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Police in America
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Police in America

Second Edition
Available with:


January 2020 | 424 pages | SAGE Publications, Inc

Grounded in evidence-based research, Police in America provides a comprehensive and realistic introduction to modern-day policing in the United States. This reader-friendly text helps students understand best practices in everyday policing and think critically about the many misconceptions of police work. Author Steven G. Brandl draws from his experience with law enforcement to emphasize the positive aspects of policing without ignoring its controversies. Brandl tackles important topics that center on one question: “What is good policing?” Included are discussions of discretion, police use of force, and tough ethical and moral dilemmas—giving students a deeper look into the complex issues of policing to help them think more broadly about its impact on society.

This title is accompanied by a complete teaching and learning package. Contact your SAGE representative to request a demo.
  • Digital Option / Courseware
    SAGE Vantage is an intuitive digital platform that delivers this text’s content and course materials in a learning experience that offers auto-graded assignments and interactive multimedia tools, all carefully designed to ignite student engagement and drive critical thinking. Built with you and your students in mind, it offers simple course set-up and enables students to better prepare for class. Learn more
    • Assignable Video with Assessment
      Assignable video (available with SAGE Vantage) is tied to learning objectives and curated exclusively for this text to bring concepts to life. Watch a sample video now.
  • LMS Cartridge (formerly known as SAGE Coursepacks): Import this title’s instructor resources into your school’s learning management system (LMS) and save time. Don’t use an LMS? You can still access all of the same online resources for this title via the password-protected Instructor Resource Site. Learn more.
  • SAGE Lecture Spark: Designed to save you time and ignite student engagement, these free weekly lecture launchers focus on current event topics tied to key concepts in Criminal Justice. Access this week's topic.

 
I. FOUNDATIONS FOR THE STUDY OF THE POLICE
 
Chapter 1: An Introduction to the Police in America
Introduction

 
The Challenge of Policing a Free Society

 
The Controversies and Difficulties of Policing

 
Ethics and Morals in Policing

 
 
Chapter 2: The History of the Police in America
Why Study the History of the Police?

 
Policing Colonial America

 
The First American Police Departments: The Political Era of Policing

 
Early 1900s to 1960s: The Reform Era of Policing

 
The 1970s to the Present: The Community Problem-Solving Era of Policing

 
 
Chapter 3: The Characteristics and Structure of Police Organizations
Characteristics of Police Organizations

 
The Challenges of Managing Police Organizations

 
The Structure of Police Departments

 
Major Operating Units in Police Departments

 
Types and Levels of Law Enforcement Agencies

 
 
Chapter 4: The Role of the Police
The Police Enforce the Law

 
The Police Control Crime

 
The Police Deal With Situations Where Force May Need to Be Used

 
The Police Respond to People in Need

 
The Police Handle Time-Pressing Situations

 
The Police Enforce the Law, Maintain Order, and Provide Services

 
 
II. POLICE WORK
 
Chapter 5: Police Recruitment, Selection, and Training
The Relationship between the Recruitment, Selection, and Training of Police Officers

 
The Recruitment of Police Officers

 
The Selection of Police Officers

 
Minimum Qualifications for Police Officers

 
Selection Procedures for Police Officers

 
The Outcomes of the Recruitment and Selection of Police Officers: Diversity

 
Police Officer Training

 
 
Chapter 6: Police Patrol
Police Patrol and Call Priority

 
Managing Calls for Service

 
Preventive Patrol

 
Hot Spot Policing

 
Police Crackdowns

 
Police Stops of Citizens as a Strategy

 
One- and Two-Officer Squads

 
Foot Patrol

 
Offender-Focused Strategies

 
 
Chapter 7: Crime Detection and Investigation
Criminal Investigation Defined

 
Types of Criminal Investigations

 
How Are Crimes Solved?

 
Forms and Types of Evidence in Criminal Investigations

 
 
Chapter 8: Police Discretion and Its Control
Discretion Defined

 
Factors That Influence the Discretion of Police Officers

 
How Is Police Discretion Best Controlled?

 
 
Chapter 9: The Law of Search, Seizure, and Self-Incrimination
Basic Legal Terminology and Concepts

 
The Law of Search and Seizure: The Fourth Amendment

 
The Law of Self-Incrimination: The Fifth and Sixth Amendments

 
 
III. THE HAZARDS OF POLICE WORK
 
Chapter 10: Health and Safety Issues in Police Work
What Is Stress?

 
The Effects of Stress

 
Physical Hazards of Police Work

 
So Is Police Work Dangerous?

 
 
Chapter 11: Police Use of Force
Reasonable Force and Use of Force Guidelines

 
Deviations in Use of Force: Unnecessary Force versus Brutality

 
Types of Force

 
The Causes of Police Use of Force

 
The Control of Police Use of Force

 
 
Chapter 12: Police Misconduct and Corruption
The Importance of Understanding Police Misconduct and Corruption

 
The Nature and Extent of Police Misconduct and Corruption

 
Causes of Police Misconduct and Corruption

 
The Control of Police Misconduct and Corruption

 
 
IV. POLICE STRATEGIES AND THE FUTURE OF THE POLICE IN AMERICA
 
Chapter 13: Community and Problem-Oriented Policing
The Rise of Community Policing

 
Community Policing: The Details

 
Problem-Oriented Policing: The Details

 
 
Chapter 14: Evidence-Based and Intelligence-Led Policing
Smart Policing

 
Data-Driven and Evidence-Based Policing

 
CompStat

 
Predictive Policing

 
Intelligence-Led Policing

 
 
Chapter 15: Terrorism, Technology, Accountability, and the Future of American Policing
History as a Guide to the Future

 
New Demands on the Police

 
The New Police

 
The New Technology of Crime Detection and Accountability

 

Supplements

Instructor Resource Site
edge.sagepub.com/brandl2e


For additional information, custom options, or to request a personalized walkthrough of these resources, please contact your sales representative.


LMS cartridge included with this title for use in Blackboard, Canvas, Brightspace by Desire2Learn (D2L), and Moodle

The LMS cartridge makes it easy to import this title’s instructor resources into your learning management system (LMS). These resources include:

  • Test banks
  • Editable chapter-specific PowerPoint® slides
  • Sample course syllabi
  • Lecture notes
  • All tables and figures from the textbook 
Don’t use an LMS platform?

You can still access all of the same online resources for this title via the password-protected Instructor Resource Site.
Student Study Site
edge.sagepub.com/brandl2e

The open-access Student Study Site makes it easy for students to maximize their study time, anywhere, anytime. It offers flashcards that strengthen understanding of key terms and concepts, as well as learning objectives that reinforce the most important material.

"Police in America is the textbook on policing. Very comprehensive and accessible. This is the best resource that I have found for teaching current trends and best practices toward evidence-based policing."

Selye Lee
Arkansas State University

"A well-written, comprehensive textbook that works at both sophomore and junior level classes. It covers topics often ignored in other textbooks, and is engaging for students."

Elizabeth Perkins
Morehead State University

"Police in America is an introductory text which discusses current and relevant policing issues within the context of police history. The central theme of ‘what is good policing’ ties together the concepts and information presented to students."

Wendy Perkins
Marshall University

"Thorough, concise, user-friendly, accurate, and up to date."

Paul Klenowski
Clarion University of Pennsylvania

Research-based, balanced, and useful instructor resources.

Dr Todd Prough
Sociology Dept, Randolph-Macon College
January 3, 2024

Better balance on neutrality. Framework is focused on teaching how policing should be. still has controversial issues for discussion is not anti police.

Patricia Feese
Criminal Justice, Briar Cliff University
December 11, 2022
Key features
NEW TO THIS EDITION:
  • The new edition is available as a digital option through SAGE Vantage, an intuitive digital platform that offers auto-graded assignments and interactive multimedia tools—including video—all designed to enable students to better prepare for class. Learn more.
  • Updated figures and statistics keep readers up to date on the latest developments in the field.
  • New coverage of crucial topics in policing includes police-citizen contacts, race and implicit bias, mental illness and crisis intervention teams, and perceptions of police honesty and ethics.
  • New developments in police technology includes body-worn cameras (BWCs), CCTV and directed patrol, secondary transfer of DNA, video as evidence, body armor, robots and drones, and law enforcement use of social media.
  • New research questions discussed include the impacts of the media and citizens’ attitudes toward the police and how male and female college students perceive a police career.

KEY FEATURES:

  • Video available with SAGE Vantage boosts comprehension and brings concepts to life.
    • Criminal Justice in Practice Videos feature animated, decision-making scenarios that challenge students to explore how they would respond to real-world situations faced by criminal justice professionals. 
    • Career Videos feature interviews with professional law enforcement discussing their day-to-day work and current issues in policing.
    • SAGE News Clips feature relevant news footage to help students apply knowledge to current events. 
  • Chapter-opening learning objectives identify what students should be able to do after reading the chapter.
  • "Fact or Fiction" sections at the beginning of chapters help students confront misconceptions about policing and assess their knowledge about forthcoming chapter content; accompanying answers appear at the end of chapters.
  • “Good Policing” sections offers examples of police programs, policies, and issues that relate to effective, equitable, and ethical policing to highlight the importance of being a good police officer.
  • “A Question of Ethics” callouts present ethical dilemmas that prompt students to think critically about a particular issue in policing.
  • “Police Spotlights” offer real-world examples to help frame chapter content.
  • “A Question to Consider” callouts pose questions to help students stop and consider the implications of the content for them and the field as a whole.
  • “Technology on the Job” sections examine technology used on the job by the police to familiarize students with key technological advances in policing. 
  • "A Research Question" sections feature a particularly interesting and significant research study relevant to the topic of each chapter so that students can draw evidence-based conclusions about what works in policing.
  • "Main Points", key terms, and questions at the end of chapters allow students to review the material covered to reinforce learning.
Vantage Reference: 
Police in America- Vantage Learning Platform

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