CHAPTER 5

Chapter 5

Chapter 5

This chapter involves some police researchers. It has been mentioned that police researchers have noted that officers immersed in the traditional police culture despise traffic enforcement, such activity also provides an excellent opportunity for officers to aggressively fight crime and “check people out”, both of which are central to the traditional culture of police. At the same time, traffic stops represent a potential source of danger and unpredictability.

The cultural reaction to such issues of danger and unpredictability is a suspiciousness of citizens and a mandate to “maintain the edge” during police-citizen encounters. A logical manifestation of cultural ...