09 Jul Recommitting American Police Culture to Democratic Ideals’

Oh…the dreaded paper…..

Ok, I wasn’t sure what topic I was going to assign for the short paper, so I gave it some thought and came up with one simple topic. I will give you the information and you give me a response to what you read. This is not a research paper…this is your reaction. Initially, I was going to ask the simple question…’What is the future of policing in America…in light of what is going on around us everyday in the US’? That would have required a hypothesis, research, conjecture, ,some facts etc. So instead…I found you all the data you need and you give me a gut reaction to it. Keep in mind that this is an Ethics class and your response should also be along those lines.

There was an article published in April of 2015 by Harvard’s Kennedy School and the National Institute of Justice, entitled ‘From Warriors to Guardians: Recommitting American Police Culture to Democratic Ideals’.  The website address where you can access the article is: ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/248654.pdf

The article is 16 pages in length so I suggest you print a copy that you can carry around and read.  As you read it make some notes on it and ‘highlight’ items of interest. Remember , this is a gut ‘reaction’ to what you are reading. You may agree 100% or you may not agree at all. 

There are many things that you will recognize right off as you start to read the article (and I think you will all find it very interesting)….Plato, Socrates, Sir Robert Peel, Peel’s Principles, the US Constitution, the Bill of Rights, the Amendments to the Constitution, law, procedural justice, legal authority, ‘current culture’, similarities between the police and the military……and I can go on and on. And the article goes on…talking about police training, the police academy, use of force, officer safety…and again, on and on.

Read the entire article…all 16 pages (almost) of it…then go back and re-read it and this time make your notes and highlight ‘important’ words and ideas (like I just exampled for you above). Then make notes about what you read.

That will all be the basis for your paper.

Any questions? Be sure to ask. Don’t let this assignment overwhelm you. I don’t know if you are familiar with the concept of a ‘reaction paper’ or if you have ever written one. I guarantee you will learn something by doing this.

My last thought….the article was written five years ago…but is so appropriate today. We are living in a quickly changing world…and that includes ‘ethically and morally’ changing as well. 

If you have a problem finding or printing the article please let me know.

Thanks.