Learning Objectives

As a result of reading this chapter, you will be able to:

1.  Describe how the police shooting in Ferguson, Missouri, and encounters with citizens in other states have raised serious concerns about such actions and led to calls for reforms

2.  Delineate the functions that local police can perform to assist with homeland security.

3.  Explain the types of police actions that are vulnerable to lawsuits and how police officers-and their supervisors-might be held criminally liable for their misconduct

4.  Explain the status and advantages of women and minorities in policing

5.  Delineate several types of technologies that are assisting police in their duties, but that also raise privacy concerns