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A collection of practice questions and answers for the opota and california ust service technician exams. It covers various topics related to law enforcement, including ethics, community policing, procedural justice, and bias. Designed to help individuals prepare for these exams by providing them with a comprehensive overview of key concepts and principles.
Typology: Exams
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Explain the relationship between a SPO and a test question - ANSWER -A test question must respond directly to an SPO and every SPO may be the basis of a test question Explain the ultimate reason for law enforcement training - ANSWER -To be able to protect the life and property of yourself and the public List a peace officer's main goals - ANSWER -- Enforce the laws
Explain items to consider when exercising discretion - ANSWER -- Use sound judgment to determine which laws are to be formally enforced
Considerations for off duty situations - ANSWER -Behavior - social media, uphold ethics Situational Awareness- be alert, pre plan, off duty weapon policy, be a good witness State the purpose of Bill of Rights - ANSWER -protect a individual's freedoms -prevent government from interfering in protected rights Describe the major components of the criminal justice system - ANSWER -Law Enforcement Courts - hold fair & impartial trials, guilt or innocence, Impose sentences Corrections - supervise offender Goals of Sentencing - ANSWER --protect society -punish offender/rehabilitate -restore the victim
Recognize the tenets of the Below 100 - ANSWER --wear your seatbelt -wear your vest -WIN what's important now -watch your speed -complacency kills Lawful - ANSWER -defined by laws and standards Criminal Law - ANSWER -identifies what actions are prohibited Rules of Agency - ANSWER -Administrative rules, general orders Constitutional Law - ANSWER -amendments
Police Legitimacy - ANSWER -exists when the public view the police as authorized to exercise power in order to maintain social order, manage conflicts, and solve problems in community Judgement 1/ public trust and confidence in police as being honest, trying to do jobs well, and protecting community - ANSWER -Result individuals are more likely to become actively involved in police community partnerships Judgment # public willingness to defer the law and police authority - ANSWER -Result Correlation between those who obey and those who view police as legitimate, cooperate by reporting crimes and providing information Judgement #
public belief that police actions are morally justified and appropriate - ANSWER - Result citizens are more likely to cooperate and defer in moments of crisis circumstances when filming police officers is permissible - ANSWER --one party consents -as long as it does not interfere with officers carrying out their duties Race - ANSWER -modern concept used to classify people by similar, observable physical characteristics Genetically influenced traits - ANSWER -Skin color, hair, eye shape, blood type, intelligence connection between in / out groups, and police legitimacy - ANSWER -some people interpret their encounters with police in terms of their group's societal position rather than immediate circumstances of the police contact
Types of Racism - ANSWER -individual, interpersonal, institutional, structural Individual Racism - ANSWER -internalized, unexpressed biases and prejudices based on race Interpersonal Racism - ANSWER -occurs between individuals, public expressions of racial prejudice and hate institutional racism - ANSWER -discriminatory policies and treatment by institutions Structural Racism - ANSWER -Collective way of history, culture, power inequality, unequal access to opportunities Components of bias - ANSWER -stereotypes, prejudice, attitude
Stereotypes - ANSWER -generalizations about the perceived typical characteristics of a social category Prejudice - ANSWER -a often negative prejudgment based on characteristics such as race, age Attitude - ANSWER -positive or negative feelings associated with individuals or groups Bias-based profiling - ANSWER --Racial/illegal profiling -unequal treatment by officers by stopping, questioning, searching, detaining on basis of their ethnicity Criminal profiling - ANSWER -Based on observed behaviors and characteristics
Two types of Bias - ANSWER -explicit and implicit Explicit Bias - ANSWER -conscious preference for a social category Implicit bias - ANSWER -preference for a social category based on stereotypes that we hold and tend to develop in early life Two modes of thinking - ANSWER -automatic (system 1) deliberative (system 2) System 1 thinking - ANSWER -automatic, effortless, unconscious, very fast System 2 thinking - ANSWER -Conscious, controlled, effortful, slower practical purpose - ANSWER -simplifies tasks which most adults do without having to systematically think about each step
protection mechanism - ANSWER -we evaluate everything we see to determine if threatening or not strategies to counter implicit biases - ANSWER --Guarding against influence in decision making -awareness -know when you're susceptible ( in complete info, cognitive load, fatigue) -slow down thinking -empathetic -effort (intention, attention, time) Two-pronged Approach to Procedural Justice - ANSWER -person based approach community based model
person based approach - ANSWER -emphasizes the importance of face to face interactions between officer and a citizen Community based model - ANSWER -ultimate goal is to achieve police legitimacy through entire society community bank account concept as it relates to procedural justice - ANSWER - every encounter is either a deposit or withdrawal (increase or decrease public perception of police) four core principles of procedural justice - ANSWER -giving others a voice, neutrality in decision making, respectful treatment, trustworthiness explain the generally accepted ethical responsibilities of officers - ANSWER --owed to your community, citizens, profession, agency, family, yourself -treat everyone professionally -never allow cynicism, excessive force, perjury and accept gratuities
External Influences on behavior - ANSWER -relationships with family and friends, citizens, media, regulations, politics, subculture Internal influences on behavior - ANSWER -officer's own ethical and moral beliefs, anger, greed, lust Denial of victim - ANSWER -argue that violated party deserves to be victimized Denial of responsibility - ANSWER -acted improperly because no other options Denial of injury - ANSWER -argue that action did not hurt anyone so no ethical misconduct Social Weighting - ANSWER -makes comparisons to justify unethical misconduct
moral justification - ANSWER -argues that it's necessary to break rules for the greater good Continuum of Compromise - ANSWER --being exposed on a regular basis to "special authority" and at the same time being exposed on a daily basis to that element of society that operates without values, combines to severely challenge an officer's core values system
Rationalization - ANSWER -nobody is being hurt, except for bad guys who deserve it anyway Steps in Decsion Making Model - ANSWER -#1- Define problem #2- Identify alternative solutions #3- Evaluate alternatives #4- make the decision #5- implement the decision #6- evaluate the decision PLUS filters - ANSWER -Policies Legal Universal Self
identify the uses of field notes - ANSWER -preservation of knowledge in written form, evidence in court, documentation of officer's efforts, aids in further investigation, foundation of formal written report types of information to be recorded in field notes - ANSWER -• complete information on victims witnesses and suspects involved
-Do not place information from one incident on the same page with information from another incident -Write or print neatly so you can read and understand your notes later -Record all information in ink -Let victims and witnesses talk through the event before you start recording notes -Ask clarifying follow-up questions -Be as complete as possible -Consider the use of electronic data device or template -Do not record personal information in your notebook essential questions answered in a report - ANSWER -Who, what, where, when, how, why Requirements of a well written report - ANSWER -complete, factual, objective, accurate
explain crime - ANSWER -An act that the law makes punishable Culpable mental states - ANSWER -knowingly, purposely, recklessly, negligently Purposely - ANSWER -Specific intention to cause a certain result; or when the offense is a prohibition against certain conduct of a certain nature, regardless of what the offender intends to accomplish, it is the offender's specific intention to engage in the conduct Knowingly - ANSWER -aware that conduct is practically certain to cause a result, regardless of purpose recklessly - ANSWER -With heedless indifference to the consequences, disregards a substantial and unjustifiable risk that conduct is likely to cause a certain result or is likely to be of a certain nature
Negligently - ANSWER -Because of substantial lapse from due care, fails to perceive or avoid a risk that his/her conduct may cause a certain result or may be of a certain nature Jurisdiction - ANSWER -a government's general power to exercise authority over all persons and things within its territory Statutory law - ANSWER -The body of law derived from statutes rather than from constitutions or judicial decisions. Case Law - ANSWER -The law found in the collection of reported cases that form all or part of the body of law within a given jurisdiction Force - ANSWER -Any violence, compulsion, or constraint physically exerted by any means on or against a person or thing
Deadly Force - ANSWER -force which carries a substantial risk that it will result in thendeath of a person Physical Harm to Persons - ANSWER -Any injury, illness or other physiological impairment, regardless of its gravity or duration Serious Physical Harm to Persons - ANSWER --Any mental illness or condition of such gravity as would normally require hospitalization or prolonged psychiatric treatment -Any physical harm that carries a substantial risk of death -Any physical harm that involves some permanent incapacity, whether partial or total, or that involves some temporary, substantial incapacity -Any physical harm that involves some permanent disfigurement or that involves some temporary, serious disfigurement -Any physical harm that involves acute (i.e., severe) pain of such duration as to result in substantial suffering or that involves any degree of prolonged or intractable pain
Physical Harm to Property - ANSWER -- Any tangible or intangible damage to property that results in loss of value or interferes with enjoyment. Serious Physical Harm to Property - ANSWER -- Substantial loss to the value of the property or requires substantial time, effort, or money to repair of replace.
describe the relationship between the degrees of suspicion and the responses allowed by the constitution - ANSWER -Highest Proof beyond reasonable doubt -suspect may be convicted of crime punished Probable cause to believe suspect is guilty -suspect may be arrested reasonable suspicion that suspect is involved in criminal activity -suspect may be seized and detained for investigation hunch interactions must be consensual lowest determine when a person is considered to be seized - ANSWER --a reasonable person would believe that the person was not free to leave -examples even if they did not attempt to leave:
threatening presence of officers, display of weapon, physical touching, restricting movement explain when a officer can use the rationale from Terry to detain a person - ANSWER -a officer may detain a individual based upon the officer's reasonable, articulable suspicion that criminal activity was being planned or in process of being executed describe under Terry, what is required of an officer to make a investigatory stop - ANSWER --have reasonable articulable suspicion to initiate a stop and that criminal activity was afoot -consider totality of circumstances -weight to their experience describe the considerations an officer should be mindful of when conducting a Terry stop - ANSWER --use least intrusive means of detention
-conduct stop quickly as possible to not prolong the period of involuntary detention -if additional facts are uncovered that supply officer with probable cause to arrest, individual may be arrested -must be released if no grounds for arrest requirements which must be established before a Terry pat down/frisk - ANSWER -Officers are required to articulate a reasonable belief that the suspect is armed AND the suspect poses a threat to them Plain Feel Doctrine - ANSWER --weapons -during frisk, if officer grab something and immediately recognize it, they can seize it -not seize it if determining its identity requires further manipulation (pockets, squeezing) -once determined not a weapon, search must stop unless there's a warrant
identify the evidentiary standard on which to base an arrest - ANSWER -a arrest must be based on probable cause describe when the elements of probable cause to arrest are satisfied - ANSWER - the officer is aware of articulable facts and circumstances sufficient to warrant a reasonable person to believe that a crime has been committed and the person about to be arrested committed the unlawful act identify sources of information that can be used to establish probable cause to make a warrantless arrest - ANSWER -personal observations, informant's tip, reports from officer or agencies, physical evidence, past criminal record, statements made by suspect, leads furnished by victim or witness in the absence of consent or exigent circumstances before entering, a officer must do before entering a private residence to make a arrest - ANSWER --secure appropriate warrant