Modern Criminal Justice Issues
Perhaps the most crucial aspect of the Law Enforcement and Public Safety Leadership (LEPSL) program is that the course material is engaging and present in the students’ everyday work experience. By focusing on building ethical leadership skills using ripped-from-the-headlines topics and issues, I have been able to exercise the course material and discuss issues with law enforcement professionals from around the world. With works including deploying new force options, planning and budgeting in modern society, managing up and coming technologies, and using transparent, proactive communication, the result is a network of best practices and lessons learned on the most critical law enforcement topics of today and tomorrow.
Being able to create a culture that values and encourages innovative solutions is an essential skill for every law enforcement leader. Under increased public scrutiny of use-of-force incidents, allowing officers less-lethal options can help save lives and increase public trust in the police. Written as an internal review of force options, in my first work, I researched and recommended adding the BolaWrap to the HPD’s use of force continuum, and just as critically, proactively sharing the new policy with the public and the media. Adding this option would not only make it safer for both officers and the violent criminals they take into custody, but it would also remind our community that we hold dear the lives we are sworn to protect.
With some in society calling for a “defunding” of the police, the ability to create and defend a law enforcement agency budget can be one of the most critical criminal justice issues. My second work is a legislative proposal for a $10,600,000 Anytown Police Department annual budget. With 78 sworn personnel and 24 civilian police professionals, the fictitious department budget contains priorities for community outreach, crime analysis, a body-worn camera program, and incumbent officer training that critically aligns with the department’s strategic plan, goals, and objectives.
Written as a recommendation to the chief of police, my next work is an analysis of the best practices in utilizing surveillance and biometric technologies. While potentially extremely powerful, these technologies can undermine public trust and interfere with the privacy rights of the public we serve. This topic sits on the cutting edge of legislation, case law, and community engagement. Including a recommendation to actively engage the community using honest, proactive communication, this work represents my optimistic view that with the right leadership, every single challenge we face as law enforcement leaders has the potential to become a collaborative opportunity.
My final work is a YouTube video presentation on the HPD’s Civil Affairs Unit. Protecting the rights of citizens to protest peacefully is at the heart of everything the Civil Affairs Unit does. The quintessential proactive communication model, Civil Affairs is designed around building interpersonal relationships with community members during, but especially before, times of potential civil unrest. This process of making deposits in the department’s figurative ‘trust bank’ is one we must repeat on every scale as often as possible if we expect to engage responsibly with community policing.
The law enforcement leaders of tomorrow will need to understand critical modern criminal justice issues thoroughly and plan, explain, collaborate on, and, if necessary, defend their department’s operations through honest transparent communication. The LEPSL program has allowed me to see these issues through the lens of ethical, responsible leadership. It has helped transform me into the type of leader our department needs to move forward successfully into the future.
Being able to create a culture that values and encourages innovative solutions is an essential skill for every law enforcement leader. Under increased public scrutiny of use-of-force incidents, allowing officers less-lethal options can help save lives and increase public trust in the police. Written as an internal review of force options, in my first work, I researched and recommended adding the BolaWrap to the HPD’s use of force continuum, and just as critically, proactively sharing the new policy with the public and the media. Adding this option would not only make it safer for both officers and the violent criminals they take into custody, but it would also remind our community that we hold dear the lives we are sworn to protect.
With some in society calling for a “defunding” of the police, the ability to create and defend a law enforcement agency budget can be one of the most critical criminal justice issues. My second work is a legislative proposal for a $10,600,000 Anytown Police Department annual budget. With 78 sworn personnel and 24 civilian police professionals, the fictitious department budget contains priorities for community outreach, crime analysis, a body-worn camera program, and incumbent officer training that critically aligns with the department’s strategic plan, goals, and objectives.
Written as a recommendation to the chief of police, my next work is an analysis of the best practices in utilizing surveillance and biometric technologies. While potentially extremely powerful, these technologies can undermine public trust and interfere with the privacy rights of the public we serve. This topic sits on the cutting edge of legislation, case law, and community engagement. Including a recommendation to actively engage the community using honest, proactive communication, this work represents my optimistic view that with the right leadership, every single challenge we face as law enforcement leaders has the potential to become a collaborative opportunity.
My final work is a YouTube video presentation on the HPD’s Civil Affairs Unit. Protecting the rights of citizens to protest peacefully is at the heart of everything the Civil Affairs Unit does. The quintessential proactive communication model, Civil Affairs is designed around building interpersonal relationships with community members during, but especially before, times of potential civil unrest. This process of making deposits in the department’s figurative ‘trust bank’ is one we must repeat on every scale as often as possible if we expect to engage responsibly with community policing.
The law enforcement leaders of tomorrow will need to understand critical modern criminal justice issues thoroughly and plan, explain, collaborate on, and, if necessary, defend their department’s operations through honest transparent communication. The LEPSL program has allowed me to see these issues through the lens of ethical, responsible leadership. It has helped transform me into the type of leader our department needs to move forward successfully into the future.
