Category: CRJ302 Community & CJ

Re-analyzing the results of a community policing study leads to a more positive conclusion about its effects

In the last 30 years, community-oriented policing has been a key innovation in policing. But while this proactive approach boosts citizens’ evaluations of police, evidence is sparse that it reduces crime.

Note in the link below there is a link to the original research article.
— Read on phys.org/news/2024-07-results-community-policing-positive-conclusion.html

State Violence, Legitimacy, and the Path to True Public Safety – Niskanen Center

Let’s be clear about what’s been happening in the country these last few weeks. Policing is an arm of the state. Police departments and police officers operate under the color of law and as agents of the state, with authority granted by their nation’s citizens. That gives their actions special meaning. George Floyd was—literally—killed by his government. Over and over again in America, Black people have been killed, beaten, and otherwise abused by their government through its agents: the police. In the modern era, Rodney King was beaten by his government. Michael Brown was shot and killed by his government. Walter Scott was shot in the back and killed by his government; his government then falsified the shooting scene and lied about what had happened.
— Read on www.niskanencenter.org/state-violence-legitimacy-and-the-path-to-true-public-safety/

In study of police, female officers perceived more danger, were more suspicious of civilians than male colleagues

How do female police officers, who are often excluded from the traditional masculine occupational culture of policing, feel about their working environment and how the public perceives them? A new study has used survey data from officers in a large, urban police department to test for gender differences in two aspects of the external environment that are core to police cultural attitudes: perceptions of danger and suspiciousness toward civilians.
— Read on phys.org/news/2024-07-police-female-officers-danger-suspicious.html

We Spent a Year Following a Troubled Police Force. Listen to the Entire Podcast Series

By Kelly Mcevers

NPR’s Embedded podcast and The Marshall Project spent a year investigating Yonkers, a town just north of New York City that has a long and ugly history of bad policing. Can the police change from within and win community trust?

Listen to the full, five-part series, “Changing the Police.”

Episode One: The John Mueller Show

The Justice Department has demanded an overhaul of the Yonkers Police Department and has been monitoring it for more than a decade. In the first episode, we spend time with the police commissioner, John Mueller, who has committed to do what the feds want, and more. A colorful and charismatic “cop’s cop,” he has promised to reform policing in Yonkers. In fact, he wants to turn his officers into guardians of the community, accountable to its citizens. How is that working out for him — and the city?

Listen HERE

Episode Two: Can a Police Department Reform Without Confronting the Sins of Its Past?

For a long time, the police department in Yonkers, New York, had a reputation as overly aggressive, especially when it came to policing the poorer parts of the city. There were many stories of “bad apples” — officers who allegedly roughed people up or planted drugs during arrests. In 2007, the U.S. Department of Justice stepped in to investigate.

Today, the Yonkers Police Department says it is transforming. With the help of a progressive chief, John Mueller, it has adopted new policies and procedures to minimize force and make the police more accountable to the communities it serves. As The Marshall Project and NPR’s Embedded continue our look at police reform in one American city, we confront a question raised by many people who feel mistreated by officers: Is that enough? Some say there can never be real reform until the police have fully accounted for the wrongs of the past. But is that even possible? Listen to find out.

Listen HERE

Episode Three: How Does a Police Department Get More Black People on the Force?

Every four years, the Yonkers Police Department begins the process of hiring new officers. This time around, the department is specifically recruiting people of color through a program known as “Be The Change.”

There are plenty of Black people in Yonkers who don’t feel it’s up to them to “change” a department that has a long history of misconduct. But there’s also a strong community of Black officers who question whether real reform is possible until Yonkers police more accurately reflect the community they serve.

In this episode, Marshall Project reporter Wilbert L. Cooper teams up with Embedded to explore why there are so few officers of color on the Yonkers police force, and why even those who’ve made it onto the force often feel the odds are stacked against them.

Listen HERE

Episode Four: To Police or Not To Police

In Yonkers, as in the rest of the country, a substantial number of police calls involve someone who is having a mental health crisis. But are cops the right people to answer those calls? A growing number of cities across the country think the answer might be, “No.” Some have launched crisis-response programs that offer alternatives to the police for some non-violent mental health emergencies. But in Yonkers, for now, the police still handle these calls.

In this episode, Marshall Project reporter Christie Thompson joins the Embedded team to look at what happens when the police are not the only option.

Listen HERE

Episode Five: The Walk-Out

After three years, Commissioner John Mueller is leaving the Yonkers Police Department. What does that mean for the department — and for Yonkers? Mueller says the reform efforts he set in motion will continue; others aren’t so sure. Meanwhile, a recent arrest on the city’s streets, where two White officers tackled a Black woman, shows just how divided Yonkers remains about policing.

Listen HERE