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Summary Of Cops See It Differently

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In This American Life’s series, Cops See it Differently: Act One, Ira Glass narrates particular circumstances outlining the existing tensions between the Milwaukee Police Department and the Black community. He began his first segment by telling Lisa Mahone’s story of an officer that displayed unwarranted aggressive tactics towards her and her family during a routine traffic stop. The story gained national attention, and opposing opinions to whether the officer’s actions or Lisa’s behavior were more justified. Lisa’s story begs the question: who holds the police accountable for mistreatment of the law and the citizens he or she serves? Why do the police have full discretion, despite national mistrust and empirical proof of racial bias existing …show more content…

This can be applied to interactions within the department—i.e. loyalties, writing off bad behavior, etc—and interactions with residents on a case-by-case basis. It is important to prioritize justice and integrity over an individual officer. Though a historically complex issue, department loyalties can be paralleled with snitch culture within communities of color: both promote silence of victims and an us against them mentality. Writing off bad behavior goes hand-in-hand with the allowance of too much police discretion. Also, unrelated to changes in attitude, the police should always call for medical help when asked for by a suspect in custody or if a suspect appears to be injured/incapacitated. All these reasons point to a greater establishment of trust between the police and …show more content…

Aggressive police culture will not change unless officers hold their colleagues accountable. It is important to check in with one another, to recognize the humanity within us. It is okay to become jaded sometimes, but there must be an awareness of how we treat one another, our motives, and particularly an officer’s duty to protect all American citizens. In addition to officers allowing other officers too much discretion, there needs to be a change in the amount of discretion given to police departments as a whole. The political climate of today’s tension has shifted public trust in the police. Ideally, the police are not corrupt and are fair, and if these qualities were more prevalent in police culture, then society would not have a mistrust. Discretion is a privilege that one earns through expression of the above listed

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The severity of racial profiling is very concerning. As proven by numerous texts studied for this Expository Writing class, it is evident that the Black respondents of Otis Johnson’s poll, analyzing citizens’ relationships with the police, are not the only Black people that: “expressed far less confidence than whites in local police to treat both races equally” (Johnson). In White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack, Peggy McIntosh describes various privileges which sound ordinary, though surprisingly only White people have. Among them, is one that affects all people on a daily basis: “If a traffic cop pulls me over or if the IRS audits my tax return, I can be sure I haven’t been singled out because of my race” (McIntosh). Governmental

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Furthermore, Police Officers are held to higher standards than others employed in public service because they alone have the power to limit individual freedom. Another effort to increase legitimacy with the citizens of Dallas is the Law Enforcement Code of Ethics and the Canons of Police Ethics that provides officers with a philosophical en ethical basis for the Dallas Police Department rules and regulations. The provisions of the Code of Conduct shall be observed by all members of the Department in order to maintain the confidence, respect, and support of the public. Police Legitimacy reflects on how the public perceives officers and what they can do to improve or erode those perceptions. In the city of Dallas, there is about one patrol officer for every thousand citizens, as a result, the impact that every single Dallas Police Officers makes on the citizens that we served represent the Police Department in general.

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“Frequent exposure to media reports of police abuse or corruption is a strong predictor of perceptions of misconduct and supports the belief that is common.” (France-Respers 1). But unfortunately, it also brings me disheartened feelings. Recently, I was on twitter and I stumbled across a video of a young white male who was roughly about twenty to twenty-five years of age who was being handled so aggressively by about six officers while he was NOT resisting.

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I would like to receive clarification on the what is meant by Bethan Loftus in Police Occupation Culture with the reference he made to the work of Skolnick who understood “police conservatism as a cultural response to the uniqueness of the job"(107). I understand this concept of police officers committing to traditional values as they are in line with many of the rules they must enforce. Although, I don’t understand why the cultural response of police officer isn’t one of a more liberal nature. The unique component of the job of a police officer is having to deal with a consistently developing and progressing society; as our laws change so do the people. I don’t understand why the conservative mentality has continued over the years as

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He finds that when the police are viewed as legitimate, members of the public are more likely to comply with the law and cooperate with the police in solving crimes. He points out that “studies also support the argument that single experiences can have an impact on attitudes or behaviors [with police] (Tyler 36). He also highlights the impact of social and economic conditions on policing, such as poverty, unemployment, and racial inequality. He argues that these factors can contribute to negative perceptions of the police and undermine trust in law enforcement.

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Police officers are always looking for a target and they end up finding the perfect person to penalize. For example, many people are usually shocked when they find out that the reason they were pulled over was not, in fact, against the law, and end up penalized. In my opinion police officers should really focus on stopping crimes such as rapes, robbery, murders etc. Those crimes should have high penalties, but crimes such as speeding, driving without a license, carrying a small amount of drug should not equal the same prison time for a major crime for ethnic minorities. Therefore, unreasonable suspicions, pre-texts used by officers and jail time are things that play a huge role regarding the criminal justice system that affects the way ethnic minorities are

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This has been a huge problem with police and citizens for decades with the mistrust of police, especially in urban areas where there is a lot of racial tensions. And according to Ariel, Farrar, and Sutherland (2014), theorized that since there is that “big brother” concept with someone always overlooking the police and citizens, which lead to police tending to be more civil and try to be less aggressive. Also, the citizens tend to be me more respectful and comply more to police when the police officers show more respect to the citizens during their interactions. Otu, (2016), also theorized that the quality of policing builds a better relationship with citizens and police which reduces the need of excessive force. BWCs also may deter potential offenders who don’t want to be arrested when there is clear evidence against them that they cannot dispute (Ariel, Farrar & Sutherland,

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In addition, adversaries claim that violence used by the police promotes violence in the community. As a result of escalated brutality, it is critical for police departments to gain the support of citizens to alter their perception of specialized police units. Nevertheless, with increased violence throughout the United States, it is crucial

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It would be simplistic to pin police brutality and racial violence on racist actors - that would imply that institutional racism could be remedied by removing such officials from the system. However, acknowledging these ingrained biases and understanding their impact is crucial to recognizing that the system is itself inherently biased, and that a neutral and objective institution of law enforcement can only be created when the emphasis is placed not on racists, but on the construct of racism itself. Ingrained racial biases clearly impede rational decision-making

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Sadly, during the last few years the relationship between the community and its police has significantly deteriorated. This has been due to the way some officers have handled certain situations in which the use of violence or deadly force could have been avoided. Because of this, some sectors of the community no longer trust their police; such distrust has gotten to the point that they rather take matters into their own hands than calling them for help. Although not all officers misbehave and abuse their power “it only takes one bad apple to spoil the bunch”. The media has also contributed in promoting the idea that most cops are bad by transmitting, over and over, videos of police officers abusing their power.

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233). Studies from Peak et al. (2010) further indicate that bias base policing occurs mainly towards minorities and is racially insensitive (p. 233). Similar studies from Pollock (2014) revealed that men of color express more “distrust in the police because they fear force may be used on them due to their ethnicity and color” (p. 138). The notion previously stated by Pollock (2014) raised many questions about police ethics and morals, powers of discretion and pre-conceived discrimination, and prejudices that society has bestowed on individuals of minority background.

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The most urgent problem facing society today is the growing distrust of law enforcement. Recently, there has been a rise in negative outbursts, both vocally and physically, towards the police. People are beginning to see them as being a hindrance rather than a help. My father used to be a police officer and thus has shown me I needed to always respect law enforcement. He has often told me that the job was stressful at times and he did have to make tough choices.

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Furthermore, citizens fear crimes being committed along with the officers that battled the crimes. While the media’s outtake may sometimes be truthful, the situation is worsened on

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The topic for this research proposal project is on community policing, and the factors that are involved in determining if relationships between law enforcement and citizens in these neighborhoods are strained. In order to be successful, community policing must be built on trust, as both civilians and law enforcement must work hand in hand to protect their communities. If there is a lack of trust, then these programs becomes broken, and can therefore lead to other violence and criminal acts. This research proposal project will focus on minority based communities and citizens, where the majority of the citizens are either African American or Hispanic.

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General issues of police forces. The importance of public image to the organization An unfavorable image can affect how the police perform their duties (Goldsmith, 2003): citizens are reluctant to address the police in problematic situations (Davis & Henderson, 2003; Tyler, 2006), to voluntary cooperate with the police forces (Huq, Tyler & Schulhofer, 2011; Tyler & Fagan, 2008) or to positively respond to the various police requests (Bradford & Jackson, 2010; Jackson, Hough, Bradford, Hohl & Kuha, 2012). The more so, in terms of the general public there is no "effective or real police action " that can be separated from the image people hold on the police activity (Salmi, Voeten & Keskinen 2000 ). In addition, in the absence of a favorable image we cannot talk about a consented police act (Goldsmith, 2005).

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