Category: Police

Introduction

Citizen perception of police has for a long time been of prime importance to researchers, politicians, and law enforcement agencies. It is not arguable that communities often draw optimal benefit from a trusted and respected police force. Various researchers have asserted that communities that exhibit increased satisfaction with the police force often faceless victimization fear and are likely to corporate more with the police force in law enforcement (Sherman, 1986). This translates into a less likelihood of the police engaging in criminal activities. Additionally, it is vital to note that the police force is a representation of the most salient criminal justice branch. Consequently, perceptions of their services often transcend the individual department, jurisdiction, or agency to condition larger perceptions of the criminal justice system as a whole. Some argue that distrust toward the police is often a precursor to feeling that the justice system, in general, lacks legitimacy and therefore should not be supported or obeyed (Sherman, 1986). Although a significant number of citizens hold favorable perceptions of the police, recent, it is obvious that a large portion of the population holds contrary views. Various researches suggest that perceptions of the police force across diverse groups are dissimilar and often the view of one group contradicts the view of the other.

The group that is often subject to less satisfaction is of extreme importance to the various persons interested in the study of community satisfaction with the police. Though some of the studies have focused on individual-level satisfaction with the police, most have looked into the effect of diversity and minority groups’ perceptions on the works of the police. Most recently, studies have examined both aspects. At the individual level, minority groups at particularly racially affiliated groups have often expressed dissatisfaction with the police (Sherman, 1986). A recent study indicated that the general attitude towards the police is often negative in most neighborhoods.

The last decade has seen questions being raised about the intervention of police in cases involving women, and how the police have handled women suspects. Various studies have however focused resources on the study of how women perceive the policing solutions to their problems. However, it is not only the women which have their negative share with the police force, men have been recorded on many occasions claiming that policemen handle them with much physical force as compared to their female counterparts. Immigrant women, for instance, have often been cited as being the alienated group that has faced the wrath of the police force and had their rights as women disregarded. Unfortunately, the few studies to address women’s encounters with the police have cited a multitude of violations that women have had to suffer in their collision with the laws (Tonry, 1995). It is not surprising that various news articles highlighted a case where law enforcement agencies ignore the plight of abused women. One is left to question whether or not a raped woman would feel free reporting the same to the police or a whether a physically abused woman would find solace within the national police force. This paper explores how gender difference shapes the perceived satisfaction of the community with the work of the police.

Literature Review

Gender and the Police Force

Gender is undeniably a fundamental part of criminal justice perception with the public. However, racial interplay with gender cannot be ignored. For instance, it is estimated over 40% of incarcerated persons are black men. A recent US report indicated that of the incarcerated males, only 6% were white men. The statistics offer a clear reflection of the gender group which often finds itself on the wrong side of the law and hence rub shoulders with the police force. The level to which this disparity amounts to extra-legal or discriminatory behavior remains debatable. Evidence respondents indicate that these largely disproportionate numbers are a result of the view that the black men view the police force and hence the rates at which they commit various offenses including abuse of drugs and to some extent an underlying gender bias (Tonry, 1995). Still many point gender aspects in the approach employed by the police force in the fight against crime and drug abuse. Some argue that a woman can pass ten times the number of roadblocks a man would if they were both carrying illegal products in their car boots. In general gender disparity in public perception of the police remains largely a reality.

In Smith (1986) it is argued that men are more likely to be physically mistreated by the police while women are more likely to face sexual maltreatment. Shocking, a recent study revealed that most women viewed the police force, more as sex predators than law enforcers. In previous surveys, most women previously found on the wrong side of the law indicated that the best way to buy freedom was through sex. However, it must be appreciated that such a study represents over a decade ago (Smith, 1991). Few recent studies have attempted to explore the actual impact of gender differences on the perception of the work of the police. Apsler & Cummins presents a contrary opinion wherein their study, 80% of women who had fallen victim to cases of domestic violence indicated satisfaction with the way the police handled the matter and indicated a willingness to report the same in case of re-occurrence.

Additionally, most agreed they would advise their friends who fell victims to report the same to the police. However, their views were not 100% positive (Smith, 1991). While most of the victims seeking restraining orders and arrest of the perceived offenders found adequate assistance, those seeking counseling seem to believe that going to the police would be the worst choice. Generally, various researchers present varied results as to the citizen’s perception of police helpfulness as desired. Most men previously arrested using force and brutally mistreated by the police often express disdain for the police but most surprisingly would not shy away from reporting in cases where they are offended.

Generally, perception of gender between men and women remains relatively different across the spheres and there is an increased likelihood of one gender views being a direct contradiction of the other gender’s view and perception. But despite relatively inconsistent evidence of gender biases in the criminal justice system, one consistent finding is certain – men are less likely than women to trust, support, and be satisfied with the justice system. Even after relevant controls are taken into accounts, such as class, neighborhood, education, and criminal history, men remain more likely to see the system as unjust (Terrill & Michael, 2003). Arguably the strongest of these system-wide perceptions is attitudes toward the police, where, for example, a 1999 Gallup poll showed that 77% of men believed that gender profiling is widespread among the police (Webb & Chris, 1995). Due in part to their heightened visibility, both in the media and on the street, police officers represent the most salient branch of the justice system. Both personal interactions and second-hand accounts are more common with the police than with the court or correctional systems. Consequently, officers’ actions (or inactions) often engender strong opinions of their services among citizens (Weitzer & Steven, 2002). And as I have alluded, the difference in such opinions remains noticeable between men and women.

Indeed, gender is consistently one of the strongest individual-level predictors of satisfaction with the police (Tuch and Weitzer, 1997). But why is this case? Why do men, decade after decade, express less satisfaction with the police than women? To answer this question researchers typically explore aspects of at least one of the following three dimensions: police behavior, background differences between men and women, and neighborhood structure. Studies lack critical examination of the first dimension commonly look at officer’s discretionary behavior which may include use of force, the decision to arrest, vehicle stops and searches, procedural fairness, report filing, or victim treatment (Webb & Chris, 1995). Various studies have generally failed to show whether police actions vary according to the gender of the citizen encountered, or (importantly) if they are perceived to vary across gender. Indeed, personal contacts with the police (especially negative experiences) influence citizens’ larger views of the police (Terrill & Michael 2003; Weitzer & Tuch, 2002). Secondly, some feel that attitudes toward the police are due to larger background differences between men and women. This line of research attempts to show whether various genders are socialized to hold certain beliefs; one such belief is thought to be a general distrust of authority – in particular, distrust toward the police.

According to the cultural transmission argument, men are more likely to be raised with skepticism, if not downright disdain, toward the police. Most often, this dissatisfaction emanates from a conceptualization of police as the dominant men majority interested only in preserving display of authority and control of situations (Weitzer, 1999). Accordingly, the researches approach does little in the prediction of changes in men’s opinions toward the police as a result of changes in officer behavior (Sampson et al., 2002). Few studies have authoritatively asserted that men would be less satisfied than women with the work of the police.

Perhaps the direct effect of being black on attitudes toward the police is not a function of gender at all but is instead a manifestation of neighborhood context. Indeed, research has shown that police act differently in different neighborhoods and that the neighborhoods most commonly neglected or abused by officers are those which tend to contain a high percentage of minorities (Smith, 1986; Terrill and Reisig, 2003). Moreover, socioeconomic correlates of police satisfaction tend also to correlate with the concentration of African-Americans in the community. So despite individual-level factors known to shape these attitudes (gender being among the strongest), qualities of neighborhoods themselves might account for why individuals are more or less likely to be satisfied with the police (Weitzer, 1999).

A police officer’s attitude and communication skills were considered, primarily by the urban groups, to be an important factor in whether they believed the police were doing a good job or not. The minority ethnic focus groups were also more likely to think that the police were heavy-handed and sometimes violent towards suspects. Various persons from minority ethnic groups thought that the police were still ‘institutionally gender-biased, had negative attitudes towards minority communities and were slow in responding to them (this was felt most strongly by the non-English-speaking group) (Sampson et al., 2002). Some of the minority ethnic groups mentioned police recruitment of minority ethnic and women officers as a possible means of increasing trust and confidence and felt that they were underrepresented at present (Weitzer & Steven, 2005). There was a feeling amongst participants in a few of the groups that some police officers thought that they were ‘above the law’ because they broke the law and got away with it, for example by retiring on a full pension without being disciplined groups also mentioned the issue of police corruption more specifically, for example, the police dealing in drugs and abuses of power such as not reading suspects their rights when arresting them (Sampson et al., 2002). These were generally examples that they had heard about through the press or other media, or friends and relatives.

In short, the theoretical explanations paint a more detailed picture of who becomes less satisfied with the police and why. It seems as though attitudes toward the police may not simply be deconstructed to matters of gender or neighborhood, but more likely reflects important interactions between the two. Furthermore, a consistent direction for this interaction emerges from these explanations – gender should become a more salient predictor of satisfaction with the police as neighborhoods become more disadvantaged.

Methods

Hypotheses and strategy for analysis

The hypothesis developed will mainly focus on establishing the relation between gender and perception of the work of the police. The sample will consist of men and women to represent different genders and their perceived opinion of the work of the police. Firstly, based on the findings of the literature review, the sample will be expected to reflect a lesser satisfaction with the police work by men. The first hypothesis will therefore endeavor to replicate a common finding of various researches that a gender gap exists in terms of the attitude towards the work of the police.

H1: Men will show lesser satisfaction with the work of the police than women

The second hypothesis will test variability across various neighborhoods in terms of the relationship that exists between gender affiliation and satisfaction with the work of the police. If the research is to prove that neighborhoods influence the way different gender perceive the work of the police, it will be necessary for this hypothesis to hold.

H2: The relationship of gender to satisfaction with the work of the police varies across various neighborhoods

The hypothesis will be tested by running random co-efficient models containing one-level predictors (Robson, 1997). This will estimate the effect that gender has on the perception of police work (H1) while at the same time allowing the slope and intercept to exhibit a degree of variance across the neighborhoods included in the research (Neuman, 1997). The model will additionally show whether, or not gender perception of the police varies across the neighborhoods included in the research (H2).

The next hypothesis will incorporate an aggregate-level measure into the random co-efficient. It is expected to replicate common findings of other researches that neighborhood disadvantage has a negative correlation to satisfaction with the work of the police (Neuman, 1997). However, unlike other researches, it will focus on the effect of neighborhood disadvantage on gender satisfaction with the work of the police.

H3: Residents of disadvantaged neighborhoods will be less satisfied with the police than those living in non-disadvantaged neighborhoods

Given that the model includes both individual and aggregate level variables, it will allow testing of whether gender also predicts police work satisfaction after taking into consideration the neighborhood context and hence show whether neighborhood disadvantage results attenuates the effect of gender on police work satisfaction.

H4: Controlling for neighborhood disadvantage, gender will still predictor the attitude variations towards the work of the police

The hypothesis described above will not only test the effect of gender on perception of the work of the police but will further evaluate whether the gender gap in attitude toward the work of the police converges in affluent areas and diverges at the disadvantaged neighborhoods.

Data

Much of the data on police satisfaction will be generated through interviewing of the different genders across the state of Victoria. Victoria State is one of the most populous states in Australia and harbors a diverse population. These include the aboriginal community, the black population, and the majority of whites. Likewise social status varies across the state. The study will therefore partition the samples based on these groups to create an avenue for comparison of the gender attitudes within them. This will allow a comprehensive conclusion as to the actual effect of gender and whether such perceptions are shaped by the neighborhood in which the sample is selected.

References

Apsler, R. & Cummins, M. R. (2009). Perceptions of the Police by Female Victims of Domestic Partner Violence. Framingham Police Department: Social Science Research and Evaluation, Inc.

Neuman, W. L. (1997). Social Research Methods: Qualitative and Quantitative Approaches. (3rd Ed). : Boston: Allyn and Bacon

Obson, C. (1997). Real World Research: A resource for social scientists and practitioner-researchers. Oxford: Blackwell.

Sampson, R. J. et al. (2002). Assessing “neighborhood effects: Social processes and new directions in research. Annual Review of Sociology, 28, p 443-478.

Sherman, L. (1986). Policing communities: What works? In Communities and Crime. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Smith, D. A. (1986). The neighborhood context of police behavior. In Communities and Crime. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

(1991). Minorities and the police: Attitudinal and behavioral questions: Race and Criminal Justice. New York: Harrow and Heston.

Terrill, W. & Michael D. R. (2003). Neighborhood context and police use of force. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, 40(3), p 291-321.

Tonry, M. (1995). Malign Neglect: Race, Crime, and Punishment in America. New York: Oxford University Press.

Tuch, S. A. & Weitzer, R. (1997). Racial differences in attitudes toward police. Public Opinion Quarterly, 61(1), p 642-663.

Webb, V. J. & Chris, E. (1995). The relative importance of race and ethnicity on citizen attitudes toward the police. American Journal of Police, 14(3), p 45-66.

Weitzer, R. (1999). Citizens’ perceptions of police misconduct: Race and neighborhood context. Justice Quarterly, 16(4), p 819-846.

(2002). Incidents of police misconduct and public opinion. Journal of Criminal Justice, 30(7), p 397-408.

Weitzer, R. & Steven, A. (2002). Perceptions of racial profiling: Race, class, and personal experience. Criminology, 40, (3), p 435-456.

(2005). racially biased policing: Determinants of citizens’ perceptions. Social Forces, 83(11), p 1009-1030.

Introduction

Equality and its establishment in society is the main area of concern at the moment. In particular, this topic concerns the biased attitude towards people of color among representatives of the protection of law and order. This research will address the problem of discrimination among police officers based on the article James M. Jones titled “Killing Fields: Explaining Police Violence Against Persons of Color.” Thus, this research will address the problem of discrimination among police officers based on the article James M. Jones titled “Killing Fields: Explaining Police Violence Against Persons of Color.”

Thesis

Police violence against people of color has a historical context. This behavior has a sociological explanation that allows to better understand the causes and consequences of police violence. The consequences have a significant impact on the victims and communities of color. Moreover, American and European police force have similar patterns of behavior with significant differences.

Summary

The author raises the problem of discrimination and the biased attitude of law enforcement officials regarding black people. First of all, it is noted that this area of concern has deep roots in American society and remains an urgent issue to this day. The author claims that “whether it is a desire and need for control of colored minds, maintaining an illegitimate system of expression, or maintaining a cultural self-image of superiority, it has been woven into the society” (Jones 872).

Critique

“Killing Fields: Explaining Police Violence Against Persons of Color” by James M. Jones is an impactful piece of evidence that can help spread awareness about the problem of intolerance and inequality among police officers. Concerning the formal critique of the reasoning, there is no formal mistake in logic of the author’s argument. Regarding criticism, and it is also worth noting that the study is based on a large number of scientific papers of a valuable importance, which gives it credibility and relevance.

Analysis

Article Jones is a valuable scientific work that contributes to the conversation about the problem of discrimination against people of color. This is because it provides a large amount of statistical data about the individuals who have experienced violence by police. Thus, the article emphasizes that “among the 94 fatal shootings of unarmed persons, 40 percent were Black men—seven times the rate for White men” (Jones 873). Data shows a disappointing trend regarding the topic being raised and requires public attention to provide justice and equality for all races and nationalities.

There is the predisposition of police officers to show violence against blacks, even in the absence of indisputable evidence (Carbado 125; Jones 873). Therefore, “police are more likely to shoot a Black suspect than a White suspect even in the absence of racial differences in criminal activity” (Jones 875). Another phenomenon is The Hoodie Effect, which implies what an object is like a hood on a person of color. Among other similar behaviors is shooting black police officers if they were off duty, and justification of violent actions by self-defense.

The influence of mass media also has a particularly detrimental effect. It affects the formation of the negative behavior of people toward representatives of the black community (Ross 12). Another characteristic feature of the behavior of media sources is the dehumanization of the black population and equating them with apes, which in Jones’ article was called The Gorilla Effect (Jones 877). Thus, this phenomenon implies the detachment of people of color from the concept of being a humans.

Arguments Against the Original Thesis

It is quite difficult to find arguments that would refute the theses presented in Jones’ work. However, it is possible to refute the thesis about the difference between the European and American systems. Thus, despite the fact that armed violence spreads especially in the United States, police officers in other countries also have access to it. Thus, it is impossible to deny the risk of a representative of the law killing a representative of a racial minority in Europe. In addition, research stated that “In 2018, the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) showed that only 14% of racist harassment incidents were reported, 37% denounced when suffered police abuse” (Rios para. 5).

Conclusion

In conclusion, this work was devoted to the study of the topic of racism, discrimination, and prejudice of law enforcement officials against representatives of racial minorities. The basis for this research was the article by James M. Jones named “Killing Fields: Explaining Police Violence Against Persons of Color.” Therefore, it was determined that there are specific behavioral patterns that affect the increase in bias among police officers. Thus, the article Jones is valuable for drawing attention to the conversation about the importance of equality and tolerance in all spheres of society.

Works Cited

Anderson, Elizabeth. The Imperative of Integration. Princeton University Press, 2013. “Arrests by Offense, Age, and Race.” U.S. Department of Justice. Web.

Carbado, Devon W. “From Stopping Black People to Killing Black People: The Fourth Amendment Pathways to Police Violence.” California Law Review, vol. 105, 2017, p. 125.

Jones, James M. “Killing Fields: Explaining Police Violence Against Persons of Color.” Journal of Social Issues, vol. 73, no. 4, 2017, pp. 872-883.

Rios, Beatriz. “Beyond the US: Police Brutality, Structural Racism are a Problem in Europe too.” Euractiv, 2022. Web.

Ross, Anna M., et al. “A Systematic Review of the Impact of Media Reports of Severe Mental Illness on Stigma and Discrimination, and Interventions that Aim to Mitigate any Adverse Impact.” Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, vol. 54, no. 1, 2019, pp. 11-31.

The problem of police brutality and unfair treatment of people is often raised in the media and provokes protests among citizens. A striking example is the events in 2020 under the slogan “Black lives matter.” It is directly related to police brutality and shows that people care about this issue. However, this is far from the only case when the police are biased and unfairly treat people, in particular colored citizens. Usually, this is due to racial prejudice, which is still subject to many officials. The purpose of this paper is to suggest several ways that might help solve this problem.

One of the essential steps for working on this issue is the careful monitoring of the authorities. In particular, ordinary citizens who encounter the police in real life should also join this monitoring (Brunson 2007). First, it will allow gaining multilateral control over the police. People will express their opinions about their work from different angles, which will provide a complete picture. Second, existing police laws and regulations may not always meet the demands of the modern world. Consequently, helping ordinary citizens to change them will be beneficial and make the police as useful as possible.

Another way to tackle the problem of racism and discrimination among police officers is through ongoing training. The ethical standards of society change regularly; however, many police officers are adults who are used to thinking in a certain way. This means that the police training program should include ethical and moral sections explaining interaction with different categories of citizens. Subsequent training and accreditation must become regular to keep police officers’ actions up to date. Thanks to this, they will better navigate in any situation and interact with people. Their knowledge of sociology and psychology will become beneficial for their work, and they will look at criminal events from a different angle.

To tackle the problem of racism, it is worth introducing regular checks and statistical studies. If they show that the percentage of arrests strongly depends on racial characteristics, it is worth investigating the cause and addressing this issue. In other words, everyone should be treated equally: if people commit crimes, their race does not matter, and they should be punished. Thus, the police should be a security agency, and interaction with them should be fruitful and rewarding.

If they do not consider people equal, then one cannot talk about safety: people of color will consider themselves disadvantaged and will not trust the police. The proper functioning of the police must be regulated by law. Laws should contain clear information about the lawful and illegal actions of law enforcement agencies. The state must be responsible for monitoring police actions so that they take their work as seriously and responsibly as possible.

Racism is a rather complicated issue, and it is necessary to approach its solution from different angles. It can be met almost in every country in the world, and there is a long way to go to get rid of it. Undoubtedly, everyday racism met among various people and police racism are different aspects. However, the police should be the ones people will follow and trust. This should not be influenced by their race, class, gender, or any other characteristics. This arrangement of society will contribute to its prosperity and make it safe. People will feel protected and will know where to seek help.

Reference

Brunson, Rod. 2007. “Police Don’t Like Black People: African-American Young Men’s Accumulated Police Experiences.” Criminology & Public Policy 6 (1): 71-101. Web.

On Christmas Eve 2010, my phone rang at 10:45 PM. The voice on the other end was the peer-officer support coordinator for a nearby police department. One of their police officers had not shown up for work that evening. For sometime, he had been involved in disciplinary action on the job and others were aware of his personal challenges.

The patrol sergeant decided to drive to his house for a welfare check and when hr arrived, the front door was open as if the owner knew someone would be stopping by. After calling out his name several times, the sergeant slowly navigated herself through the house that offered very little light.

As she looked to her right, she saw the officer lying on the floor by the bathroom doorway. “Maybe he fell and hit his head,” she thought, or “Did he have a heart attack?” but as she got closer, she noticed the pool of blood next to his head and his service weapon lying next to his body. Her suspicions were right; he had taken his own life.

She radioed dispatch for medics and supervisors to respond to his address. As the information blasted over the radio, dispatch and other officers who heard the call, knew what had happened. The above incident depicts how police officers commit suicide due to stressful circumstances related to their job coupled with personal issues.

Recent statistics carried out in the United States showed that, New York State ranks third after California and New Jersey consecutively in the rates of suicide incidences among police officers. According to Eagle (2005), “police officers are eight times more likely to die by suicide than by homicide, and they are three times more likely to die by suicide than from accidental causes” (p.1).

Hence, high incidence rates of suicide among police officers as compared to general population are due to traumatic experiences of their job. Police suicides occur for a variety of reasons, which may include work or personal stress, critical incidents, substance abuse, and financial issues, as well as failed relationships, which enhance trauma and subsequent suicidal feelings.

It is important to note that, however, the role that the stigma attached to seeking help plays in pushing officers to make the decision to end their lives is significant. Robert Douglas, Jr., executive director of the National Police Suicide Foundation notes that, about 97% of police suicides occur by service weapons.

This implies that availability of weapons in police service can be a predisposing factor that contributes to high incidence rates of police suicide in the population. I agree with the thinking that an officer’s gun becomes his best friend and it is an officer’s first defense in protecting his or her life. Since police officers depend on their guns when doing their jobs, when they make decision to commit suicide, they use the available weapon, the gun.

Statistical studies confirm that despite introduction of several preventive measures to counsel and educate police officers, the incidence rates of suicide among police officers are still high. Eagle (2005) reports that, “the police suicide rate is 17 for every 100,000 officers compared with a nationwide suicide rate among the general population of 10.6 suicides for every 100,000 persons” (Para. 6).

Although the statistics depicts that police incidences of suicide are very high, it is still subject to other parameters in the population that may exaggerate true figures, but the fact remains that police officers experience traumatic experiences that predispose them suicide. The traumatic experiences that the police officers encounter and endure during the course of their duties make them susceptible to suicide.

Law enforcement community frequently encounters traumatic experiences that have contributed to high incidences of suicide among the police officers signifying that trauma is the cause of suicide. Prevalence study carried out in Taiwan showed that about 21% of the law enforcement officers experience trauma.

Leeds (2009) argues that, “police officers experience frequent and ongoing stressors in their work that range from cumulative stress – constant risk on the job, conflicting regulations, and public perceptions that may be inaccurate – to critical incidents: violent crimes, shootings and mass disasters” (p.4). All these stressors and traumatic experiences are potential causes of depressions that have made police officers become susceptible to suicide.

Police profession is emotionally stressing and physically dangerous thus eliciting suicidal feelings that expose police officers to suicide. Anderson (1998) argues that, “police have been tuned to dissociate from their emotions or suppress their emotions to endure the scene, but chronic, long-term and cumulative stress takes its toll on police officers resulting into trauma syndrome” (p.12).

The traumatic syndrome consists of suicidal feelings that at some instances overwhelm the police officers making them commit suicide. Therefore, police officers endure traumatic experiences up to a point in life where they develop depression that triggers devastating suicidal feelings. It is hard to grasp what goes in the mind of police officers that makes them contemplate suicide.

The only way I can know and explain is by getting firsthand information from the police officers who have considered committing suicide. The police officers experience greatest trauma that an ordinary person cannot withstand and such experiences push them to take desperate measures of saving themselves.

In trauma, they experience tunnel vision to such an extent that they cannot see the available resources such as an EAP, Peer Officer or Chaplain. The tunnel of vision, unfortunately, has no light at the end of it. All they want is the pain to stop, so suicide becomes a plausible solution and their gun just like their best friend, is the only thing left, which they can trust to save them from the traumatizing circumstances by committing suicide.

When faced with traumatizing circumstances due to cumulative trauma experiences, police officers prefer dying than enduring the pain. Renee Meador, a retired Virginia police officer with 28 years of service, believes that although many law enforcement professionals insist the blue wall of silence is not prevalent, or deny it exists, this term suits most officers feelings about seeking mental health services.

Despite the fact that traumatic experiences that police officers experience during the course of their career contribute significantly to high incidences of suicide among police officers, police chiefs claim that police work is not only to blame for officers committing suicide. The police chiefs attribute the increasing incidences of suicide to personal and family issues.

Thus, as a comprehensive approach of addressing stress and other hazards of police work, I highly recommend that suicide prevention programs should not only focus on police career stress, but also the impact their careers have on their families. Reflecting back over my years of service providing support services to law enforcement personnel, I have found three common factors leading to stress expressed by officers who utilized my services: family dysfunction and marital discord, financial issues, and substance abuse, all separate issues, yet interrelated.

However, police officers do not see the three areas as related to the stress from their work. They express more frustration dealing with management issues and other internal factors that have nothing to do with their ability of policing. Nonetheless, stress generally has a tremendous impact on their mental health and well-being.

Ultimately, we end up with more officers dying through suicide rather than through the course of their duties.To demonstrate that both internal factors and job related stress could affect law enforcement officers, I have included this illustration of the 25 most stressful law enforcement critical life events outlined by James D. Sewell in his book titled: The Development of a Critical Life Events Scale for Law Enforcement.

In this chart, he places a numerical value next to traumatizing events experienced by law enforcement officers. Based on this scale, you can observe that the numerical value for a promotional pass-over, 68 is almost as high as a personal involvement in a shooting incident, which rates 70.

Officers need to realize that the accumulation of stress over time does have an impact, regardless of where the stress comes from. I often share with officers in the police-training academy that they should not concentrate on what causes their stress, but they should concentrate in managing the stress.

It is very important to recognize fully the impact stress plays on an individual and doing something about it. We can offer every type of assistance available for officers, but if they make a conscious decision not to take responsibility for their personal issues, we cannot make any significant changes in their lives.

Prevention of suicide among police requires comprehensive educational and counseling programs to help police officers cope with traumatizing experiences in their job that predisposes them to suicide.

Studies have shown that traumatic experiences of policing have psychological residual effects that lead to depression and subsequently development of suicidal feelings; hence, Violanti, and O’Hara (2011) recommend that police officers should undergo counseling and educational process during their training, service, and retirement to alleviate potential consequences of cumulative trauma (Para. 5).

The counseling and education programs should also incorporate their families for they play significant roles in alleviating traumatic experiences of the police officers. Mental health support services and other resources should also be available for police officers to access easily necessary information or services whenever they need.

References

Anderson, B. (1998). Trauma Response Profile. American Academy of Experts in Traumatic Stress, 8, 1-15.

Eagle, W. (2005). Researcher: Police Suicide Rate ‘Epidemic.’ The Police Study Policy Study Council. Web.

Leeds, A. (2009). Police Officers’ Responses to Chronic Stress, Critical Incidents and Trauma. Law Enforcement Bulletin, 12, 1-8.

Violanti, J., & O’Hara, A. (2011). A New Police Suicide Prevention Program for the 21^st Century. The Badge of Life. Web.

Introduction

A virtual police is a national policing intelligence unit which is responsible for combating crimes (Jenkins 66). The unit also investigates and addresses issues that are causing unrest to the population.

History

This policing unit is believed to have started some years back. It is suggested that, the unit has been in existence for almost 55 years. The farmers decided to come together and form a police unit that will keep a watch in the county. The unit had different departments upon which the responsibilities were allocated. These departments were organized and managed by the farmers who first gained access to the unit.

The unit had its systems of making laws where specialists in law were allocated this responsibility. The existing farmers started bringing their friends on board where they were to work as constables in the department. They were hired on the basis of whom you know basis but not on merit basis. The move was locking out competent individuals who could have filled the strategic positions in the department.

The unit had not gained acceptance from the state police until some years back when the state recognized it. The acceptance brought to an end friction which was in existence between the virtual police and the state police. It is estimated that 20 years down the line, the state police has gained confidence about the validity of the unit. They have started interacting in their operations with an aim of promoting peace and security.

Beginning of issues

According to history, some of the constables in the unit were recruited by their farmer friends. Some of these inexperienced constables were entrusted with duties of running the department. This set in a number of issues which since then had affected the department to greater heights.

To start with, the presence of these constables changed how the laws were made and implemented in the department. Before, laws were made and enforced by experienced staffs but the newly hired staffs had no experience in law making process and subsequently enforcing. This led to primitive ways of enforcing the laws. Secondly, a change on how the department was run contributed addition issues.

In general, the change ways of running the department and enforcement of laws, has created a highway for perpetrating corruption. The officers became continually corrupt especially in the cities where the unit’s police were deployed to take control. They used to harass individuals with an aim of extorting money inform of bribes. This blurred the image of the unit to an extent it was disrespected by the state.

In addition, the officers were not subjected to a formal education which could have improved their way of living. Those responsible with encouraging the formal education frustrated the move instead. This took another direction since 1990s where the constables were recommended to pursue certain courses at least to gain knowledge in that field. This was considered an effective tool suitable to transform the officers.

The history of the department has continued to bring more and more issues. Since its inception, the department has been sourcing its officials from within the unit. It is apparent that, individuals from outside the department were not recruited to the unit. This has not only denied some capable individuals a chance to the department, but also has marked unfair representation of the community.

Organization and management of the department

The whole virtue police department is headed by the chief of police. Under the chief of police, there exist subordinates such as chief of internal affairs, chief of staff and legal advisor. They are directly linked to the chief of police and work together to ensure proper execution of duties by reporting to the chief issues arising from their respective areas.

They also communicate to other subordinates any information from the chief of police. Further, the department is composed of two commands which are each headed by the deputy chief. These commands are namely the operations and administration commands. The operation command consists of many and diverse sub divisions which make it to be extremely large compared to the administration command.

Some of the operation command’s sub divisions are the northern and southern district patrols which are the patrol platoons, the criminal investigation bureau which has numerous categories compared to other areas, and the special operations bureau with its allied sections.

On the other hand, the administration command is composed of a number of layers such as human resource, management services, and the IT management bureaus. The bureaus are headed by captains. In addition, the respective bureaus are composed of divisions which are headed by the lieutenants.

The captains oversee the operations of the bureaus and also act as a link between the respective commands and the divisions. The lieutenants oversee the operations of their respective divisions and also acting as the link between the bureaus and the sections. The interrelation among the bureaus, divisions and the sections makes the operations to be decisively allocated. But, the department experiences some problems because the operations are not adequately addressed.

Changes to the department

The department has been organized in a manner that its activities are not properly and adequately executed and addressed. For example, the operation command has many layers which frustrate the allocation of resources. Further, to manage the entire operation command is cumbersome compared to the administration command which has little layers.

In order to improve the overall operation and performance of the department, reorganization can be a possible remedy. To suggest, the operation command should be split into separate entities upon which the functions should be categorically arranged in manageable proportions.

Demographic differences in the agency and the department

According to a survey conducted, it is obvious that the agency is not reflective of the community (American Community Survey 2-6). The survey discloses the population of the agency to be dominated by females at 50.9% compared to males standing at 49.1%.

From 2005 to 2008 when the survey was conducted, it is very clear that there had been violation in the way the community is represented within the department. For instance in 2005, the five races which were included in the survey shown that there was violation of community representation. The department had a number of ranks composed of either sworn personnel or non sworn personnel.

The chiefs and deputy chiefs, captains and lieutenants, sergeants and corporals, and the officers comprised the sworn personnel. Executives, professionals, technicians and clericals comprised the non sworn personnel. The survey shown that, the Caucasian had a high number of representations compared to other races. This was the case even in the subsequent years both in male and female representation. In addition, despite the percentage of females being high at 50.1%, they are not adequately represented.

In 2005, the male representation was more than 60% compared to less than 35% for females. This took the platform throughout the survey. To add on this, Asian is thinly represented in the agency with some instances recording 0%. This is both the males and the females. Notably, a regard is not paid to the Asian females when reflecting to the community.

Strategies to make the agency reflective of the community

The community needs to be adequately represented in the agency. For this to be achieved, the agency should implement some strategies directed at addressing the community representation. To start with, the agency should ensure that, the sworn personnel’s positions should are divided among the diverse races on merit basis.

The agency should avoid bringing on board the superiors from only one race because of popularity. Secondly, females are thinly accepted in the agency thus leading to their reduced figure. Since the female population is high as compared to males, they should be given at least equal opportunities with their counterparts. In addition, the non sworn personnel positions should also be fairly distributed among the races.

For example, females are dominating in clerical than in any other area. To avoid this, individuals should be encouraged to pursue diverse studies thus enhancing flexibility. The agency should also start training the officials so that they become compatible to the opportunities arising in future. Another strategy is that, the agency should prohibit transferability of positions to people of the same race as this creates an empire which is hard to break.

The agency culture

Every organization, whether public, profit or not-for-profit has distinct culture. Culture can be defined as a set of meanings and understandings shared by a particular group of people. Culture is distinct and different from one group to another. While culture is known to be different from one entity to another, some organizations have common elements. For example police forces wear uniforms and use weapons in their duties. Virtual police department has its own set of meanings or understandings shared among its people

Individuals in the armed forces have also their culture based on discipline. In addition, integrity is a well known virtue within the armed forces. For long time in its operation, high level of integrity has been integrated within Virtual police department. The citizens have many expectations from the police and at no time should the force fail the integrity test.

Currently, the public is confident with Virtual police department. This is evident in that their approval rating is at all time high compared to other law enforcement agencies. Transparency and integrity is backbone to any organization. Any organization which embraces these virtues cannot suffer credibility crisis, neither will its image be tainted.

Virtual police department has been undergoing organization change, characterized by retirement of senior commanders. Those officers left to run the organizations are young individuals who have not worked in the force long enough and have minimal managerial experience and leadership ability.

The senior department chiefs retired leaving a huge leadership gap to be filled. It does not mean that Virtual police department cannot be led by young chiefs. What is crucial is that experience in running public office such as Virtual police department is paramount. Therefore before any promotion is given to any officer in the police department, experience and training should be considered first.

Whistle blowing refers to the act of reporting offensive acts being perpetuated within a particular department to the relevant authorities so that appropriate action can be taken on the perpetrators. One police officer cannot remain silent as the fellow partner engages in unlawful behavior. The officer should take immediate action to notify the superiors regarding the act (Shermann 30).

It appears that whistle blowing has not been a practiced within the Virtual police department. Rather the officers let their partners get away with misconduct, bringing the entire police department into great disrepute. It is common for scandals to explode. Such scandals arising from code of silence severely damage the image of the police department making its credibility to be questionable. Therefore, the department should introduce reforms so as to curb the vice and to act as a deterrent against misconduct.

According to Chan (109-134), change of culture is one of the ways through which an organization or department can improve its credibility.

With regard to this Virtual department should undertake measures aimed at changing culture in the organization. In order to attain this, the police officers with questionable integrity and those under various investigations should to step down to facilitate probes. Recruiting well learned personnel is also critical for the performance of the department. This is due to the fact that these personnel will have the necessary skills.

Crime analysis

Basing on the current crime statistics, it is evident that serious crime such as homicide is not prevalent in this county. It is also evident that murder rate in the county has been almost constant. The study showed that 17 cases of homicide have occurred between 2005 and 2008.Sexual offence related crime like rape tends to remain constant although there was a minimal surge in 2008. The most common crime in the county is theft.

This offence has been steadily increasing from 2006 and it appears that there is laxity and apathy amongst police officers in this place. There is a high probability that criminals were involved in a syndicate with the officers. Another probable reason for the alarming statistics is that the crime of this nature is taken lightly and the punishment meted on the culprits is not severe enough to discourage them.

Burglary is also one of the common crimes in this locality as depicted by the statistics. In 2008, there was sharp increase in burglary incidences. Burglary incidences rose from 1,242 to 1,617 representing a percentage increase of 30%. From these statistics, it is evident that the rate of crime in this county has been increasing steadily.

The common problems associated with the rise in crime are unemployment among county dwellers. The study further reveals that the mean income of the people has reduced. Another cause is the rapidly expanding populations probably caused by rural to urban migration. It is possible that people from other regions and places have immigrated to this community. Laxity cannot be overlooked as one of the reasons for prevalence of crime.

Regarding complaints against the Virtual police department, people complain of their conduct more than other issues such as performance and use of force. It is also clear that there are cases of complaints against use of force. This has been rising steadily. It appears that the personnel conduct themselves in a manner not befitting their status in the society.

One of the strategies that can be used to reduce crime is community policing. This is where the dwellers of the community assist the police in combating the crime. Citizens should be vigilant and alert so as to identify when such incident occurs. The actions should be reported immediately to the police officers who will then take appropriate action and arrest the culprits.

With community policing, the police and the citizens assist each other in keeping peace. Since the county is composed of a small community, there is a high probability of community policing working. Another strategy which can result into reduction of crime is to establish new police posts. The posts should be strategically located in the residential areas.

For areas which are dark, it is important to erect street lamps so as to minimize crime in dark alleys. Installing CCTV (closed circuit television) in streets, buildings and corners will also be instrumental in stemming out crime. The CCTV will provide real time 24 hours surveillance to the police operators so that whenever crime is happening, they can respond immediately and make arrests. CCTV will act as a deterrent to people who would want to engage in crime since they know they are being monitored.

Conclusion

Virtual police department is a young police department established more than half a century ago. It is a society predominated by Caucasians with other races following distantly. It is arguably a small division because it comprises of almost five hundred sworn police officers and almost 200 civilians. The main issues facing this department include surge in crime, rise in population which makes security a challenging task, changing culture and government regulations.

Recommendation

It is vital for the federal government to increase its budgetary allocation for the police department so that it can initiate changes that can result into improvement of the department’s performance. Additional financial resources should be sought so as to aid in recruiting more officers and also undertaking reforms in the department such as training the future department heads. Funding will also be crucial in boosting security of the area because the money will be used to install surveillance system for security purposes.

Works Cited

American Community Survey Bureaus. Demographic of virtual police department, USA: The U.S. census Bureau. 2000. Print.

Chan, J. Changing police culture. British Journal of Criminology,1998. Print.

Jenkins, Philip. Intimate enemies: moral panics in contemporary Great Britain, Great Britain: Transaction Publishers. 1998. Print.

Shermann, L. Scandal and reforms: Controlling police reform. Berkeley and Los

Angeles, California: University of California, 1978. Print.

Organization Theories in Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Agencies

Various organization theories apply in the running of various organizations in the aim of improving efficiency. Organization theories apply to management of law enforcement agencies as detailed below.

Weber’s Bureaucratic theory deems the organization as a component of the environment that gives it chance to exist. Principles of predictability, specialization, stability, rationality and democracy characterize bureaucratic theory (Cordner, 2010).

These principles apply in efficient running of law enforcement agencies through each member choosing a specialization area, having democracy and rationality in decision making and ensuring stability.

Administrative theory by Henry Fayol outlines various management principles that apply to the running of law enforcement agencies. Included are planning and organization functions, which have to be incorporated in running efficient law enforcement agencies.

Coordinating, training and commanding functions form a main part of running law enforcement agencies, hence, administrative theory applies to running law enforcement agencies (Cordner, 2010).

The systems theory applies to law enforcement agencies because various departments aim at a common goal. Balance and communication leading to decision making in law enforcement and criminal justice agencies demonstrate the application of systems law.

The use of systems theory leads to stability, development and growth evident in the outcomes of systems theory (Cordner, 2010). These theories aid in the efficient running of the law enforcement and criminal justice agencies.

Typical Organization Behavior at Steelhead Police Department

Organization behavior is the way people interact as individuals and behave in groups within a given organization setting or structure (Miner, 2006). Typical behavior in organizations demonstrated in the arguments against the police is resistance of change.

Employees in organizations portray a common behavior of resistance of change wherever there are changes instituted by higher management (Miner, 2006). Resistance of change as shown at Steelhead Police Department is an organization behavior caused by preference of the status quo.

The main causes for resistance of change include fear of the consequences and the change in the advantages, in work ethics. Fear demonstrated by the Steelhead Police Department officers include restriction in personal freedom, medical issues and heat rise.

Solutions to the Arguments

Solutions to the arguments include purchase of highly protective vests that are comfortable and medically fit to be worn. This will encourage more officers to accept the policy due to no heat problems, lack of health related problems and improved life saving ratio for the officers.

Further, ensuring the armor vests has improved comfort as well as conserving the officer’s performance acts as a solution. Other solutions include explaining the benefits of vests use to the officers and enacting policies to ensure adherence to wearing mandatory vests.

Law Enforcement Culture and Unionized Law Enforcement Culture

An organization culture involves experiences that characterize the wants, needs, beliefs and values that are often divergent and noteworthy trait in an organization (Byrne, 2006).

The culture in law enforcement is strict and stressful because decision-making is a life and death issue to all the law enforcers. Therefore, law enforcement culture involving strict adherence to deadlines and following of procedures is mandatory.

Physical characteristics that depict the culture in law enforcement agencies include badges, uniforms, patrol cars and guns. Personal values that characterize law enforcement culture include integrity, competence, commitment; honor and teamwork.

The culture of the unionized law enforcement officers is that common of unions, hindrance and resistance to change due to numbers (Byrne, 2006). Their high numbers give them decision-making powers, which hinder change in an organization.

References

Byrne, M., & Rebovich D. (2007). The new technology of crime, law and social control. New York: Criminal Justice Press.

Cordner, G., W., & Scarborough, K., E. (2010). Police administration (7th ed.). Newark, NJ: LexisNexis/Anderson Publishing.

Miner, B. (2006). Organizational Behavior 3: Historical Origins, Theoretical Foundations, And the Future. New York: M.E. Sharpe.

Introduction

Public policies in the United States play a significant role in shaping the federal governance. Every law enforced must respect human rights and freedom, in other words, the U.S. laws are there to protect its citizens (Clark 345). Through several tremendous efforts by the U.S. government to undertake amendments within the enforced laws, life decision-making laws like “right to die” have undergone incredible changes.

According to Rosenfeld, the right to death law emerged fifteen years ago and it refers to a citizen’s federal constitutional right of self-determination to end his or her life decisions (468).

Personally, despite being constitutionally right, termination of one’s life and refusal to medication is awful and it is a suicidal case. In the ever-changing world, there might be treatment for one’s condition after some time say six months and thus patients should hold on a little longer

The U.S. government branches involved in the policy

The right to die policy, as stated above, emerged through the U.S. government law amendment; therefore, it is ultimately a government issue. Just like any other nation in the world, the U.S. government has several departments engaged in law and policymaking. Normally, before enacting any right, including the right to die policy, the bill in question undergoes several government arms during amendments.

According to DiCamillo (807), this policy resulted from the advancement of medical technologies that the U.S government initiated over several decades ago. In the context of amending and enforcing laws and policies including the right to die policy in the U.S, involvement of key government branches and other relevant stakeholders is essential to ensure proper execution of the legislation process. According to

Thomas (28) the office of the president, the executive bureaucracy, the House of Representatives, the senate, the judiciary, and other organizations are responsible for enacting such government bills, laws, and policies.

Office of the president

The office of the president is quite responsible for the amendment and enactment of the right to die policy. Since the proposal of the policy several years ago, the office of the president forms an important part of the constitutionality of the policy. According to DiCamillo, the office of the president is responsible for enacting and enforcing this policy through, “the president’s commission for the study of ethical problems in medicine” (823).

This commission came to the existence in the year 1978 in a presidential congress held in the same year. Currently, according to DiCamillo (823), the commission report, which was assembled during this time, states that if patients realize the manner and time of their death, especially under the control of medical sciences, there is a need to protect such patients from making quick decisions regarding death.

Currently, the office of the president is supportive of the right to die policy, but its interests in keeping life remain factual and thus it cannot outweigh personal life in deciding about life-sustaining treatment, when the patient is capable of making the decision.

Executive branch

The executive branch of the federal government actively participates in the constitutional aspects of the State. Despite having equal power with the other branches, the executive branch is the largest and the most powerful branch of the federal government. The head of the executive branch is the president or rather the head of state, which is responsible for all state functions including the laws governing the state.

The president oversees all major appointments of the state including powerful positions in the judiciary and the legislature (Thomas 49). The executive begins with the top department known as the office of the president to other departments, which are equally responsible for government functions.

With regard to all the departments in this executive branch, department of Health and Human services (HHS), which the president appoints, is responsible for overseeing all medical policies and other related issues. According to DiCamillo (474), the medical departments, including all medical professionals, ensure that patients adhere to all procedures and rules governing the end of life decision.

Legislative

The right to die policy is a fully enacted law in the American governance, which involves activities of the legislative branch of the government. According to Arnold, Clack, and Malamud, the U.S federal government legislative branch comprises two main congress chambers (9).

These chambers include the senate house and the House of Representatives. For any law to be complete under the legislative branch, it must go through all chambers of the legislative arm before the president affirms it. Just like other laws, the right to die policy emerged from bills proposed in the Congress where the legislative branch actively participates in passing bills into law.

At this point, the two chambers act on the written bill through the drafting process, in which a senator or a house representative drafts an original legislation. Arnold, Clack, and Malamud affirm that the senate responsible for the draft bill introduces it to the House of Representatives (9). Subsequently, the bill resumes to the parliamentarians of the senate and the House of Representatives where it undergoes several procedures to become a law.

House of the representatives

The house of representatives is another powerful chamber of the congress under the federal government, which is responsive to amendment and enforcement of bills and laws. Popularly considered as the House of the People or the lower chamber, it comprises about 435 member representatives, who serve for at least two years after their election.

Concerning law making, members of the House of Representatives are responsible for major legislative functions including enactment of laws, approving of appointments, confirming of federal states government budget, and overseeing some functions of the executive branch.

As highlighted earlier, before becoming full federal policies, bills, including the right to die, go through the House of Representatives committees, which ensure drafting of bills through public hearings and favorable voting processes. These committees are very influential in the constitution making and amendment as they determine whether a bill can become an active law of state through favorable voting procedures.

The senate house

The U.S. senate is one of the powerful government arms in constitutional development, which is an important element of the American government system. The senate is the most powerful chamber of the congress and thus it outweighs the House of Representatives (Arnold, Clack, and Malamud 12).

It comprises of over 100 members who serve for six months once elected. After the committee affirms the bill constructively through the voting process, the bill passes on either to the Senate or the House of Representatives. Arnold, Clack, and Malamud assert, “Related or identical legislation often proceeds through the House and Senate simultaneously” (11).

During this moment, the bill is ready for further amendments by the two chambers. In special attention to the Senate House, all judicial procedures in the amendments of bills and enforcement of laws depend on this house. The Senate House carries out different functions including appointment of supreme and high court judges, selection of cabinet secretaries, and signing of international treaties.

The judicial branch

The judicial branch is among the most fundamental arms of the federal government, since it forms an integral constitutional part. The judicial branch passes crucial judgments pertaining to legal cases that are either challenging or those that require critical interpretation process.

According to Arnold, Clack, and Malamud, the judiciary consists of Supreme Court, which oversees the judicial functions and the lower federal courts that include Courts of Appeal, Appellate courts, district level courts, and the federal claim courts, which are responsible for hearing appealed criminal and civil (17).

The Supreme Court currently has nine judges and the president appoints them all. The entire judiciary team, including the state Supreme Court justices and the district level judges, is responsible for ensuring that all the enacted laws are correct and that the interpretation of these laws reflects the governing principles. The right to die policy in this case, as one of the State’s policy, is inclusive where justices are constantly included in patient’s decision-making on the issue.

Special interest and Organizations

The federal government also ensures that other organizations operating under the government and the Non-Governmental Organization participate in the constitutional making and amendment process.

In a bid to ensure that the law suits every individual, organizations like the media societies, special groups (NGOs), public policy research associations, trade associations, labor unions, individuals/private sector businesses, state and local governmental institutions, political parties, and multilateral organizations are inclusive in law and policy making (Arnold 29-33).

The media scrutinizes policy makers, conducts independent studies pertinent to policy issues and publishes editorial opinions influencing policymaking. Special interest groups include NGOs, which mainly advocate for human rights, environmental concerns, free trade policies, and other public relevant issues (Arnold 30).

Public policy research organizations conduct comprehensive research studies concerning policymaking and related issues. Trade Unions defend the rights of traders as labor unions represent employees in policymaking issues, with individual and private sector businesses forming coalitions that oversee business issues in the policymaking process.

Consideration of Impacts on the policy process

Federal perspective

The enactment of the right to die policy has raised several arguments among the different arms of the government and the public as well. To begin with, the federal government that forms the majority of the U.S government has elicited different reactions among the branches of the government.

At one point, the judiciary clashed with the other branches over the right to refute treatment in the enactment of the right to die policy. Due to this aspect, several federal courts face confusion in this policy, and thus making referrals of such cases to higher courts.

States perspective

The state plays a critical role in the constitutionality of the US. The right to die policy remains a controversial issue within the states’ perspective. According to Thomas (4), though at first the enactment of this policy seemed right, the current state regulations are proscribing assisted suicide and thus active euthanasia is under discussion at the Supreme Court.

However, some strong clauses within the American constitution are limiting the state in its ability to control such issues including passive euthanasia, which the fourteenth amendment is protecting. Thomas (24) affirms that the state respects the quality of life, respects the integrity of medical professionals, and fears that third parties may influence an individual to end his or her life.

Political parties

The right to die policy remains the most politically contested issue. However, the situation within the political perspective remains significantly difficult to handle due to lack of a stable political consensus within the societal and political institutions.

Thomas (3) asserts that enacting the right to die policy contravenes the political role of the parliamentarians to debate on issues pertaining murder, suicide, and other health related issues, as politicians remain stiff in opposing the act. Politicians argue that an individual’s healthy is paramount and no one has the right to terminate life.

Media Perspective

Despite having great influence in the American governance, the media in this case remains the least heard. Since this policy became a law under the signing of the president, “it is legally accepted and thus physicians, hospital boards, nurses, Health ministry administrators, and some judicial coupled with political officials have openly accepted it” (DiCamillo 818). However, the media has consistently raised arguments on the enactment of the right to die policy, which remains one of the most debated public issues in the United States.

Conclusion

The right to die policy remains a public domain issue with people having different perceptions (Clark 383). Despite the fact that the act has empowered patients to have jurisdiction on matters pertaining to life decisions, this element is ruining the social welfare of individuals bearing in mind that several religious organizations are against this act. However, it less affects the national economic dimension.

Thomas affirms that, “it is not part of a larger regulatory scheme to regulate commerce; nor does it regulate an economic activity” (57). Considering the market forces and principles of efficiency at work, many organizations are only willing to work with physically fit individuals; therefore, in one way or another, the policy may affect interstate commerce.

Personally, despite being constitutionally right, termination of ones life and refusal to medication is awful and it is a suicidal case. Therefore, the government must intervene and take possible actions against the policy.

Works Cited

Arnold, Paul, George Clack, and Paul Malamud 2004, About America: How the United States is governed. Web.

Clark, Annette. “The Right to Die: The Broken Road from Quinlan to Schiavo.” Loyola University Chicago Law Journal 37.1 (2006): 383-403. Print.

DiCamillo, Julie. “A Comparative Analysis of the Right to Die in the Netherlands and the United States after Cruzan: Reassessing the Right of Self-Determination.” American University International Law Review 7.4 (1992): 807-842. Print.

Rosenfeld, Barry. “Assisted suicide, depression, and the right to die.” Psychology, Public Policy, and Law 6.1 (2000): 467-488. Print.

Scherer, Jennifer, and Rita James. Euthanasia and the right to die: A comparative view. New York: Rowman & Littlefield, 1999. Print.

Thomas, Kenneth 2005, The “Right to Die”: Constitutional and Statutory Analysis. Web.

Introduction

Criminal justice is a process with a number of steps. It starts with investigating the suspect and concludes with the release of the accused from prison. The process consists of rules governing the decision-making. This would mean that a clear decision making procedure is followed in making decision to ensure fairness. The policies followed in the process of administering justice are obtained from different sources.

For instance, the US constitution, federal principles, state laws, and the policies and regulations of the security agencies are some of the sources. In America, federal laws govern the process of decision making in all criminal justice institutions. The process should be more than a simple process of learning of rules and applying them. Rules should exist to guide an individual in order to make informed decisions.

This would mean a law-enforcing agent should look for an alternative course of action before implementing a policy (Andrews, & Bonta, 2007). In the police service, decision makers formulate personalized decisions implying that they rarely follow the laid down regulations.

In the US, research shows that some prosecutors make decisions without following some rules. In this case, they would not be in a position to know whether to grant bail or to charge an individual with a crime.

This paper would seek to discuss the decision making process within the hierarchy of the police service. Within the police service, a synergistic decision making model is frequently applied. This is where a problem is evaluated and the decision is made based on the outcome.

Decision makers would then come up with the most suitable solution. This is what should be happening in the police service as regards to criminal justice. Ten steps are to be followed by officers within the police service when criminal justice decisions.

Decision Making Model

As earlier mentioned earlier, synergetic decision-making model involves collective assessment of an event and coming up with a single decision, which is perceived to be more suitable. In real sense, synergetic model entails a joint effort or a group activity, which might perhaps ignite a response. This would possibility lead to suitable decision-making process in an organization.

The decision made should be superior to that of an individual. In the police service, this type of decision-making model has encouraged employees to work together, as a team. Some scholars observe that the model empowers experts in the criminal justice occupation.

Furthermore, the model would promote an improved working atmosphere. Some experts have found out through research that the model builds trust among the organizational members because of delegation of duties.

Synergetic model has two major parts. One of the parts is the problem resolution and the other is interpersonal relations part. The model suggests that all officers in various ranks within the police service should delay their decisions until all ideas are analyzed.

In this regard, a police officer in any rank is not supposed to comment on an event until all other facts have been evaluated. Therefore, it is the role of each officer to come up with a proposal knowing that his or her idea is subject to evaluation. The first part of the model, which is the problem solving part, is meant to help police officers to slow down their decision-making processes.

This means that they have to wait for the findings of other officers before concluding on their findings. In this case, the model suggests that members of the police service must come up with a technique through which questions would be asked to members of the public. The officers would then proceed to analyze the answers provided by members of the public.

The generated data should be viewed from various perspectives. During the process of analysis, each member should note down the objectives. This would be of value since it would help the officers to remain focused on the task. After analysis, members are expected to come up with a single verdict upon which a course of action would be developed.

However, some scholars note that this model is not viable since it is hard to implement it. In some occasions, members would generate two decisions. Each member would try to implement the decision that seems appropriate to him or her.

However, in most cases, it is expected that organizational members come up a single decision. In this case, members are urged to single out some of the obstacles that might interfere with the implementation of the collective decision. As such, members are urged to develop some mechanisms that would help them counter the obstacles.

The last section, which is the interpersonal process part, consists of paying attention, clarification of points, supporting each other, and building trust. Moreover, confronting each other and differing in terms of opinion are acceptable values within this model. Listening is the main factor since it would help determine the success of the organization.

Steps in the Criminal Justice Process

The first step in making decisions in the criminal justice organization pertains to investigation of a crime. The police would set out to collect some critical information, which would be used as evidence against a suspect.

The collected information is very important since it would be used to identify a suspect, as well as arrest him or her. In many parts of the world, including the US, investigations would include searching the premises occupied by the suspect. Other forms of searches comprise of exploratory assessment of an individual and examination of material goods.

Probable cause is generally considered a typical proof that justifies the searching of an individual. Probable cause is a term used to imply prior information exists indicating that a crime took place in a particular area. The second step in the process is arresting an individual who is suspected to have engaged in crime.

Arrest in this case means handing over an individual to the security agencies for questioning. Probable cause is the only officially permitted rule that would force the police to seize an individual. Probable cause means an individual is possibly linked to a certain crime (Cordner, & Scarborough, 2010).

The third process in the criminal justice organization is prosecution. This implies the district attorney is supposed to issue a verdict regarding the criminality of the offense. As a consequent, prosecutors are supposed to evaluate the crime by considering many factors before arriving at a conclusion.

For instance, the seriousness of the offense is usually considered before issuing a verdict. Another step, which is step four, is the indictment of the suspect by the jury. If not indicted, the suspect could perhaps be allowed to “fill information” under the supervision of the prosecutor.

In the US, under federal rules, a jury is expected to indict a suspect in case the crime is considered capital offense. In other cases that are punishable through imprisonment, the prosecutor may indict either a suspect or “fill information” (Cohen, & Reaves, 2006).

In the fifth step, which is crucial for both the accused and the accuser, the plaintiff is arraigned in court. The defendant is expected to show up in court and present a petition. In many cases, the appeals that are presented to the jury would determine whether an individual is guilty or not.

The sixth step is the pretrial detention or the bail stage. The accused might be detained temporarily while awaiting full trial. In the US, only the poor are detained temporarily. The rich would definitely pay an amount to buy the freedom of the accused provisionally.

The amount paid would be a sign of commitment showing that the accused would show up in court when called upon to do so. The seventh step in criminal justice is the appeal negotiation phase where the defense lawyer and the prosecutor come into terms over the techniques to be used in tackling the case. In many cases, the accused would plead guilty so that his or her punishment would be reduced.

The eighth step in the process of decision making in the criminal justice is trial. The process is also referred to as adjudication of guilt (Aos, Miller, & Drake, 2006). This takes place in the presence of a prosecutor, jury, and the defense attorney. Similarly, the trial must be held before a jury.

For the accused to be declared guilty there must be enough evidence. This is popularly referred to as guilt beyond reasonable doubt. This means that the accuser should be less than one hundred percent sure but have a higher probability as regards to the commitment of the crime or felony. The accused is definitely acquitted in case there is doubt of reason.

The second last step, which is the ninth step, is the sentencing of the accused. This is only done when the accused is found to have committed the crime. In the US, the likely sentences would include payment of fine, audition, and imprisonment.

The last step is the appeal phase whereby the accused could perhaps request the court to try him or her once more (Bazemore, & Schiff, 2004). Petitions are frequently filed by lawyers of the court of appeal and would be heard by the adjudicators of the court of appeal only.

References

Andrews, D. A., & Bonta, J. (2007). Risk-need-responsively model for offender assessment and rehabilitation. Ottawa: Public Safety Canada.

Aos, S., Miller, M., & Drake, E. (2006). Evidence-based public policy options to reduce future prison construction, criminal justice costs, and crime rates. Olympia, WA: Washington State Institute for Public Policy.

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Introduction

With the growing market of petroleum products, the Chinese government intended to expand the petroleum refinery plant in Ningbo. The Chinese government planned to expand the petroleum plant using 8.9 billion of dollars.

The local government of Ningbo city backed the expansion of the petroleum plant because it aimed at promoting industrial development in the city. The New York Times in October this year argued that since environmentalists understood the potential pollution that the project posed on Ningbo and its environs, they objected to the government’s expansion plans (Jacobs Para. 7).

The production of a toxic chemical, which is a potent pollutant to the environment, had serious effects on health of the people. Moreover, other industries in the city have contributed to massive pollution, which has led to the emergence of cancer and other illnesses associated with pollution. Understanding the danger that the project posed on the environment and their health, the citizens went on a three-day protest on streets where they battled with the police.

The government used force to disperse protestors who continued to protest even after the government announced that it had shelved the expansion plans. The situation led to the question as to whether the response by the police was justified or was inappropriate. Therefore, this essay examines the arguments for and against the government’s actions with a view of presenting my view on them.

Arguments that Supports Government Actions

The government has the prerogative to exercise its economic plans without undue influence from members of the public. The local government of Ningbo planned to expand its industrial capacity so that citizens could get employment in the sector. Moreover, the expansion of the petroleum plant was economically important because it would increase the gross domestic product of China.

Since the government had good intentions of enhancing the economic capacity of China, protestors interfered with the plans, thus affecting economic development. Reports airing in the British Broadcasting Corporation immediately after the protests indicated, “Some claim that the people in Ningbo scored a victory, but we hold that when deciding a heavy chemical project through such protests, there is no winner, but the whole country loses” (British Broadcasting Corporation Para. 3).

The Chinese government lost billions of dollars following the protestors’ objection to the expansion of the petroleum plant, yet they need economic development now than ever before. Thus, the response by the government to disperse protesters was justifiable as the project had economic significance to China and its people including the protestors.

Although the main reason why the Chinese citizens held demonstrations was to stop the government from implementing the proposed extensions of the petroleum refinery plant, the protestors continued demonstrating even after the government shelved its expansion plans.

One protester revealed, “there is very little public confidence in the government …who knows if they are saying this just to make us leave and then keep on doing the project” (Wong Para. 5). The shift in the demonstrators’ reasoning did not give the citizens the right to demonstrate. The three-day protests were legal; however, the extension of the protests even after the government cancelled its plans to expand petroleum product, was illegal.

An article on World Times 2012 noted that on interviewing the government officials concerning the extension of demonstration, they said, “A few people disrupted public order by staging sit-ins, unfurling banners, distributing fliers, and obstructing roads” (Wong Para. 12). Hence, genuine protestors heeded the plans of the government to cancel the expansion of the project.

The demonstrations posed great danger to the economic stability of China, particularly in the city of Ningbo. In this view, the government had the right to protect investors and business people in the city because demonstrations cause disruptions and threaten the otherwise lucrative environment for economic development.

With the protests proceeding on the third day with no signs of stopping, it was the right time for the government to intervene. According to China Digital Times in October 2012, “In Ningbo, protests continued even after the authorities pledged to halt the PX project, in part due to the suspicion that the government runs so high” (Beach Para. 6).

Continued demonstration without any intervention would cause serious economic repercussions to China and Ningbo. Hence, to restore the economic stability of China and Ningbo, the government had to quell protests. Use of the police force was the best alternative to prevent demonstrations from affecting the economy.

Economic and political competition between China and the United States is another point that supports the government’s actions. The two nations differ in political and economic ideologies.

China has authoritarian government while the United States employs democracy. Jacobs, of The New York Times 2012, posits, “The protests, which followed similar demonstrations in other cities in the past year, point to increasing willingness of the Chinese to take to the streets despite the perils of openly challenging the country’s authoritarian government” (Para. 7).

Hence, environmentalists are behind Western policies in the name of protecting human rights and projecting the Chinese government as an authoritative body.

An environmentalist asserts, “The time bomb has already been planted …the pollution that has accumulated during China’s decades of rapid growth is now extremely costly and difficult to manage” (Waldmeir, Hook, and Anderlini Para. 7). Thus, the issue of environmentalists is not only about environmental pollution, but also economic growth of China. Economically, China is a communist state while the US is a capitalist state.

The two are in constant efforts to prove their systems and ideas are the best. Fox News 2012, which carried a detailed account of the protests, posits, “A victory by protesters against the expansion of a chemical plant proves the new rule in China” (Ji Para. 1). The new rule means political and economic transformation of China. Therefore, the government response was justifiable because protestors aimed at discrediting the current government.

Lastly, the riots took place during a campaign season where politicians can take advantage of protests to cause instability in the government. The demonstrations affected the incumbent Chinese Community Party because the 18^th National Congress was due on 8 November, when people anticipated leadership transition.

In a bid to alleviate the impact of the demonstrations on the National Congress, “the state security authorities called local governments to stop any protest ahead of the congress, because public demonstrations could destroy the already fragile “unity” of the rival CCP factions” (Chan Para. 8).

Since the campaign season in most countries is vulnerable to violence, suppression of the protests was critical. A single incidence of violence could trigger massive occurrence of violence activities across China. Therefore, the best way to stop the demonstration was by use of the police force.

Arguments that are against Government Actions

Those against the actions by the government support protestors because they argue that the primary reason for the protests was the government’s plans to expand the petroleum plant without first seeking the opinion of the people. Their argument means that the decision to extend the state-owned petroleum refinery plant was done without the knowledge of the people.

The local government is after increasing gross domestic product without considering the impact of the plant on the environment (British Broadcasting Corporation Para. 4). The involvement of the citizens would have enabled the government to avert occurrence of the protests in Ningbo. Hence, the government overlooked the views of the citizens.

Moreover, the government did not make any efforts to involve environmental surveyors to assess the environmental impact of the proposed expansion of the petroleum plant. Protestors argued that the plant produces some toxic emissions, which have been proven to be harmful to people and the environment.

According to an article carried in The New York Times 2012, “Residents were particularly unnerved by one major component of the project: the production of paraxylene, a toxic petrochemical known as PX that is a crucial ingredient in the manufacture of polyester, paints and plastic bottles” (Jacobs Para. 7). The residents of the Ningbo city have the right to champion for their environmental and human health.

According to an investigative article carried in The Guardian October 2012, one protestor noted, “We can only depend on ourselves now…we cannot count on the government to think about us” (Associated Press Para. 3). Hence, the demonstrations were a means through which citizens could defend themselves against potential pollution impacts of the proposed petroleum plant in Ningbo.

Another argument that objects the government’s move is that the government is using authoritarian rule in implementing its decisions. As evident in the protests, the government used excessive force in dispersing the protests. According The Guardian article, “On Saturday, residents reported that protests involving thousands of people had turned violent after authorities used teargas and arrested participants” (Associated Press Para. 6).

Although the protests were peaceful, the police employed force by beating and shooting teargas at the protestors to disperse them and prevent them from agitating for their rights. The police also arrested others and intimidated them to name the leaders of the protest. One of the arrested women said that the government made her sign a guarantee that she would not take part in the demonstrations.

The woman says, “They won’t even let us sing the national anthem …they kept asking me who the leader of the protests was, and I said that this is all voluntary…we have no leader” (Associated Press Para. 11). Hence, use of excessive force by the police was not justifiable because it amounts to intimidation of protestors, thus denying them their rights to freedom of expression.

The manner in which local authorities handled the issues of environmental pollution has made the citizens skeptical on the intentions of the government. Residents around the Zhenhai chemical industrial region protested about the foul smell hanging in the air because the government had failed to take necessary measures.

Immediately after the protests, The Washington Post stated, “A handful of angry young men manned a makeshift barricade complaining that the local government had never followed through on a 10-year-old promise to pay a subsidy to local residents because of pollution” (Waldmeir, Hook, and Anderlini Para. 4).

Given the government’s failure to honor its promise, the citizens could no longer trust it. Despite the fact that it had promised to shelve the plans of expanding the petroleum project, the government could still go ahead with the planned expansions. Skepticism forced the protesters to continue with demonstrations even after the government declared that it would stop its expansion plans in response to the demands of the citizens.

The other argument for the protests against the action by the government is that the government could not listen to the opinion of its citizens, so the demonstrations were the only available avenue through which the citizens could voice their complaints. Since the government did not provide any forum for citizens to express their opinions, they resorted to demonstrations. In spite of the police force, the protesters were determined to express their opinion.

As reported, one protester said that the government was more concerned about making money than considering environmental and health impacts of the project (British Broadcasting Corporation, Para. 2). Although the petroleum project has serious health and environmental consequences, the government was adamant about its expansion. Thus, it was justifiable for the protesters to demonstrate so that the government could understand the seriousness of their demands.

My View

In my view, the arguments presented by the protesters are not correct and seem out of context. Firstly, the argument that the government did not involve the residents in planning for the extension is not only misinformed, but also deficient. Such argument sought to project the government as an autocratic body, which is not the case. The government has the prerogative to conduct its activities without undue influence from citizens.

The supporters of this claim argue that the government did not involve the services of environmental surveyors to establish the environmental impact for the extension. This argument is incorrect, and I think it has it basis on hearsay. In the various reports presented on the issue, none presents quantifiable evidence that the Chinese government did not actually engage the services of environmental analysts.

Secondly, one of the main reasons that led to the relocation of the company to China was to obtain cheap and locally available labor. This move simply means that the town of Ningbo and its residents are beneficiaries of the petroleum plant. First, it would provide employment opportunities as well as some other economical advantages.

Given that the company is an international company, which is set to use 8.9 billion dollars, the government and its citizens will reap significant economic benefits from it. These benefits include infrastructural development and opening up the province to foreign investors. Thus, protesters made the Ningbo town and China to lose a multibillion project, which would have transformed the lives of many and build a better society.

The third argument is that the government understands no other language except demonstrations, which is a misinformed and deficient contention. The fact that the government can respond appropriately to demonstrations does not mean that protesters should abuse it.

In the case of Ningbo protests, continued demonstrations even after the government had relinquished the plans of expanding the petroleum project amounted to abuse of freedom of expression. The protesters were insincere in extending their demonstrations because the government already solved the problem. Hence, it was justifiable for the government to use all the available means to stop the protesters from perpetuating demonstrations in the city.

Fourthly, given that the political atmosphere was unstable, presence of any demonstrations could trigger violence. As the incumbent regime under the Chinese Community Party was to conduct its nominations on November 8, there was a probability that the rival political parties would cause tension to discredit the regime.

In this view, peace was of great essence to allow politicians to conduct their campaigns without taking advantage of the volatile demonstrations of the citizens. Additionally, even if political campaigns were absent, unregulated demonstrations could trigger violence across the country. Hence, the government had to remain active in regulating peaceful demonstrations to prevent them from degenerating into violence.

Although the protests started peacefully, violence erupted later on. When police officers started to disperse the protesters, they turned violent and started throwing objects at the police officers causing tension in the city. Therefore, use of the police force to quell the protests was a reasonable and the best available strategy to bring calm in the city in the midst of political campaigns.

Conclusion

There are several justifications for government actions to suppress the Ningbo protests. The first one is the illegal and baseless continuation of the protests even after the government shelved the extension plans. Secondly, the expansion aimed at enhancing economic development and creating employment opportunities rather than causing pollution.

In essence, the government could not sit back and watch the protests threatening the already ailing economy of the province, and thus the continued revolt would paint the country negatively to its Western competitors. The arguments against the government actions are faulty and misinformed. Thirdly, the first argument that the government could only listen to the public through a protest is deficient.

It does not justify the continued protests even after the government put the extensions on hold. Fourthly, as it was a campaign season, it was not the right time for the government to condone reckless protests. Hence, the essay concludes that the actions that the Chinese government took in response to the Ningbo protests were justifiable.

Works Cited

Associated Press. “Chinese protest over chemical factory: Riot police clash with residents protesting over plans to expand chemical factory in Zheijiang province.” Associated Press, 28 Oct. 2012. Web.

Beach, Sophie. “Ningbo protests point to middle class disconnect.” China Digital Times, 2012. Web.

British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). “China morning round-up: Ningbo factory protest.” BBC News, 2012. Web.

Chan, John. “Protests in Chinese city halt multi-billion chemical project.” World Socialist Web Site, 2012. Web.

Jacobs, Andrew. “Protests over chemical plant force Chinese officials to back down.” The New York Times, 2012. Web.

Ji, Flora. “Successful pollution protests shows China takes careful line with rising middle class.” Fox News, 2012. Web.

Waldmeir, Patti, Leslie Hook, and Jamil Anderlini. “Ningbo protest, response both typical of China’s environmental debate.” The Washington Post, 29 Oct. 2012. Web.

Wong, Gillian. “Chinese Protest Factory Even After Official Pledge.” World Times, 2012. Web.

Introduction

A social problem can be defined in different ways. Definitions by policy analysts have momentous consequences, both political and economical. An accepted definition of a social problem will dictate the actions taken to solve it. An incorrect definition mandates an inappropriate policy instrument to address it and therefore government policy is likely to be ineffective.

Thus, the correct problem definition is the key element to policy analysts’ success in policymaking. David and Roger (1993) suggested this by stating that “problem definition is fundamental to public policymaking, intertwined as it is with the political process throughout the activities of issue initiation, program design and legislative enactment” (p. 58).

They also argued that problem definition was a political expression that provided the answers to all essential questions regarding policy.

Nature of the Traffic Safety Problem in Oman

Severity

Severity depicts the seriousness of the problem of traffic safety and its consequences. The occurrence of traffic accidents in Oman has helped in putting this problem in the limelight and give it public attention.

Websites such as the Salim and Salimah (2005) ‘Safe and Sound Road Safety’ rules, the royal Oman police traffic safety and social websites like the Traffic Safety Oman Facebook page have acted as tools to show the severity of this problem.

Admitting the existence of the problem, the policy analysts officially characterized it as a catastrophic and noted that it deserves taking corrective measures. This has led to the formation of the road traffic institute of Oman, which trains drivers and provides driving test exams.

Incidence

The scope of people affected and those at risk of being affected by this problem is probably the most contributing factor to making the definition of this problem less debatable. The problem of traffic safety is growing and at an exponential rate. For example, in 92 road accidents were injured about 39 people. PDO and the ROP are aimed at changing behavior of drivers and ultimately saving lives.

Novelty

When a traffic serious mishap occurs, the attention it gets is overwhelming. However, as time passes, it fades from the public and media and policy analysts’ minds. This is only true to that particular mishap because another one occurs almost immediately or even before the public recovers from the first one. Actually, traffic safety is an issue that lacks a particular solution, only tips and bits.

These include mandatory wearing of seat belts, obeying road signs and traffic lights and not driving while being drunk (obeying traffic rules). However, this only helps in reducing the damage caused by an accident or tries to prevent the problem. Thus, tension arises as the issue is publicized and onlookers expect resolution, yet no consensus exists within the political system on how to tackle the problem (David & Roger, 1993).

Although these solutions bring about the unnecessary and impractical concerns such as traffic lights, it can cause traffic jams that are unnecessary. Safety belts may lock and when a car is on fire can trap people in a vehicle.

According to a survey conducted, results suggest that Oman has one of the highest rates of traffic accidents worldwide. Nearly 6000 people have been severely injured – some of them were disabled for the rest of their lives (David & Roger, 1993). Novelty thus has helped in convincing policy analysts that traffic safety is a problem worth defining in order to find a long lasting, if not permanent solution.

Proximity

The problem of traffic safety is a problem of every individual. 72% of the GUtech students and staff have relatives or friends who died because of road accidents. The post trauma suffered by the family is usually overlooked when accidents occur.

The need for more professional advisers has been made necessary due to the need to help family members heal from the pain brought about due to loss of their loved ones. The proximity of this problem to everybody has made it indispensable thus worth defining.

Crisis

Traffic safety requires corrective action, “according to the Royal Oman Police (ROP), 42% of the dead and injured were children under the age of 25 years” (Salim and Salimah, 2005).

The statistics are grim: during an eight-year period, more than 6,500 people were killed and more than 75,000 injured in auto accidents on Oman’s roads. With a population just under three million, this sultanate on the Arabian Peninsula has one of the worst reported road crash fatality rates in the world, according to Al Mustadaama (‘Sustainability’), an independent Omani social research enterprise.

Causes of the Traffic Safety Problem in Oman

The major cause of traffic safety problem in Oman is an individual behavior of drivers. Human error and carelessness of drivers cause the majority of accidents. A lecturer in GUtech was surprised by the interest of students of the school as they visited the Traffic Safety Institute to find out more about the causes of accidents and the reason why they are escalating.

The main causes of car crashes on Omani roads are careless driving, over-speeding, bad driving, the use of mobile phones during driving and the lack of seatbelts (Salim and Salimah, 2005). The weather is also to be blamed. Unfavorable weather, such as sandstorms, causes poor visibility, thus accidents.

Some roads are in poor conditions due to the failure by institutions mandated to maintain them carrying out their responsibilities e.g. potholes, these roads can cause tire bursts. Some roads are also either narrow, slid, and or have sharp bends. The internal roads in the Wilayat of Al Seeb, which were damaged during last year’s weather conditions, remain in dreadful condition.

Several cracks and potholes can be seen on these roads posing a serious threat to drivers. Some of the roads in this area connecting coastal areas are totally cut and some of the roads in residential areas are yet to be repaired. Residents in these areas have urged the Muscat Municipality officials several times to take urgent steps to repair the faulty roads. Residents say that motorists face several problems during rush hours.

People living near the Al Seeb police station also complained about the terrible road conditions. Social and problematic conditions, e.g. drunk driving have also acted as a multiplier to the traffic safety problem, according to (Salim & Salimah, 2005), it has been argued that the main cause of accidents is not the roads condition, but the careless mistakes by the humans.

This is cause by their negligence and lack of prudence. Driving under the influence of alcohol can be likened to an avalanche – it is the most dangerous.

Characteristics of the Problem Population

Since the main cause of road accidents is human error, the target population here is mainly the drivers. Everybody is also part of the problem since the pedestrians or passengers may not obey traffic signs or do not wear seat belts. The affected population is, surprisingly, children. This is according to Salim and Salimah (2005), 96% of all children killed (180,500 in 2002) because of road traffic injuries.

Even if the children are not directly involved, it is their breadwinners and guardians that are. These two populations are different in such a way that the affected population is the one, which actually depends on the target population to provide a solution.

Possible Policy Solutions

Problem definition cannot be done based on one fact. It is ambiguous and is based on social indicators.

Policy making depends on the problem definition, for example, observers may define the problem of road safety as one of severity in nature caused by poor infrastructure and affecting motorists, while participants who have been affected define it as one of crisis in nature caused by institutional failure, and/or a health hazard and national disaster to children.

The first definition, which is strategic, if accepted by policy makers will lead to the repair of roads, road signs, road building and increasing of vehicle standards of safety. The building of driver training institutions, will directly lead to the economical advantaging of certain companies.

Technical studies for a bulk of the massive project are still being carried out, but Omani officials say they are close to announcing the winners of a bid to begin the first 45km of the project. If policy makers embrace the second definition, it will probably trigger public education, institutional overhauls and free treatment of accidental victims, especially children.

Summary and conclusion

In conclusion, problem definition is so far the most indispensable tool to policy analysts and makers in creating solutions. The definitions given will exclusively dictate the pathway to the solution and therefore this should be made impartially not to fit economical and political motives.

However, it would help the affected population and educate the target population. The commitment to make the roads safe is a sign of humanness. It shows that people have respect for others. Road safety is something that people should ensure for the others (salim & salimah, 2005).

References

David, A. R., & Roger, W. C. (1993). Problem Definition, Agenda Access, and Policy Choice. Policy Study Journal, 21(1), 56-71.

Salim, A., & Salimah, J. (2005). Road traffic crashes. Oman: Al Mustadaama, LLC.