Taft College Criminal Justice Discussion and Response

Part A (2-4 sentences each question)

1). Think about why most correctional officers would rather work in prisons with men…….. Consider and discuss what can be done to change the perception that working with female offenders is more difficult than working with male offenders.

2). Debate the value of having physical fitness testing qualifications as part of the law enforcement hiring process. What differences, if any, should exist for women and men undergoing such testing

Part B Please include the question, and then your answer/analysis, double spaced, 12 font, times new roman no word count

1. Based on the research, how do women

do gender within traditional male-dominated criminal justice occupations?

2. What challenges do women who work in criminal justice occupations face that their male counterparts do not?

3. What suggestions can be made to improve the status of women within criminal justice occupations?

Part C 250 min word count

you will examine this https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/why-its-still… article discussing why officers rarely face prosecution for misconduct. Although we see public concerns over officers’ use of force so often in the media now, we do not actually see a similar increase in prosecutions or prison sentences. Please review the article and provide your opinion on the issue, as well as bringing in one source of your own to discuss.

Part D 2 100 word count responses

1. Discussing the article it talked about how it is rare for there to be any legal action to take place against police officers in fatal shootings. It talked about famous black shootings that happened with officers and how in one case like Breonna Taylor there were no police officers convicted while in George Floyd’s case there were. It goes further to tell how hard it is to report when the police do wrong which is true because when you report you are more than likely reporting to their own friends and or colleagues. Since it’s not public when police do wrong unless recorded by civilians and or body cameras if they have it on. It is way too hard to keep track of the data. So the data the public can get are only from the shootings that are made public. Then going into my article it talks about when there are shootings and police are convicted the arrest rate is 2% at most but mostly stays at 1%. It also talked about how arrests were even being put on the board because the Black Lives Matter Movement grew in 2005 and demanded justice for police wrongdoings. It was also further brought up how under the pressure of the public they naturally protect each other and how they’re also protected legally through the process of being convicted. It had a great point of view that police help the prosecution to get what they need for their trials so when it’s time to convict them it’s hard and they don’t want to push. So in the end it seems there was always going to be a fight because the problem arises in the system.

https://www.vox.com/21497089/derek-chauvin-george-floyd-trial-police-prosecutions-black-lives-matter

2. The article provided to us discusses how rare it is to see police officers charged for crimes they have committed. According to Joanna Schwartz, when police officers have reached a settlement in court, they do not have to pay the money out of their own pockets but the city is the one that pays out the victims. This leaves the police officer at fault with little to no responsibility regarding their actions. With weapons being accessible to civilians, the courts find it extremely hard to charge police officers with murder if they happen to kill someone that is brandishing a weapon. In the article, I choose Masood Farivar explained in the year 2020 U.S police forces killed 1,127 people and zero officers were convicted of any crimes that year. The Black Lives Matter movement targeted audiences of all ages and races standing up to the injustice that African Americans have been going through for centuries. Now with the use of social media and people recording interactions with police and bystanders also recording police interactions from a different angle we are able to see the full story. Due to public outrage over the racial inequality in police murders, local and state prosecutors have charged more police officers implicated in deadly shootings. In my opinion, deadly force should only be utilized if the officer or civilians are in immediate danger. Police officers should use different methods of deescalating a situation before using their firearms they have access to other weapons including a taser, pepper spray, and baton.

Farivar, M. (2021, April 20). Convicting police of murder remains rare in US. VOA. Retrieved April 22, 2022, from https://www.voanews.com/a/usa_convicting-police-mu…