Books

A focus on leading social issues of the 19th, 20th, and 21st centuries. Each title contains approximately 175 full or excerpted documents---speeches, legislation, magazine and newspaper articles, essays, memoirs, letters, interviews, novels, songs, and works of art---as well as overview information that places each document in context.

An interdisciplinary source that addresses not only law but also sociology, psychology, history and economics. Entries vary widely from abortion to rape and from family violence to wiretapping, offering a mirror of issues dominating toda.'s headlines. This edition is a complete update and revision of the previous edition that includes new essays on topics such as stalking, hate crimes, and HIV.

Examines all facets of law enforcement on the state and local, federal and national, and international stages. Includes discussions on the practice and theory of policing in an historical and contemporary framework.

The two-volume Encyclopedia of Prisons and Correctional Facilities, originally published in print format in 2004, aims to provide a critical overview of penal institutions within a historical and contemporary framework.

Contains new and updated original articles covering recent concepts (i.e. adoption, race, the Constitution, birthright citizenship) and court cases since 1992 offering comprehensive coverage of all aspects of constitutional law, as well as biographies of people who have had an impact on our government's legal framework (Supreme Court Justices, Presidents, Cabinet Members, Lawyers, and more). Also covers judicial decisions handed down by the Supreme Court.

Covers the history of white-collar and corporate crime. Serves as a general and non-technical resource for criminology and history students, librarians, and professors to understand the development of white-collar and corporate crime in the U. S. as well as internationally; to appreciate the business forces that can affect daily life; and to initiate educational discussion brought forth by the specific historical and topical articles presented in the work.

Provides current information on more than 5,000 legal topics. Includes completely revised articles covering important issues, biographies, definitions of legal terms and more. Covers such high-profile topics as the Americans with Disabilities Act, capital punishment, domestic violence, gay and lesbian rights, and physician-assisted suicide.

Latino immigration to the Midwest has had a significant impact on police-community relations, particularly, in smaller communities historically unaccustomed to diverse ethnic groups. This book describes the experiences of law enforcement agencies in three Mid-Missouri communities and their efforts to adapt to their changing demographics while maintaining current relations with the majority population. The findings reveal that the relationship between law enforcement and the majority communities was positive and supportive. There were several challenges, however, to the development of a cooperative police-Latino relationship. These included the language barrier, fear of the police, immigration issues and the nature of contacts between the police and Latino community.

Drug testing has become an increasingly important part of the public sector workplace. For law enforcement officers, courts have granted government employers wide discretion in choosing a drug testing strategy. Brunet seeks to understand what leads one law enforcement agency to adopt a more rigorous testing program while another abstains from testing workers altogether. An emerging literature on drug testing as a mechanism of social control provides the theoretical base. An analysis of a sample of law enforcement agencies finds evidence that social distance within police organizations, the social status of officers, and the influence of third parties play significant roles in shaping a department’s drug testing policy.

America is a target; the homeland is under threat. While Americans have been targets of terrorist attacks for quite some time, September 11, 2001, awoke the nation to the reality that we are vulnerable in our homes, our places of work and worship, and our means of public transportation. And yet, we must continue to function as best we can as the world's most vibrant economic and political community. The current threat environment requires greater engagement with the public, as the necessary eyes and ears of the nation's homeland security infrastructure. However, to be effective, the public must be equipped with the knowledge of where and why specific locations and activities may be a terrorist target, what is being done to protect those targets, and how they can help. The chapters of each volume of Homeland Security revolve around a core of central questions. Are we safer today than we were pre-9/11? What steps have been taken in all these areas to protect ourselves? What are the threats we face, and what new threats have developed since 9/11? Are we staying one step ahead of those who wish to do us harm? In 2002, more than 400 million people, 122 million cars, 11 million trucks, 2.4 million freight cars, and 8 million containers entered the United States. Nearly 60,000 vessels entered the United States at its 301 ports of entry. Clearly the amount of activity this represents will require a long-term commitment to innovation, organizational learning, and public vigilance to complement an already overstretched network of government agencies and security professionals. Volume 1, Borders and Points of Entry, addresses the question of how and where harmful people or material can enter the country, and how a combination of local, state, and federal agencies work with the private sector to ensure our security. Volume 2, Public Spaces and Social Institutions, covers a wide variety of potential vulnerabilities. Volume 3, Critical Infrastructure, deals with vital infrastructures and systems, attacks against which would yield not only significant loss of life but would also entail devastating economic and financial consequences.

Although for much of the mid-20th century police departments across the U.S. had been reluctant to embrace new technology, depending instead on traditional police techniques, detectives in Los Angeles finally departed from this practice when they found themselves stymied in their attempts to solve the infamous Night Stalker serial murder case. This murderer and rapist had gone on a deadly rampage during the spring and summer of 1985, and though the police used every traditional police technique, they could not solve the crime. Finally, in desperation, they decided to do something different: use what was then the latest, cutting edge-technology. This new technology, the laser print finder, worked perfectly and the police arrested the Night Stalker the next day. Following this astonishing success, police departments across the nation suddenly began clamoring to obtain all kinds of new technology to assist them in solving crimes. This rush to embrace the latest technology hasn't slowed in the intervening 21 years. This book takes readers through every major branch of law enforcement and shows how technology has radically changed police department operations during the last two decades. It also shows how these changes continue today as technology advances and refines techniques already in practice. Beginning with the Night Stalker case, the author illustrates how the use and reliance on new technologies in solving crimes has made policing and detective work more accurate and efficient in capturing and convicting criminals (and courts more recently in releasing innocents convicted of crimes). Capitalizing on the interest in all things forensic, this book illuminates the behind the scenes technologies that go into solving crimes and keeping dangerous criminals off the street. Snow covers DNA and fingerprint technologies, vehicle technologies, undercover work, bomb detection, and other methods. Using many real life examples and first hand anecdotes, he shows how technology has become part and parcel of criminal justice efforts to solve crimes.

Although most police activities do not involve the use of force, those that do reflect important patterns of interaction between officer and citizen. After a brief survey of prior research, this study presents new data and findings to examine these patterns. The force factor applied and the sequential order of incidents of force is included in the analysis. The authors also examine police use of force from the suspect's perspective, and create a new conceptual framework, the Authority Maintenance Theory, for examining and assessing police use of force.

Stucky argues, using insights from political resource theory, that the local political context (form of government, city council structure and partisanship of elections) affects the ability of citizens to make their concerns heard in local government and, consequently, their ability to organize against crime. Additionally, he argues that local political systems that are more susceptible to citizen pressure will have relatively more police. These hypotheses are tested on U.S. cities with 25,000 or more residents in 1991. Results suggest that the effect of social disorganization on crime rates depends on the local political system. Results also suggest that the relative size of police departments in 1991 varies by local political context.