Ferguson Research Paper

In the article, “St. Louis police chief defends fatal shooting by officers”, Jim Suhr and Jim Salter argue that although police brutality has been a common theme since Michael Brown’s death, the police must be given the opportunity to do their jobs without the constant accusations and racist conclusions. Police officers have been under rapid fire and can no longer make a move without the harsh criticism of citizens nationwide. Salter and Suhr use a quote from the St. Louis Police Chief, Sam Dotson, to explain that people need to let the facts speak for themselves rather than filling up with biased opinions through social media. The fact is that the towns that refuse the help of police, are conventionally the ones that need them the most.

On August 9, 2015, a Ferguson Police officer shot and killed unarmed young man, Michael Brown. This set off a chain of events that catapulted the #BlackLivesMatter Movement into national media attention. Since the unnecessary death of Michael Brown,

To say Ferguson, Missouri has seen its share of racial discrimination and mistreatment would be an understatement. As hard fought a battle the civil rights movement was, many cities and suburbs, including Ferguson, remain clouded with unfair treatment of black residents based on their race. Decades of racial discrimination, oftentimes supported, even fueled by politicians, bankers, and real estate agents catapulted Ferguson into the downtrodden suburb it is today. It was the enabling of politicians and the city’s wealthier, white population who refused to allow blacks into their communities to live or for black children to attend school with white children.

Throughout the years executives from the police department has been trying to find strategies to improve policing in our society. According to the history there are three eras of policing; the political era, the reform era and lastly the problem solving era in which we are in today. The political era began in the early 19th century (1840’s – 1900’s) and was dominated by the local political leaders which opened the door of corruption through politics. During this time the community along with politicians demanded foot patrol as a method to control disorder. In the late 19th and 20th century the reform era took place, the prohibition had a major impact during this era because it led to the organized crime and revolutionary groups to arise and

Will what happened in Ferguson change anything? Rioting will not solve anything and trying to solve violence with violence will not change anything.

It was the evening of August 9th 2014, when a small town erupted in a state of chaos. St. Louis County, Missouri was in a state of emergency as social riots spread. Belligerent men and women of all ages, storm around town, destroying all that they can put their hands on. Private businesses are burnt down and the windows of parked vehicles are shattered. Hateful slurs are graffitied around town, with sayings like, “fuck the police,” and “the only good cop is a dead cop.”

Since the beginning of police work in America, the system has changed from disorganized chaos into a well structured and rather complex network of communication, response efforts, and detection of lawless behavior. From the creation of the town watch to the transformation of the first police force in the colonies to the lawlessness of the old west and the efforts to revive efficient police work, America has been ever advancing its protection of those who live in the White House, the suburbs, the slums, and even those struggling on the streets. The History of Policing in America is not derived from one origin of time but rather taking the highest qualities of protection from within itself and countries of both friend and foe.

The racial conflict in Ferguson started with the violent police shooting of an unarmed black male teen named Michael Brown. This then catapulted the racial discrimination situation of the United States into the spotlight. Across the country, white male police officers have become increasingly violent towards the black population, treating them violently and indignantly. Though racial discrimination is not a new issue in the States, this brought back the formerly dormant issue from the 1950s and 60s of white superiority.

Gardner, John W. Self-renewal: The Individual and the Innovative Society. New York: Harper & Row, 1964. Print.

Ferguson is a small town in Missouri that infamously hit national headlines in 2014. After the police shooting of Michael Brown, his death invoked protests and the commonly known Black Lives Matter movement. But, the decision to not indict the police officer who shot Michael Brown ensued a second wave of protests and then angry rioting. Protests and animosity have been said to have started a ‘Ferguson Effect’, meaning a long-term distrust of the police after this horrific event in Ferguson, MO. But, this effect’s validity varies among the community.

Since the emergence of the first policing systems, there have been many different types emerge throughout different periods in history. The three main types of policing have been preventative, reactive, and proactive. These were each created in their own times to help combat crime or to aid the publics general safety. Each were suited to society’s needs at the time, the technology, and the diversity of the people. The preventative approach focuses on preventing future crime. To do this the police use methods such as patrolling areas where crime rates are higher to deter criminals. The reactive approach was more of a crime fighting mentality, where the focus was on arrest rates and response times. Police officers were very detached from general society and the us vs them mentality was strong within the force. The reactive policing style came about due to the technological advancements being made in the field such as having patrol cars instead of foot patrols, thus, taking the officers out of the public (Goff, 2017).

For years, public police have “walked the beat” and protected our streets from criminal activity. However, with an ever changing society, policing, as a whole, is evolving to combat the never ending battle on crime. Public and private policing have many similarities, as well as differences and the distinction between public and private police are often blurred. Private police look and behave like public police and describing their function often involves a comparison of the activities

The police of the late 20th century, however, have advantages their predecessors lacked in attempting to understand the future. They have access to limitless information, the ability to share thoughts and experiences globally, and have higher stages of education and training. Moreover, a fuller understanding of what policing can contribute towards the quality of life of a country. Merely along the debit side is a world far more complex than it was 100 or 1000 years ago. The requirements of police are constant, compelling and often competing. Thus, it is not always clear how police skills and resources deployed to achieve the civility, order, and security that society demands. If all their advanced skills, imaginations, and good intentions are

David H. Bayley, in the first chapter of Police for the Future (1994), provides a compelling argument disbanding the belief that police prevent crime. This was, in 1994 and still today, a very relevant topic for research as crime certainly exists and the majority of people, I would guess, would rather be protected from it that a victim of it. However, the studies Bayley researched show a disturbing trend: despite the overall number of officers, despite the population, despite the ratio of officers to number of crimes, despite police strategies, even despite arrests made – crime rates were not affected by any of these factors (p. 3-7). Bayley does point out that the primary studies these conclusions are based upon were undertaken in the 1970s – 20 years or more before Bayley’s publication (p. 9). Relatedly, Hoover (2005) corroborates this distinction of the 1970’s as the era where studies continually showed the failure

Through my studies, I hope to broaden my knowledge around crime control methods by familiarising myself on leading criminological theories that are currently being used by the police. I hope that it will assist me in developing crime control methods within the department that I am currently working in. I would also like to know how criminological theories are applied in the operational police context. Politics has influenced the police force since its conception. I want to understand how the police have been changed and continue to be changed by politics, by exploring constitutional positioning of the police in the UK.