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You are required to write a professional-style memo (400-600 words) on a problem facing a hypothetical police department, and your proposed solutions. You may take the perspective of any stakeholder (a concerned individual, an organizational representative, or a member of a particular interest group) and can address your memo to any party who may influence, or be influenced by, police activity. You can ground this memo in any historical period (including, but not limited to, the Prohibition period, the Civil Rights era, the 1990s crime drop, etc.) .
If writing from a perspective other than a contemporary one, please draw from the material presented in weeks 2 and 3, and/or related sources.
If writing from a contemporary perspective, please be sure to ground your hypothetical problem in at least one of the theoretical frameworks presented in weeks 4 and 5)
A professional memo is meant to communicate information succinctly, often with the goal of achieving a specific desired outcome. It’s important for this message to be targeted to your intended audience, and for the sender’s perspective and voice to be made clear. The problem you describe may be experienced at the individual level (e.g., “I was subjected to excessive force in a police stop.”) or an institutional level (e.g., “Our police department is facing an officer shortage.”) but the suggested solutions should be appropriate to the nature of the problem.
weeks4 :Moore, M. H., & Kelling, G. L. (1983). To serve and protect: Learning from police history. The Public Interest, 70, 49-65.Download Moore, M. H., & Kelling, G. L. (1983). To serve and protect: Learning from police history. The Public Interest, 70, 49-65.
Vollmer, A. (1930). The scientific policeman. American Journal of Police Science, 1, 8-12. Download Vollmer, A. (1930). The scientific policeman. American Journal of Police Science, 1, 8-12. White, S. O. (1972). A perspective on police professionalization. Law & Society Review, 7, 6186. Download White, S. O. (1972). A perspective on police professionalization. Law & Society Review, 7, 6186. Video: Historical and Contemporary Context for Policing in Communities. The National Academies. Especially Video 4 (Simon Balto, University of Iowa). Viewable at
https://www.nationalacademies.org/event/01-25-2021/reducing-racial-inequalities-in-thecriminal-justice-system-workshop-1
week5 : *Cheng, T. (2020). “Input without Influence: The Silence and Scripts of Police and Community Relations.” Social Problems 61(1): 171-189.Download *Cheng, T. (2020). “Input without Influence: The Silence and Scripts of Police and Community Relations.” Social Problems 61(1): 171-189.
Heymann, P. B. (2000). “The New Policing.” Fordham Urban Law Journal 28: 407-456.Download Heymann, P. B. (2000). “The New Policing.” Fordham Urban Law Journal 28: 407-456.
Lepore, J. (2018). These truths: A history of the United States (First edition). New York: W. W. Norton & Company. Pages 620-645.pdfDownload Lepore, J. (2018). These truths: A history of the United States (First edition). New York: W. W. Norton & Company. Pages 620-645.pdf
Pearson, J., Felix, T., Rhinerson, S. & Rodriguez, D. 2021. Lessons to Advance Community Policing: More Case Studies from the Field. Washington, DC: Office of Community Oriented Policing Services. https://cops.usdoj.gov/RIC/Publications/cops-w0939-pub.pdfDownload Pearson, J., Felix, T., Rhinerson, S. & Rodriguez, D. 2021. Lessons to Advance Community Policing: More Case Studies from the Field. Washington, DC: Office of Community Oriented Policing Services. https://cops.usdoj.gov/RIC/Publications/cops-w0939-pub.pdf
President’s Task Force: Pillar 4. Pages 41-50.Download President’s Task Force: Pillar 4. Pages 41-50.
Weisburd & Majimudar (2018), pp. 211-224
Wilson, J. Q. and G. L. Kelling (1982). “Broken Windows.” Atlantic Monthly 249(3): 29-36, 38. Download Wilson, J. Q. and G. L. Kelling (1982). “Broken Windows.” Atlantic Monthly 249(3): 29-36, 38. Reading: Session 7
Barbara Bond and Anthony Braga, ‘Rethinking The Compstat Process To Enhance Problem Solving Responses: Insights From A Randomized Field Experiment’, 16 Police Practice & Research 22-35 (2015). Download Barbara Bond and Anthony Braga, ‘Rethinking The Compstat Process To Enhance Problem Solving Responses: Insights From A Randomized Field Experiment’, 16 Police Practice & Research 22-35 (2015). Skogan & Frydl, pp. 202-206.
Smith, C. 2018. “The Controversial Crime-Fighting Program that Changed Big-City Policing Forever.” New York Intelligencer, https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2018/03/the-crime-fighting-program-that-changed-new-york-forever.htmlLinks to an external site.
Weisburd, David & Mastrofski, Stephen & Greenspan, Rosann & Willis, James. (2004). The Growth of Compstat in American Policing.Download Weisburd, David & Mastrofski, Stephen & Greenspan, Rosann & Willis, James. (2004). The Growth of Compstat in American Policing.
Weisburd, D. L., Mastrofski, S., McNally, A. M., Greenspan, R., and Willis, J. (2003). Reforming to preserve: Compstat and strategic problem solving in American policing. Criminology & Public Policy, 2(3), 421–456. doi:10.1111/j.1745-9133.2003.tb00006.x. Download Weisburd, D. L., Mastrofski, S., McNally, A. M., Greenspan, R., and Willis, J. (2003). Reforming to preserve: Compstat and strategic problem solving in American policing. Criminology & Public Policy, 2(3), 421–456. doi:10.1111/j.1745-9133.2003.tb00006.x. Weisburd and Majumdar, “The Emergence of Modern Proactive Policing”. Pp. 29-33