Your responses will be greatly enhanced by an understanding of all of the videos provided.
Police officers and departments are under greater scrutiny than in years past. Much of that seems to come from the advent of social media, greater news channels and coverage, and increased social activism and awareness of people’s rights and obligations in our society.
Most everyone agrees about the need for law enforcement to protect people from harm, catch criminals, and go into violent situations that others would flee from without the training that police officers receive. The question becomes not only whether more needs to be expected from the police in curtailing crime and violence, but also whether there needs to be a better relationship between police and the people that they serve.
Community policing is one approach to better relations between police and the larger public. After reviewing the four videos from TED Talks and TEDx Talks and the optional recommended resources, answer the journal questions below. Please enhance your responses with independent research, personal experiences, and observations from your daily life. Be careful about engaging in “urban myths” and hasty generalizations about the topics you study here. Support your information with credible sources. Offer new ideas on how police can build better relationships with the communities that they serve.
For your journal,
Explain the notion of warrior versus guardian mindset for policing.
Examine how technology and social media frame how the public views police actions.
Explain how police agencies can improve their officers’ relationships with the people that they serve.
Describe, in your opinion, the proper balance between the warrior versus guardian mindset for police agencies moving forward.
Predict how police agencies will change (or not change) over the next decade based on the discussions in the sources provided.
