As the Interim Chief of Police for Courtelaney Pass, there is a need for a situation report to address the inconsistencies with the municipality’s police department approach to their way of handling issues. A situation report will offer the public a clear perspective on the issues facing the police department and its ability to discharge its mandate.
Issues: There is an inherent issue with the Courtelaney Pass municipality administration, which has contributed to the poor state of affairs, especially security matters and deterioration of public trust on the police demonstrate.
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The city council members' lukewarm attitude: 40% percent of the city council members are comfortable with the status quo within the municipality. Thus, a considerable section of the municipality is ignorant of the civil unrest in the black community. It is worrying that the municipality council does not work on a common front, which is worsened by the excessive use of force against young African Americans.
Lack of inclusivity in the police department: The human resources within the police department are unequally sourced from the ethnic groups forming the municipality’s population. 94% of the department is purely white while the rest is distributed among other minority groups. It is crucial to note that the Courtelaney Pass community is 55 percent white, 38 percent black and 7 percent Hispanic. Thus having 94% of the police department is a glaring inequality.
The concern of speed tickets and associated bias towards African Americans: The speed radar in Courtelaney Pass seems to be targeted at the blacks and out of town travelers since 87% of the speeding tickets are issued against members of this community. The former Chief of Police required that each office have at least 12 citations per shift.
Violent crime rate : There is an unprecedented rise in crime rate within Courtelaney Pass by 35 percent. Dealing with illegal drugs in the southern parts of the city could be a significant reason for increased criminal activities in the municipality. The drug issue could be related to the extrajudicial killing of suspected drug dealers and worsened by the resulting rivalry between minority groups and the police.
Sidelining of minority groups and undocumented immigrants: Undocumented migrants face several challenges such as home invasions and other criminal activities such as rape ordeals on their paydays perpetrated by criminals from the other ethnic groups.
Unsolved crimes: There are several unsolved crimes in the city with reports showing that the police have a lackluster attitude towards such incidences majorly because the crimes were meted against members of the black community. Also, the former Chief of Police is on record protecting officers who were unprofessional during the investigations.
The Current Situation
Task Force: A task force has been established to develop strategies and a formula for having inclusivity in the Police Department. The task force will also spearhead efforts to create a healthy working relationship between the police and society, especially the marginalized groups.
Interparty training programs: The task force established that there was a need for interparty training to foster healthy police-public relationships. Such workshops are to target community leaders such as religious and community policing leaders. The task force also recommends that the municipal leaders be enjoined in the whole process ( Bradford, 2014 )
Financial : The task force estimated that the workshops would need approximately $300,000 each month for three-month training programs. The entire workshop cycle will take one year after commencing.
Meetings : Members of the Police organized a set of meetups with the public to create goodwill between the two parties. The meetings were facilitated by the task force mentioned above.
Action Steps:
Operational: Use the allocated finances to conduct campaigns geared at educating the public on the dangers of engaging in drugs and crimes. Other goals for the public campaign program will sensitize the public on the need for community policing.
Structural: Bring sanity in the Police Department by ensuring that there is a gradual hiring of police officers from all ethnic groups to achieve equality.
Revisiting past injustices: Ensure that all covered up past crimes, especially those involving officers, are revived, and justice is served to all parties.
Documentation : Ensure that all progress is recorded for future references. Such records will help entrench a culture of accountability and responsibility in the Police Department.
Reference
Bradford, B. (2014). Policing and social identity: Procedural justice, inclusion and cooperation between police and public. Policing and society , 24 (1), 22-43.