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About the
Fort Worth Police Department
Fort Worth is located
within North Central Texas. In 1876, "Longhair" Jim Courtwright was given the
difficult task of policing this roaring cowtown. With his reputation as a scout, a performer in Wild Bill Hickock's Wild West
Show, and possessing a noted dexterity with firearms, Courtwright was able to give City Fathers what they wanted--a town where
money and liquor flowed, but where bloodshed was cut to a trickle. It was under Courtwright that a "police force" was created--the
authorization to fill two positions with men to assist him in his duties. A reputation went a long way in those days, and
Courtwright's reputation with a gun was enough to make many men think twice before trying something that might draw the Marshal's
attention. Reportedly as fast or faster than most famous gunmen of his time, Courtwright was able to reduce the number of
killings in Fort Worth to less than at any time before or since”
Today the Fort Worth
Police Department is broken down into six bureaus--Executive, North/West Field Operations, South/East Field Operations, Special
Services, Operational Support, and Administrative Services--the work is then further split into more specialized units. Each
unit within a division has a specialized area of expertise. The Fort Worth Police Department has 1,439 sworn personnel and
approximately 362 non-sworn personnel.
The patrol and general
investigation functions of the Fort Worth Police Department are organized in four geographical divisions (north, south, etc.). The specialized units of the Fort Worth Police Department include: K9, Mounted Patrol,
Air Support, SWAT, Fugitive Unit, Gang Unit, School Security Initiative, Downtown Bike Patrol, and the Intelligence Unit.
The Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) team was first titled Tactical when the unit was established 1980. The primary function
of the unit has always been to handle all Special Threat Situations involving barricaded subjects, sniper incidents, hostage
situations, dignitary protection, and crowd control.
The secondary function of the
unit is to assist other units within the department in the control of Part I offenses. This goal is addressed by the targeting
of known criminals and affecting arrests for crimes in progress. Recently, another very important assignment was given to
the SWAT Section. The unit is now responsible for training all sections of the Fort Worth Police Department in dynamic entry
techniques for search warrant execution. The SWAT Section also provides other tactical training courses as needed.
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Mark L.
Dantzker, Ph.D. began his law enforcement career in 1981 when he joined the Terre Haute Police Department (Indiana). In 1984, he joined the Fort Worth Police Department and worked patrol and in the Criminal
Investigations Division as a crime scene search officer. In 1998, he entered the academic world as the Program Director of
the Texas Southmost College Criminal Justice and Fire Science Program. As Mark
Dantzker continued with his academic career, he continued to participate in law enforcement.
He has worked as a Certified Police Officer on a university campus, and until 2003 he was a reserve deputy sheriff
for the Hidalgo County Sheriff’s Department. Today, Mark Dantzker is a full professor in the Department of Criminal
Justice at the University of Texas Pan American.
Mark L.
Dantzker has a BS in Criminology; and MA in Criminology and a Ph.D. in Administration.
He is the author of Understanding Today’s
Police; Research Methods for Criminology and Criminal Justice; Police Organization and Management: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow;
and, Criminology and Criminal Justice: Comparing, Contrasting and Intertwining Disciplines. He is also the co-author of Crime
& Criminality: Causes and Consequences, Contemporary Police Organization and Management: Issues and Trends; and, Policing
and Training Issues.
According
to the book description of Crime & Criminality:
Causes and Consequences, “This concise but thorough textbook, bridges the gap between theory and the real world
of crime and criminal justice. The emphasis is on clarity and brevity in explaining core theories and issues, while avoiding
the superfluous gewgaws and distractions found in many other textbooks. Chapter topics include: Crime as Phenomenon; Crime
Typologies; Criminal Typologies; Introduction to Criminology; The Classical School of Criminology; The Neoclassical School;
The Positive School; Criminology Today; Biological and Biosocial Theories of Crime Causation; Psychological and Psychosocial
Theories; Social Structure Theories; Social Interaction Theories; Social Conflict Theories; Integrated Theories; Holistic
Theories; Victimization Theories; Dealing with Lawbreakers; Dealing with Victims; and Dealing with the Law-abiding.”
Policing
and Training Issues
According
to the book description of Police and Training
Issues, “With each chapter written by an authority in a specific field, this first-of-its-kind book balances
practical experience with theoretical, and provides learners with the most up-to-date information on police training and issues.
Specific chapters deal with multiculturalism, how to provide community police training, how to manage a police academy, methods
of training, communication skills, and how to train investigators. For police administrators and academy trainers.”
According
to the book description of Contemporary Policing:
Personnel, Issues, & Trends, it “is an edited volume that provides students with a complete picture of current
policing issues. The collection draws on the ideas of several well known academics and scholars. Arranged thematically, this
text fully covers the standard topics in the field, including stress, education and training, professional ethics, community
policing, and use of force. It then goes a step further than traditional texts to cover current topics such as women in policing,
minority groups, criminal analysis, and technological changes. The chapters are concise, clearly written and combine rich
frameworks with illustrations drawn from real experience.
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