Help Only A Discussion

You are consulting with a large-size police department that has been criticized in the media for its high levels of recent incidents involving police errors in procedure, police misconduct, and revelations of inappropriate use of force. The police department and the police chief have come under extreme criticism from the media, the community and the city officials. On page 127 of Policing America: Challenges and Best Practices is a list of common curriculum implemented in a police academy. Answer each of the following questions pertaining to that curriculum and defend your answers:

• Looking at the nature of the curriculum and topics included, which training topics do you think might be added to help combat the above issues? Why would that help?
• Which topics should be expanded in their duration? Why?
• Which topics should be refreshed and included in continuing education of experienced officers? Why?
• Which curriculum topics should be deleted altogether? Why?

Your initial post should be at least 250 words in length.

You are a patrol sergeant lecturing to a college class about the patrol function. Someone raises her hand and asks, “Sergeant, your officers obviously can’t enforce all of the laws all of the time. Which laws are always enforced, and which ones are not?  What factors determine how police discretion is used?” The concepts of police discretion and ethics are obviously intertwined because all ethical dilemmas involve making a choice. How would you respond (without saying something like “We enforce all of the laws, all of the time,” which of course would be untrue)? How would you fully explain police discretion to the citizens’ group? How do you explain the fostering of good ethical decision making and discretion? How do you explain which laws are enforced first and the discretion involved in that ethical decision making?

Your initial post should be at least 250 words in length.