True. I think the biggest influence in the whole thing would be household income. Regardless of what your race, gender, sexual orientation, etc. is, I'd imagine that income has the largest correlation between whether two people who actually committed the same crime wind up being read different verdicts. I do think race is still a factor too though, and that's actually something that I've come to realize more the longer I've been around the system and lived in a larger city, meaning that my view on it has shifted from what it used to be.

I think income and family stability are the two biggest factors.

Isn't violent crime at about a 30 year low?

 

Does that mean police are doing a good job?

 

FWIW Police deaths (by firearms) are up 63% this year.

Does that mean police are doing a good job?

 

No!

 

It means criminals have seen the light and are no longer committing unnecessary crimes, just the ones they need to get by.

What role does hip hop music play in this incident? I ask because it is being discussed as a potential factor.

I've wondered what impact advances in cell phone cameras, surveillance cameras...etc, has had on criminal activity. At least major crimes.

What role does hip hop music play in this incident? I ask because it is being discussed as a potential factor.

It is a cultural thing, it just happens IMO to be part of the culture for some criminals. Hip Hop is also part of the culture of law abiding citizens. As is Metal, Punk and Country Music.

What role does hip hop music play in this incident? I ask because it is being discussed as a potential factor.

How is it a potential factor?

Interesting post that I saw on Facebook today. It comes from the Criminal Justice Graduate Student Association of Eastern Kentucky University...

 

On behalf of the Criminal Justice Graduate Student Association of Eastern Kentucky University, we express our deepest support for the family of Michael Brown and solidarity with the community of Ferguson, Missouri. As budding scholars and practitioners in the Criminal Justice field we would be remiss to not recognize the deeply ingrained institutionalized racism that pervades policing and law enforcement throughout this country making, sadly, the events that have unfolded in Ferguson unsurprising, though no less unacceptable.

 

Policing in this country over the past several decades has shifted further and further away from the idea of police as “peace officers” and closer to a more militarized outlook, viewing the people of our communities as combatants. Young Black men specifically, minorities and the poor in general, are often seen as the most dangerous of these perceived combatants. This is certainly the case with Michael Brown’s shooting and the aftermath of militarized police crackdown on protestors who have had no official avenues to express their mounting outrage as nationally, the body count from excessive police-perpetrated violence rises. We share this outrage.

 

Reform is needed from the national, to the local, and the individual level if we are going to create a police force of the future that is cognizant of, and responsive to, the realities and needs of all populations within a community without resorting so rapidly to violence and deadly force. In pursuit of this we fully support the list of actions developed by Sociologists for Justice, who currently have the signed support of nearly 1,200 (and counting, please see references for a link to their website) sociologists and criminologists across the United States. In particular we support the following national legislative action recommended:

 

“Legislation requiring the use of dash and body-worn cameras to record all police interactions. Data from these devices should be immediately stored in tamper-proof databases, and there should be clear procedures for public access to any such recordings….

 

Federal legislation, currently being developed by Rep. Hank Johnson (D-GA), to halt the transfer of military equipment to local police departments, and additional legislation to curtail the use of such equipment against domestic civilian populations.”

 

Additionally we fully support the list of recommendations developed in a recent blog post by Dr. Kishonna Gray of the School of Justice Studies at Eastern Kentucky University. Dr. Gray’s recommendations are directed at local police departments and, if headed, would go a long way toward mending an ever-growing divide between the police and the communities they are trusted to protect and serve. In particular we want to highlight the following recommendations:

 

“Take Community Oriented Policing Seriously

Let’s try community policing again. Cops get out of your cars. Citizens are not enemy combatants. They are people who want to talk to you. We stare at you driving by for a reason. Yes we’re probably ticked off but get out and talk to us….

 

Diversity Training for Police

Existing diversity training for police officers is awful. For those policing marginalized communities, they know nothing of the communities they serve. Don’t just put this important task into the hands of the person who took a sociology course in race relations. Hire an actual professional and make sure the training is on-going. One time in the academy? The lesson won’t stick.”

 

As a people we must demand accountability from our officers and our policymakers. Our aim is a society where all people can expect respect and true safety when interacting with the police. We have a long way to go. The slaying of Michael Brown and the militarized response to protestors in Ferguson is just a small window into much larger problems. The loss of life at the hands of the state, the slaying of young black men, is not acceptable. We will not sit idly by any longer.

 

-The Criminal Justice Graduate Student Association of Eastern Kentucky University

 

Gray, K.L.

?I?m scared of the Boogeyman, ahem, I mean, I have to protect myself from any threat no matter how Big and Black? - Uprooting Criminology : A Reasoned Plot

Sociologists for Justice. 400+ Sociologists Demand Justice and Change in Policing of Communities of Color. August 25, 2014,

 

That post must have interested you, considering you posted it on what...3 separate threads?

 

It's not interesting as much as it is cringe worthy garbage.

No!

 

It means criminals have seen the light and are no longer committing unnecessary crimes, just the ones they need to get by.

 

I've wondered what impact advances in cell phone cameras, surveillance cameras...etc, has had on criminal activity. At least major crimes.

There are a host of reasons. The incarceration of the most heinous criminals being the most important, but policing - by the cops or citizens - whether be in technology or training is continuously evolving for the better.

There are a host of reasons. The incarceration of the most heinous criminals being the most important, but policing - by the cops or citizens - whether be in technology or training is continuously evolving for the better.

 

I find it funny that people long for the "old days when police were 'peace' officers". I'm guessing those people saying that weren't around in the good ole days.

I find it funny that people long for the "old days when police were 'peace' officers". I'm guessing those people saying that weren't around in the good ole days.

 

No kidding. Let's get back to ransacking like they do in the movies with billy clubs. Some have no clue how much for the better policing has become.

Edited August 29, 201412 yr by bugatti

That post must have interested you, considering you posted it on what...3 separate threads?

 

It's not interesting as much as it is cringe worthy garbage.

 

 

 

Sorry that my posting practices do not meet you approval--not that I have ever cared what you think about me. You're venom towards me is always evident, I'd expect nothing else from you. Feel free to block my posts if you don't want to read them.

 

It is interesting because the people that wrote it are going to be the next generation of law enforcement in our country. It also applied to all 3 threads. They can see that changes need to be made. Between attitudes line their's, legislation that is already in the works to end the 1033 program and the ruling of the Court of Appeals concerning liability when SWAT is misused a new era is farming.

Sorry that my posting practices do not meet you approval--not that I have ever cared what you think about me. You're venom towards me is always evident, I'd expect nothing else from you. Feel free to block my posts if you don't want to read them.

 

It is interesting because the people that wrote it are going to be the next generation of law enforcement in our country. It also applied to all 3 threads. They can see that changes need to be made. Between attitudes line their's, legislation that is already in the works to end the 1033 program and the ruling of the Court of Appeals concerning liability when SWAT is misused a new era is farming.

 

I didn't say I disapproved. I just thought it was clear that you obviously thought it was important, since you spam posted it all over controversial issues.

 

As for venom towards you, I have no clue what you are talking about. Apparently disagreeing with someone is "venom" now?

 

I'm not sure why you assume the people who wrote it are going to be the next generation of law enforcement. Being a criminal justice student doesn't mean you want to be in law enforcement, nor does it mean you are cut out for it. I have a friend who recently graduated from EKU's criminal justice grad school program. The views of the few who wrote that garbage certainly do not represent the views of all EKU criminal justice grad students.

 

Attitudes like theirs are ignorant in many ways. One being that they assumed, just like many others, that the police officer did something wrong when there is no way anyone can know that right now.

 

One thing that bothered me..."the body count from excessive police-perpetrated violence rises." Is it too difficult for grad students to back up their claims with facts? Any evidence that CONFIRMED cases of police brutality are on the rise? Or even that alleged cases of police brutality are on the rise?

 

There's more garbage than what I just posted. None of it seems to be supported by any facts.

I didn't say I disapproved. I just thought it was clear that you obviously thought it was important, since you spam posted it all over controversial issues.

 

As for venom towards you, I have no clue what you are talking about. Apparently disagreeing with someone is "venom" now?

 

I'm not sure why you assume the people who wrote it are going to be the next generation of law enforcement. Being a criminal justice student doesn't mean you want to be in law enforcement, nor does it mean you are cut out for it. I have a friend who recently graduated from EKU's criminal justice grad school program. The views of the few who wrote that garbage certainly do not represent the views of all EKU criminal justice grad students.

 

Attitudes like theirs are ignorant in many ways. One being that they assumed, just like many others, that the police officer did something wrong when there is no way anyone can know that right now.

 

One thing that bothered me..."the body count from excessive police-perpetrated violence rises." Is it too difficult for grad students to back up their claims with facts? Any evidence that CONFIRMED cases of police brutality are on the rise? Or even that alleged cases of police brutality are on the rise?

 

There's more garbage than what I just posted. None of it seems to be supported by any facts.

 

Perhaps that is because there is no accurate database of officer involved shootings. Why? One reason is that the police departments are often uncooperative and quit giving information to journalists that write negative articles. There are a couple of people trying to compile a database on this. Here's a couple of links:

 

What I've Learned from Two Years Collecting Data on Police Killings

 

We're Compiling Every Police-Involved Shooting In America. Help Us.

I'm not sure if it has been mentioned in this thread, but I do not see a thread about a shooting by an officer near Dayton Ohio at a Walmart that left one man dead.

 

Where is the swarming media? Where are all of the protesters crossing the line? The looting?

 

IMO the media doesn't give a darn about this situation as the residents have been peaceful in their protest, from what I hear. But if there was any sign of a protest not being 100% peaceful the media would swarm in and fan the flames as much as possible.