Week 2.2

CRJ620 Intervention Plan Scenarios

Choose one (1) of the following scenarios around which to create your Intervention Plan. There are two

law enforcement and two corrections scenarios.

Law Enforcement Scenarios

Ferguson, Missouri – Michael Brown, an unarmed black teenager, was shot and killed on Aug. 9, 2014,

by Darren Wilson, a white police officer, in Ferguson, Mo., a suburb of St. Louis. The shooting prompted

protests that roiled the area for weeks. On Nov. 24, 2014, the St. Louis County prosecutor announced that

a grand jury decided not to indict Mr. Wilson. The announcement set off another wave of protests. In

March, the Justice Department called on Ferguson to overhaul its criminal justice system, declaring that

the city had engaged in constitutional violations.

Resources for the Ferguson, Missouri scenario

• Calamur, K., and Peralta, E. (2014, November 25). Ferguson documents: The physical evidence.

NPR. Retrieved from http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2014/11/25/366575509/ferguson-

documents-the-physical-evidence

• City of Ferguson, Police Department. (n.d.). Services and programs. Retrieved from

http://www.fergusoncity.com/92/Police-Department

• Desmond-Harris, J. (2015, March 4). The 6 most damning findings from the DOJ's report on

racism in the city of Ferguson. Vox Media. Retrieved from

http://www.vox.com/2015/3/4/8149337/doj-ferguson-report-police-racism

• Ferguson Action. (n.d.). United we fight. Retrieved from http://fergusonaction.com/united-we-

fight/

• United States Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division. (2015, March 4). Investigation of

Ferguson Police Department. Retrieved from http://www.justice.gov/sites/default/files/opa/press-

releases/attachments/2015/03/04/ferguson_police_department_report.pdf

Freddie Gray - On April 12, 2015, Freddie Carlos Gray, Jr., a 25-year-old African-American man, was

arrested by the Baltimore Police Department for possessing what the police alleged was an illegal

switchblade. While being transported in a police van, Gray fell into a coma and was taken to a trauma

center. Gray died on April 19, 2015; his death was ascribed to injuries to his spinal cord. On April 21,

2015, pending an investigation of the incident, six Baltimore police officers were temporarily suspended

with pay. On May 1, 2015, the Baltimore City State's Attorney, Marilyn Mosby, announced her office

filed charges against six police officers after they received a medical examiner’s report that ruled Gray's

death a homicide. On May 21, 2015, a grand jury indicted the officers on most of the original charges

filed by Mosby with the exception of the charges of illegal imprisonment and false arrest, and added

charges of reckless endangerment to all the officers involved. Gray's death resulted in an ongoing series

of protests and civil disorder. A major protest in downtown Baltimore on April 25, 2015, turned violent,

resulting in 34 arrests and injuries to 15 police officers. After Gray's funeral on April 27, 2015, civil

unrest intensified with looting and burning of local businesses and a CVS drug store, culminating with a

state of emergency declaration by Governor Lawrence Hogan, Maryland National Guard deployment to

Baltimore, and the establishment of a curfew. On May 3, 2015, the National Guard started withdrawing

from Baltimore, and the nighttime curfew on the city was lifted.

Resources for the Freddie Gray scenario

• Aljazeera America. (2015, April 27). Violent clashes flare in Baltimore after Freddie Gray

funeral. Retrieved from http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2015/4/27/freddie-gray-protests-

violence-police.html

• Baltimore Police Department and Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, Mayor. (2014). Baltimore police

department. Retrieved from https://www.baltimorepolice.org/

• Barajas, J. (2015, May 1). Freddie Gray’s death ruled a homicide. PBS. Retrieved from

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/freddie-grays-death-ruled-homicide/

• Gordon, K. and Sweigard, P. (2015, May 3). Latest updates on Baltimore unrest and Freddie Gray

case. The Sun. Retrieved from

http://live.baltimoresun.com/Event/Latest_updates_from_the_Freddie_Gray_case_in_Baltimore/1

61532605

• Hogan, L. J., Governor. (2015, April). Executive order, Declaration of emergency. Retrieved

from https://governor.maryland.gov/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/EO-4-27-2015.pdf

Corrections Scenarios

Corcoran State Prison – 60 Minutes Correspondent Mike Wallace first reported the story of the nation's

largest prison system, California's, and on one prison in particular. Corcoran State Prison was being

investigated by the FBI because numerous corrections officers were accused of staging inmate fights,

sometimes wagering on the outcome and then, when those fights got out of control, of shooting the

inmates involved. There were also multiple allegations of prison rapes orchestrated by the corrections

officers as retaliation against other inmates.

Resources for the Corcoran Prison scenario

• California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. (2015). Retrieved from

http://www.cdcr.ca.gov/

• Fernandez, E. (1997, December 14). Video of guards killing inmates at state prison. The San

Francisco Examiner. Retrieved from http://www.prisontalk.com/forums/archive/index.php/t-

72442.html

• Holding, R. (1996, October 28). Officials accused of trying to block FBI investigations, The San

Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved from http://jthomasniu.org/class/Stuff/corcoran

• Jacobs, A., (2004). Prison power corrupts absolutely: Exploring the phenomenon of prison guard

brutality and the need to develop a system of accountability. California Western Law Review

41(1), 6. Retrieved from

http://scholarlycommons.law.cwsl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1138&context=cwlr

• Wallace, M. (2006, April). 60II classic: A brutal prison. Retrieved from

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/60ii-classic-a-brutal-prison/

Rikers Island

The officers and inmates there were part of what officials with the Department of Investigation and the

Department of Correction described as a network of contraband smuggling and other criminality at Rikers

that undermined security at the jail complex and contributed to violence. The search also uncovered

stashes of marijuana, tobacco, and weapons. In just one measure of the rising levels of violence, there

were 1,844 uses of force by corrections officers at the jail complex from January to May 2014, a number

that had doubled for that time period for each of the previous three years according to the Corrections

Department. Also during this period, there were 274 drug recoveries and 868 weapons confiscated, the

department said.

Resources for the Rikers Island scenario

• City of New York Department of Correction. (2015). Retrieved from

http://www.nyc.gov/html/doc/html/home/home.shtml

• Perry, R. (2014, October 29). 3 New York City correction officials to step down amid scrutiny

of Rikers. The New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.wikiter.com/3-new-york-city-

correction-officials-to-step-down-amid-scrutiny-of-rikers-i867

• Schwirtz, M. (2014, June 24). Corruption sweep at Rikers Island leads to 22 arrests. Religion &

Ethics Newsweekly. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/25/nyregion/2-officers-

and-20-inmates-are-arrested-in-corruption-sweep-at-rikers-island.html?_r=0

• Wulfhorst, E. (2014, July 29). Guards at New York City jail accused of drug trafficking. Yahoo

News. Retrieved from http://news.yahoo.com/guards-york-city-jail-accused-drug-trafficking-

201048426--finance.html