Police Subculture Research Paper

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Police Subculture
Police subculture is often a culture that is known and practiced within the policing organizations. It is an unwritten and undocumented set of values that members are aware of and act according to on a day to day basis. Because the subculture is so prevalent, and what the consequences entail if you defer from it, officers often conform into what is expected of them by their peers. This paper will focus on how police officer’s lives and decision-making processes are affected by all aspects of police subculture including the code of silence.
Defining Police Subculture
The discussion of police subculture is often a sensitive and emotional topic. It is important to note that any career or job has a subculture that is passed on through formal and informal conversations. Jones (2005), describes police subculture as an informal code of set values that is communicated among staff and is known to all police …show more content…

They are one person at work and another person at home. It is as if they have an on off switch for the two personalities and ways they conduct themselves. Jerome Skolnick (2008), described this as a ‘working personality’. This personality is derived and composed by three roles within policing. The three impacting roles are; the use of authority, the exposure to danger, and the pressure to preform (Skolnick, 2008). Street patrol officers are often more prone and susceptible to these pressures (Skolnick, 2008). These stressors formulate a us versus them or “me/they” mentality (Herbert, 1998). Officers who carry this belief of it is us against the bad guys are labeled by Pollock (2015), as crime fighting police officers. These are the individuals who believe their soul purpose is to catch criminals and fight crime (Pollock, 2015). Their perception of policing, use of force, and the use of coercion and deception is often altered due to what they believe their job is (Pollock,

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