A Clashing of Opinions

After watching the documentary on Policing the Police provided by Frontline, I have come to realize that community policing rather and the use of a task force is a better approach when trying to get guns and drugs off the street. Subsequently, I do not believe that officers can realistically get guns and drugs off the streets without violating citizens’ rights. Based on related articles from The New Yorker and PBS, and first hand experiences from the narrator in the documentary I will be able to provide insight into my own opinions and thoughts about the issues at hand. This essay will also provide insight into the pros and cons of using community policing rather than using a task force. Also, this essay will touch on the

For years, gang crime has been loathed by society, as society has perceived it to threaten the well-being of its members. In addition to the fear of gang violence, concerns have been raised of gangs polluting youth; hence, policing strategies have emerged more increasingly in an attempt to put an end to the delinquency. Nevertheless, for society the causation of gang crime has been discussed to a lesser extent; thus, the objective of this essay will be to depict a viable explanation of gang crime through the use of two criminological theories. To accomplish the task at hand; I shall, define gang crime, provide a description of social disorganization theory, illustrate how the application of social disorganization theory provides an explanation of gang crime, describe differential opportunity theory, demonstrate how differential opportunity theory can explain gang crime, and exemplify as to which theory provides a superior explanation of gang crime. In the end, it will be clear that social disorganization theory is a superior explanation of gang crime in comparison to differential opportunity theory, due to its ability to deliver a more enhanced explanation than the one that is provided by differential opportunity theory.

Ray Nagin, the mayor of New Orleans, uses a lot of pathos while speaking to the New Orleans people on how to make New Orleans better in his Chocolate City speech. Nagin appeals to people’s emotions by mentioning Hurricane Katrina. He says “now you might think that’s one Katrina post-stress disorder.” The hurricane was a huge loss for everyone in the city. It put people in a lot of stress when they lost their homes and the city was badly damaged. By mentioning Katrina, he is pulling everyone into one boat because it is something that the majority of people living in New Orleans experienced. Later on in his speech, Nagin address black-on-black crime. He says, “Why do our young men hate each so much that they look their brother in the face and

With the leading number of gangs in the country, Los Angeles is thought of as the gang capital of the world. Employing gang suppression strategies that take distinct forms, from anti-gang injunctions to high rate of incarcerations, the City of Angels has failed to live up to its angelic name. Known instead for its demonic gang activity and police suppression efforts, Los Angeles has taken over media headlines as one of the most dangerous places to subsist. Representing a worrisome issue for residents, visitors, city government officials, as well as urban planners, gang violence has rapidly become a threat to public safety. Although current-day gang culture has eased off on the violence, it continues to be one of the greatest planning challenges

Brent Staples’ essay, “When the Paranoids Turn Out to be Right,” acknowledges the issues of racism and racial profiling committed by police. In “Fist, Stick, Knife, Gun,” Geoffrey Canada also expresses views on this issue when he asserts that police fail to protect and serve individuals in poor neighborhoods. Staples contends, “Among the day-to-day acts of discrimination that shadow African Americans, none are more stressful or dangerous than those committed by police, some of whom treat black people as criminals until proved otherwise.” (Staples. 380) Although statistics show that the looming presence of narcotics and violence is more prevalent in urban neighborhoods, police should apply the same effort to protect individuals in these

“Forget the rhetoric: the evidence shows the NYPD's policy is not about stopping violent crime, but racking up arrests for non-violent drug offenses. While New York should immediately put a stop to its illegal practice of stopping and frisking anyone with a complexion a shade darker than Celine Dion, don't kid yourself: only when the U.S. ends its insane devotion to the war on drugs will we ever be able to effectively address the racist impacts of the criminal justice system.” (Davis, 2010)

In the second part of Parenti’s book, Lockdown America, he discusses policing practices and their proactive strategies aimed at preventing disorder. In this section of the book, Parenti advances his argument by looking at crime through the eyes of law enforcement. Parenti looks at the policies of Bratton, the New York Police Commissioner. Bratton revamped the police force in the city, rewarded those that succeeded and were aggressive in doing their job and those that did not keep up with him were fired or put on the sidelines. His goals was to be efficient on every level, and being efficient meant enforcing the law even for minor offences.

This article entitled “Jim Crow Policing”, written by Bob Herbert, is an opinionated article which aims to shed light on the alleged racist and xenophobic behaviors of the New York Police Department. The article was published on February 1st, 2010, almost 7 years ago, which is important to note because of the changing environment that New York is as a whole. Herbert takes a stance against the NYPD, claiming that the officers of the department have “no obligation to treat them (blacks, hispanics, other minorities) fairly or with any respect…” He also states in his opening paragraph that some of the officers that are partaking in the harassment are minorities themselves, and he calls that

A world where slavery is still widespread, genocide is an everyday occurrence, and the voices of the common citizen is silenced. This would have happened if we only disagreed over such matters and not dissented. In the Decline of Radicalism, by Daniel J. Boorstin, he asserts that “disagreement is the life blood of democracy, dissension is its cancer” and that dissent is negative word. Boorstin also claims that “disagreement produces debate”, which is true, but could have all conflicts been solved with diplomacy? Dissent is the life blood of democracy and it is not negative; it is vital to how our nation came to be.

In the article, Task force accuses Chicago Police of Institutional Racism, by Ray Sanchez. Ray Sanchez talks about a 16 year old African American named Pierre Loury. In the past 8 years, “72% of people stopped by Chicago police in 2014 were African-American, and 17% were Hispanic,” the report said. (CNN) This kinds of homicides are only being heard from colored people or Hispanics and the community are calling the officers as racists. They are thinking that this officers aren’t respecting the lives of colored people. Basically calling them a criminals despite their gender, ethnicity, or age.

African Americans have been facing a lot of problems despite the rigorous activism against racial profiling by law enforcement. In 2011, Nicholas Peart, a 23 year old black male, made headlines when he wrote an opinion article in the New York Times, describing the maltreatment that he had been subjected to under those that are supposed to protect and serve. He gave an example of a time when he went out to grab some burgers at a common hang out spot to celebrate his eighteenth birthday with his cousin and some friends, and while sitting on a bench after seeing the place was closed, police officers came and ordered them to get on the ground, while another officer held a gun to him. In another instance, Peart wrote that he was stopped and frisked after leaving his grandmother’s home and on the way to the bus stop.

Discrimination is a known concept that happens everywhere, yet police and prosecutors are blind to it. Their ways of preventing crime are discriminatory in every sense of the word and they categorize people based on their skin color and where they reside. The disproportionate minority contact with the stop and frisk method is one of the ways that discrimination can be seen. “Code of the Street” and “Law and Disorder in Philadelphia” help dissect why discrimination is not seen by police and their agencies and also how police officers and their administration go about ways of preventing crime. The pressure within the police, community, and courts create inequalities for the individuals going through the Criminal Justice System.

More studied than the effect of felon disenfranchisement on individuals is the effect on the wider community. These laws diminish the voice of the Black community in multiple ways. First, they generally dilute the power of the Black vote, particularly because the disenfranchised population of a city tends to be concentrated in relatively few neighborhoods. For example, a 1992 study “showed that 72% of all of New York State's prisoners came from only 7 of New York City's 55 community board districts,” and a 2003 study showed that “53% of Illinois prisoners released in 2001 returned to Chicago, and 34% of those releases were concentrated in 6 of 77 Chicago communities.” This is problematic because, as law professor Debra Parkes summarizes: “When the views of one group are systematically cut out of the political process, the public debate will be skewed.” When the disenfranchised are concentrated in few neighborhoods, the political power of those neighborhoods is reduced.

Citizens of the nation will frequently claim that it is the responsibility of the government or states to safeguard its citizens and uphold the constitution. But what are the citizens supposed to do when these two fundamental philosophies suddenly are set in opposition with each other? In New York, the stop-and-frisk law is designed to protect its citizens, and yet it is taking away their constitutional rights. Although in some instances this method is deemed legal, the New York Police Department has adapted the process into one that stems from criminal profiling. Thus, the two ideologies clash in their views. The right-wing emphasizes how much the violent crime rate has declined. However, the left-wing refutes by asking the vital

Over the years, cities have embraced new laws to protect citizens against gang criminal acts. Milwaukee and Chicago along with different cities in the country have established loitering and graffiti as gang related acts that can result in future gang involvement or more criminal activity. In 1987 for example, Milwaukee condemned loitering as a gang activity as it could result in the expansion of gang territory or criminal activity. However, such law was later deemed unconstitutional as it failed to specify how gang members could be targeted and therefore, failed to abide to the fourth amendment. Yet, in 2007 the same law now modified, passed with a drastic revision to the targeted group and why such had to be closely observed to protect other citizens. The new gang loitering law as described in an article by the City of Milwaukee, “Anti-Gang Loitering Ordinance Becomes Law,” demanded an increase in loitering fines from $500 to $5,000max and arrest for those who failed to comply. While other cities may continue to replace loitering laws due to their