Police-Community Communications

Many people do not see law enforcement in a good light. Criminal justice professionals have termed this the "Ferguson Effect" including the FBI Director himself in this recent speech. (watch this video (Links to an external site.)) research the issues of unemployment in both Baltimore, Maryland and Ferguson. Who are those most hurt by unemployment? How did the social factors such as unemployment in the minority community further outrage the public against the authority of the police? A few more articles to look at. http://www.wsj.com/articles/the-new-nationwide-crime-wave-1432938425 (Links to an external site.) http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/new-york-times-ferguson-effect_55e833b7e4b0c818f61ab744 (Links to an external site.) http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2015/05/30/ferguson-effect-americas-new-crime-wave-is-all-part-of-the-plan/ (Links to an external site.) If you find a good article please put the link up in your reply. 2. Assess the level to which communications and community participation is important for developing stable police community relations and public relations by responding to the following questions in a 4 page research paper. Justify why it is the professionals of criminal justice agencies who must take the lead in developing improved relations between the criminal justice system and society. Argue why efforts by police to develop community relations programs are dependent upon the cooperation of the informal groups in the community and include examples of such groups in your state. Hypothesize why individual discretion, as used by a police officer, must be explained to the community as part of the community relations experience. Utilize library and internet resources as needed. Cite the sources used within the paper according to APA format and list them on a separate references page at the end of the paper (Note: The reference page does not count toward the minimum page requirement). 3. Discussion Question: Police Community Conflict Evaluate the causes of conflict between the police and the community by responding to the following questions for discussion. Debate the reasons why most community relations problems of the criminal justice system are directed toward the police. Assess the role of the public in correcting human interaction problems that are typically handled through high discipline within a police agency. The burden of resolving hostile contact with the public rests with police officers who must handle such situations with professionalism. Recommend some methods of resolution that police might implement to resolve incidents of hostile contact with the public.