CRIM2020 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Lepra, Labeling Theory, International Covenant On Civil And Political Rights
Week 4: Police Powers
Role of the Police:
• To ensure social order
Social Control:
• Does it represent consensus which underpins social order or system of
surveillance/oppression by dominant groups
• Police telling groups to move on for no reason (policing in public places, racial
profiling)
What are police powers for?
• Bring people before the courts and decide which behaviour is good for this
• There to arrest people
o Sometimes police arrest as an expression of power
o Demonstration of police control over certain situations
o Sometimes used for further investigation
• Police only exert the role of finding guilty people and brining them before the court
(stop and searching)
• All about discretion
What is a social reaction perspective on crime?
• Labelling theory
• Criminal population becomes a subset of the suspect population
o Should be the other way around
• By the time a case gets to court, it has been constructed and may not be what exactly
happened
What is racial profiling and how effective is it as a strategy in preventing crime?
• Adverse use of police discretion based on the racial characteristics of an individual
What were the key findings in the survey done by the Flemington/Kensington Community
Centre regarding police interaction?
• More likely to be stopped by police
• Police using physical force and threatening with physical force
• Young African males had a larger chance of field contact than Australians (for doing
nothing)
Why was LEPRA enacted? What is the purpose of this legislation? Has it achieved its
aims? What are consequences of failure of compliance?
• Legislation is there to check on the way the police choose to use their discretion
• Set out clearly what the powers of the police are
• Is a major mechanism for codification
• Good balance between the community feeling safe and the police knowing the limits of
what their powers are
• Evidence may be excluded if there is failure to comply
Evidence Act:
1. Evidence that was obtained
a. Improperly of in contravention of the Australian law, or
b. In consequence if an impropriety or of a contravention of an Australia law
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