Introduction to Policing and the Justice System
An introduction to law enforcement in the United States for a two-year associate degree in criminal justice: federal, state, county, municipal and tribal agencies, sheriffs, state POST standards and Ohio's training and certification system, mayors, councils and civilian review boards, outside investigation of critical incidents, Justice Department pattern-or-practice enforcement and the 2025 consent decree reversals, the Bill of Rights, prosecutors, bail and speedy trial rules, and current BJS and FBI data on officers, assaults and crime. The course covers the purpose of police in a democracy, the rule of law, legitimacy and procedural justice, the stages of the criminal justice system and the funnel that filters cases from police through prosecution, courts and corrections, the history of policing from the London Metropolitan Police and the principles of policing by consent through the professional and community eras, including the experiences of Black and Indigenous communities, how police services are organized into ranks, units, platoons and twelve-hour shifts with staffing and coverage calculations, governance and civilian oversight, the sources of police authority and the use and structuring of discretion, patrol work, calls for service, workload and response times, trust in diverse communities with survey analysis, community policing and the SARA model, officer stress, trauma, fatigue and wellness, and current reforms from use of force and body-worn cameras to crisis response, evidence-based policing and new technology, following a cohort of students and their ride-alongs with the fictional Port Ardent police, and ending in a capstone ride-along report and service profile, with runnable Python examples.
LES-101 Year 1 3 credits 12 lessons · 3 h 53 min ▶ Video lessons coming soon
Offered by HSM University · Engineering Core
This is the American version of this course. See the Canadian version.
What you'll learn
- Explain the purposes of police in a democracy, including the rule of law, accountability, legitimacy and procedural justice, and describe the range of work police do.
- Describe the stages of the criminal justice system, from police through prosecution, courts and corrections, and explain how cases are filtered at each stage.
- Map the federal, state, county, municipal and tribal law enforcement agencies in the United States, their jurisdictions and how they cooperate.
- Trace the history of policing from the London Metropolitan Police and the principles of policing by consent to the present, including the experiences of Black and Indigenous communities.
- Describe how police services are organized, including ranks, units, civilian roles, shift systems and collective bargaining, and calculate staffing and coverage.
- Distinguish governance from oversight and explain the roles of mayors and councils, civilian review boards, state standards bodies, outside investigators, courts and the Justice Department.
- Identify the sources of police authority and explain police discretion, the factors that shape it and the ways it is structured and reviewed.
- Describe how calls for service reach patrol and analyze patrol workload, demand by time of day and response times.
- Explain how trust in police varies among communities, interpret survey results with margins of error and apply procedural justice and problem-solving to build trust.
- Identify operational and organizational stressors in police work, their effects on officers and the public, and the protective factors that reduce harm.
- Evaluate current issues and reforms, including crime measurement, use of force, body-worn cameras, alternative responders, evidence-based policing and technology.
- Prepare a ride-along report and a profile of a police service that connect observations and data to the concepts of the course while protecting privacy.
Course content
12 lessons · 3 h 53 min total · final exam
- 1 Why study policing: the purpose of police in a democracy 21 min · quiz
- 2 The criminal justice system: police, courts and corrections 19 min · quiz
- 3 Law enforcement in the United States: federal, state, local and tribal agencies 19 min · quiz
- 4 The history of policing: from Peel's principles to today 20 min · quiz
- 5 How police services are organized: ranks, units and shifts 19 min · quiz
- 6 Police governance and civilian oversight 19 min · quiz
- 7 Policing and the law: legislation, policy and discretion 20 min · quiz
- 8 The work of a patrol officer: calls for service and daily duties 19 min · quiz
- 9 Policing diverse communities and building trust 19 min · quiz
- 10 Wellness, stress and the realities of police work 20 min · quiz
- 11 Current issues and reforms in policing 19 min · quiz
- 12 Capstone: a ride-along report and a profile of a police service 19 min · quiz
- E Final exam 20 questions
Description
An introduction to law enforcement in the United States for a two-year associate degree in criminal justice: federal, state, county, municipal and tribal agencies, sheriffs, state POST standards and Ohio's training and certification system, mayors, councils and civilian review boards, outside investigation of critical incidents, Justice Department pattern-or-practice enforcement and the 2025 consent decree reversals, the Bill of Rights, prosecutors, bail and speedy trial rules, and current BJS and FBI data on officers, assaults and crime. The course covers the purpose of police in a democracy, the rule of law, legitimacy and procedural justice, the stages of the criminal justice system and the funnel that filters cases from police through prosecution, courts and corrections, the history of policing from the London Metropolitan Police and the principles of policing by consent through the professional and community eras, including the experiences of Black and Indigenous communities, how police services are organized into ranks, units, platoons and twelve-hour shifts with staffing and coverage calculations, governance and civilian oversight, the sources of police authority and the use and structuring of discretion, patrol work, calls for service, workload and response times, trust in diverse communities with survey analysis, community policing and the SARA model, officer stress, trauma, fatigue and wellness, and current reforms from use of force and body-worn cameras to crisis response, evidence-based policing and new technology, following a cohort of students and their ride-alongs with the fictional Port Ardent police, and ending in a capstone ride-along report and service profile, with runnable Python examples.
Part of the Engineering stream, typically taken in year 1.