Explain what is meant by the "police subculture."

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

According to Skolnick, police officers are constantly faced with dangerous, sometimes life-threatening situations. As such, many officers tend to become suspicious when dealing with members of the public. In addition to danger, the public nature of police work and the resulting constant observation by the citizenry have an isolating effect. Officers are taught to regard civilians as potential offenders or even as threats to their personal safety, and they have difficulty trusting anyone other than their own police colleagues or forming friendships with people outside the department. As a consequence, police officers show an exceptionally high degree of work-related solidarity and tend to socialize together.
Skolnick proposes that police officers have a "perceptual shorthand" with which they come to perceive certain attitudes, movements, and styles of dress as cues of potential trouble. Individuals are stereotyped by the police as sources of danger, grouped into a mental category as "symbolic assailants." Just as their sense of isolation is worsened by their exclusive association with other officers, their detachment from those they police is increased by their classifications of these individuals. Even though officers may speak the slang of those they police efficiently, it is only a function of their ability to remember the properties of these "symbolic assailants."
Additionally, the qualities that enable officers to deal with danger efficiently do not lend themselves to stringent moral behavior. Whereas the public expects men or women of flawless character, police officers seem normally predisposed to even more of the imperfections and vices common within the population. This provides another reason for officers to associate closely with fellow officers; to avoid public scrutiny of indiscretions that persons would otherwise deem harmless or common