DB 1 Replies
While the historical development of laws to ensure all members of our
multicultural society are properly protected was essential, future initiatives
will require additional efforts. A focus on law enforcement cultural training
and hiring practices will be the pathway to success.
Cultural awareness training will most likely be the best short-term method to
bridge the divide that has expanded between the citizenry and law
enforcement. This divide stems from a lack of trust and common ground.
“Cultural awareness is crucial for officers working closely and trying to
collaborate with communities whose cultures and languages vary across the
board.” (Gibbs, 2020). By equipping law enforcement personnel with the
proper cultural tools, those personnel will be better equipped to understand
the communities they police. Those agencies will be better prepared to
communicate with the citizenry, and the citizenry will be more understanding
of the role of the police.
In the long-term, agencies must ensure that members of the community are
able to serve the neighborhoods they come from. Nationwide initiatives that
focus on ensuring that members of a given community can become police
officers are important. These initiatives will ensure the successful future of
American policing. “When it comes to recruitment, law enforcement
organizations must seek out officers who reflect the diverse racial and ethnic
cultures, genders and generational differences among their citizenry.” (Cain,
2018). Multicultural equality of opportunity in reference to law enforcement
hiring practices will help law enforcement police a multicultural society.
“And thou shalt teach them ordinances and laws, and shalt shew them the
way wherein they must walk, and the work that they must do” (King James
Bible, 2015). The civil rights movement required hard work and great
sacrifice. Those sacrifices resulted in laws that protect the current
multicultural society that exists today. There is still work to be done. As the
American society evolves, the American police agency must also evolve its
training and hiring practices.
References:
Cain, N. (2018, December 9). A profession in crisis: Addressing recruitment
and hiring practices in law enforcement. Police1. Retrieved May 15, 2022,
from https://www.police1.com/leadership/articles/a-profession-in-crisis-
addressing-recruitment-and-hiring-practices-in-law-enforcement-
eVMUlQCyc7g9PkVQ/
Gibbs, N. (2020, May 1). Law enforcement increasing cultural and historical
awareness. MovementForward. Retrieved May 15, 2022, from
https://movementforward.org/law-enforcement-increasing-cultural-and-
historical-awareness/
King James Bible. (2015, September 20). Exodus 18:20. Retrieved May 15,
2022, from https://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/
Good post. I do agree with you on the fact that agencies have had to
incorporate diversity training. The training I have received for diversity was
not as useful as going out and meeting people and talking to them. In
Probation (my position) is so necessary to be able to communicate with a
variety of cultures. The issue that we have had is the new stigma against law
enforcement, I do not know how many times I have said “I am not the police,
I am just probation.” So many times, someone sees a badge and
automatically concludes that it’s a cop. The fact is that police officers/law
enforcement officer have a distinct culture and ecosystem within a society.
Based on their roles they are segregated from the rest of society (James,
2005 p. 545). This segregation can make the official lean towards a
combination of all the philosophies in some manner. I think that there is a
hope with community-based policing to build the trust and partnership with
the police and community.
IACP Police Chief Magazine has an article about the multicultural societies,
and the lack of training for public safety personnel to be effective in all
diversity communities. The fact is that in each jurisdiction there is a vast
array of cultural differences, and there are several ‘community bases
policing’ agencies that are still responding as if they are all the same. This
type of response leads to failure and a clearly divided line between the
officials and those they are to serve.
References:
Damon J. Brown, “Community Policing in Multicultural Communities: Adding
Key Components to Make It Successful,” Police Chief Online, August
19, 2020.
James, R. K., & Gilliland, B. E. (2005). Crisis intervention strategies. Thomson
Brooks/Cole.
Schmalleger, F. (2018). Criminal justice today: an introductory text for the
21st century (15th ed.). Pearson.
BD 2 Replies
However I believe the sentencing processes was designed as a deterrence
against crimes and not so much about punishing the criminals but in todays
society it very much feels like punishment more than deterrence. The lack of
rehabilitation within the correctional aspects if the criminal justice system is
a major issue. With rehabilitation the main goal is restoring a convicted
offender to a constructive place in society through training or therapy (Cole
& Smith, 2020). The purpose of offenders being incarcerated is to
rehabilitate them into productive citizens that can reenter society.
Correctional programs target factors that have been proven to reduce future
reoffending like education programs, social, programs, treatment programs,
and vocational programs (lionhearted.org, 2016). I believe the most
important part of the criminal justice system is rehabilitation. Without it
offenders would likely go back to the same patterns, people, and places
which will leave them back to where they were before being incarcerated
where the cycle will continue.
resources:
Cole, G.F., & Smith, C.E. (2010). Criminal justice in America (5 Ed).
Prison Project. (2016). Retrieved from http://lionheart.org/prison/
Thank you for sharing your post with us this week. Your thread was well
outlined and very informative. I do agree with you that, sentencing was a
corrective guideline to maintain peace and order in society. Judges are
indeed vital in administering sentencing or judgement as they are those with
the authority to do so from an unbiased foundation (Cole & Smith, 2010).
Rehabilitation indeed was introduced as the aspect of punishment by writing
the wrong committed by offender while giving them an opportunity of a
second chance. With rehabilitation, the convicted offender is thought certain
skills of trade or given some form of education to help in their advancement
while serving the community by performing an assigned community service
task to be completed over a period of time (Xu, 2021) Isaiah 1:17 (ESV)
“learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the
fatherless, plead the widow’s cause.”
Another sentencing guideline to consider is retribution. You defined it best,
as the deserving sentence (Lippman, 2010). The proponents of this school of
thought believes that people are punished based on the offense committed
and this is fair. Also, that level of punishment should be based on the level or
severity of offense committed as this will help deter others from committing
similar crimes in the future (Lippman, 2010). I do agree with you on the
stance that, the purpose of sentencing is to deter people who are innocent of
crime from committing on ein the future.
References
Cole, G.F., & Smith, C.E. (2008). Criminal Justice in America (5 ed).
Lippman, M. (2010). Contemporary Criminal Law: concepts, cases and
controversies (2 ed)
Xu, J. (2021). Research on judicial big data text mining and sentencing
prediction model. Journal of Physics: Conference Series, 1883(1).
https://doi.org/10.1088/1742-6596/1883/1/012158
DB 3 Replies
Thank you for sharing your post with us this week. I enjoyed reading your post and I agree with
you, intelligence-led policing (ILP) has been adopted and have proven worthy in some western
countries such as Canada, United States, and the United Kingdom. The use of technological
processes, structures, administrative systems, implemented by law enforcement agencies has
helped improved policing in today’s world (Darroch & Mazerolle, 2013). The initiative nature of
law enforcement under intelligence-led policing makes law enforcement officers more proactive
in performing their duties. This leads to a more prevent policing method and a reactive one as
you mentioned in your thread (Burcher & Whelan, 2018). You are right Bonnie, multi-agency
information center will become a necessity after the sad event that unveiled in the morning hours
of 9/11 (Lewandoski & Carter, 2017). This will come to be known as fusion centers. Fusion
centers has become central stations were information gathering known as intelligence is
decimated amongst the various agencies to include federal, state, and local agencies. This
proactive policing was set in place to prevent a repetition of the events of 9/11. One key goal of
fusions centers is to enhance information sharing amongst members of law enforcement
communities to help combat crime before they happen. Hebrews 13:16 (ESV) reads, “do not
neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.” The
Bible teaches us the importance of sharing and in this case sharing information which are vital in
saving the lives of people in general.
References
Darroch, S., & Mazerolle, L. (2013). Intelligence-led policing: A comparative analysis of
organizational factors influencing innovation uptake. Police Quarterly, 16(1), 3-
37. https://doi.org/10.1177/1098611112467411
Lewandowski, C., & Carter, J. G. (2017). End-user perceptions of intelligence
dissemination from a State Fusion Center. Security Journal , 30 (2), 467–486.
https://doi.org/10.1057/sj.2014.38
Greetings Cecilia, you brought up a good point that fusion centers were developed to bridge the
gap of intelligence sharing amongst agencies. The fusion centers can bring agencies together,
that would not ordinarily work jointly. Law enforcement efforts can be enhanced by combining
assets and intelligence and combining focus towards a common target. However, there can be a
great debate on what exactly the focus of attention should be towards. McQuade (2016)
discusses how jurisdictional rivalries, as well as determining on what category of intelligence
takes priority, pose a major problem within fusion centers. McQuade (2016) found that political
focus of identifying what the main threat of concern should be, was a major point of debate. With
the various agencies involved with fusion centers, there are a various array of managerial goals
and agendas, which can cause tension amongst the agencies.
Political agendas can also play into budgetary considerations, which in turn, can also affect
fusion centers. Kahan (2015) points out that budget constraints will continue to influence the
performance of Department of Homeland Security, dampening its ability to coordinate the
functioning of other federal agencies, states, and local governments.
Fusion centers can be extremely helpful, and effective towards crime prevention and control,
especially in terms of the fight on terrorism. The issues discussed above are not unmanageable,
as long as consideration is made to properly addresses the conflicts when they arise. The Bible
provides guidance on properly addressing conflict, “A soft answer turneth away wrath; but
grievous words stir up anger” (King James Bible, 1769/2017, Proverbs 15:1).
References
Kahan, J. (2015). Quadrennial Homeland Security Reviews: What Value for Whom? Journal of
Homeland Security & Emergency Management, 12(2), 211–
240. https://doi.org/10.1515/jhsem-2014-0067
Kings James Bible . (2017). King James Bible
Online. https://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/
(Original work published 1779)
McQuade, B. (2016). The Puzzle of Intelligence Expertise: Spaces of
Intelligence Analysis and the Production of “Political” Knowledge. Qualitative
Sociology , 39 (3), 247–265. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11133-016-9335-6
DB 4 Replies
Great post. I like your textbook definition of “adultification”. It was clear and concise. I also
like how you included and separate definition of the term provided by Wikipedia. Even though it
is not a scholarly source, it gives readers a chance to compare definitions from different sources.
Often today adultification can happen from many different reasons and circumstances. From a
juvenile growing up in a single parent home which requires them to carry out adult tasks on the
daily basis to juveniles committing crimes and violations just to attempt to make it through life.
You are correct in pointing out that criminal justice is a social problem. It’s a problem that not
one entity can solve, but in fact would take a team to solve through hard work and time.
You stated that the juvenile justice system fails because it doesn’t prevent juveniles from
reoffending due to them completed rehabilitation then being sent back to the same environment.
What method or process do you think could help change that? The public embraces multiple
juvenile crime intervention goals, with robust support for rehabilitation but also a desire for
youths to be held accountable and the public to be protected (Bolin, Applegate, Ouellette, 2021).
I find comfort in society that they still want offenders to be held accountable.
You stated that the justice system amplifies the adultification of children. I partially agree with
statement. I think society amplifies adultification and it is the justice system that is left to deal
with the consequences of their actions. The decision made by an intake officer can be very
challenging and will rest in part on a projection of “future dangerousness” (Berk, 2019). When
we look at the system and the job of an intake officer, it is a very hard one. This individual can
in a sense decide the potential future of an offender. We must remember as adults to be fair but
firm in out judgement of juvenile offenders.
References:
Bolin, R. M., Applegate, B. K., & Ouellette, H. M. (2021). Americans’ Opinions on Juvenile
Justice: Preferred Aims, Beliefs About Juveniles, and Blended Sentencing. Crime &
Delinquency, 67(2), 262–286. https://doi.org/10.1177/0011128719890273
Berk, R. (2019). Accuracy and fairness for juvenile justice risk assessments.
Journal of Empirical Legal Studies, 16(1), 175-194.
https://doi.org/10.1111/jels.12206
Thank you for sharing your post with us this week. I really enjoyed reading
your post and appreciate how you opened with the Bible. The mention of
stoning and putting to death stubborn and rebellious children in
Deuteronomy 21:18-21, sounds a bit too harsh but interesting to know that
under the law, that was the way rebellious children or youths were treated. I
am tempted to ask, how much deterrence did it serve and how much
rebelliousness was around at that time? Most juvenile delinquent behavior
could have been resolved or reduced if we follow the Bible’s instruction in
Proverbs 22:6 (ESV) “train up a child in the way he should go; even when he
is old, he will not depart from it.’ This is so ideal yet sometimes even training
up the child in the right way, gets missing in society’s perverse alternatives
that often seems more lucrative and easier, the sad truth. You are right, the
juvenile systems vary from the adult system. As you mentioned, while the
adult system focuses on innocence until proven guilty, the juvenile system
seeks to correct by providing treatment and education to help rehabilitate
children and adolescence in the juvenile system (Schmalleger, 2020).
However, it has not always been so with the juvenile justice system. You
drew great discussion from Hines et al. (2021), it is no hidden truth that our
country suffers a little with disparity issues but to have that in juvenile
justice is a bit preposterous as when one race of an adolescent offender is
treated harsher (Tried as an adult) and the other not, for committing the
same offense is unfair and unjust (Hines et al., 2021).
References
Hines, E. M., Fletcher, E. C., Ford, D. Y., & Moore, J. L. (2021). Preserving
innocence: Ending perceived adultification and toxic masculinity toward
black boys. Journal of Family Strengths, 21(1)
