 times more likely to
experience depression than other officers
 (3) Officers considered critical incidents (attending a police
funeral and being investigated by internal affairs) to be their
greatest stressor with job related stressors in second place (split
second dcision making on the street and it’s potentially serious
consequence)

37.  The suicide rate per 100,000 people for:
 Law Enforcement Officers: 18
 People ages 25-50: 14.6
 Total US population: 11.1
 Suicide as a problem solving model
 “Image armor” creates unrealistic self goals/rules
 Availability and comfort with firearms
 #1 reason: experience of professional failure
(termination, demotion, criminal arrest, feeling
useless or powerless in role as police officer)

38.  It is contraindicated for a health program to also
provide fitness for duty evaluations. It should always
be contracted out, or exist in a separate section or
bureau
 Fitness for duty requests are common, but rarely
given
 When they are approved, major mental illness is
usually the predominating reason SCPT, Bipolar Dx
 Fitness for duty exams are usually PASSED, with or
without caveats

39.  “Eligible for retirement at midlife, retirement can
bring feelings of fear and isolation.”
 Inclusion vs. Exclusion... the rule remains: loss of
brotherhood
 From simplicity to complexity, from mistrust to
trust, from alienation to making peace with self
and God
 Pre-employment personality and psychological
health are indicators for successful transition

40.  Covey, R. (2013). Police misconduct as a cause of wrongful convictions.
Washington University Law Review
 Jinhua, C. (2009). Police corruption control in hong kong and new york city: a
dilemma of checks and balances in combating corruption. BYU Journal Of Public
Law
 John Ritter. Suicide Rates Jolt Police Culture. USA Today, February 2007.
 John M. Violanti. Police Retirement: The Impact of Change. Charles C. Thomas
Publisher, 1992.
 Linder, D. (2001). The trials of los angeles police officers' in connection with the
beating of rodney king. Famous Trials
 Major John Morris. Reintegration The Challenge of the Road home from Warrior to
Citizen. 2006.
 The National Institute of Justice, Department of Justice. Journal. July 1999.
 The National P.O.L.I.C.E. Suicide Foundation, Inc. The Top 18 Reasons Why Police
Officers Committee Suicide. 2003.

41.  Weitzer, R. (2002). Incidents of police misconduct
and public opinion. Journal Of Criminal Justice
 https://www.justice.gov/crt/addressing-police-
misconduct-laws-enforced-department-justice
 https://www.fbi.gov/about-
us/investigate/civilrights/color_of_law
 (2016) Police corruption and misconduct: history,
contemporary problems, further readings. Net
Industries. Retrieved from
http://law.jrank.org/pages/9248/Police-
Corruption-Misconduct.html
.