LAWS 762 - Police Law & Policy

Credits: 3

This course explores the roles that police play in our society, the ways in which police agencies and officers are regulated, and how those regulations translate into police policy and officer behavior. While the Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Amendment govern police investigations-searches, seizures, arrests, and interrogations-much of what the police do does not implicate constitutional concerns. Instead, those actions-including the selection and training of new officers, the management of a police agency, the administrative investigation of misconduct, the imposition of disciplinary measures, and many others-are regulated by a complicated skein of doctrines, statutes, and administrative policies. And those regulations, along with public expectations and perceptions, can meaningfully affect officer behavior, changing the way that a police agency relates to the public and the way that individual officers interact with civilians. This course will examine the historic and contemporary intersection of regulation and behavior, investigating how laws, administrative directives, and other factors can both contribute to and resolve problematic aspects of policing.

Note: Criminal Procedure is recommended.

Basis of Grade: Written assignment, observation exercise(s), and participation.

Form of Grade: Letter

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