POLICY A: Provision of a mandatory yearly training to officers.
Cost
The total cost of implementing this alternative will be approximate $100 billion per year. The cost would relate to expertise hiring and resources mobilization as well as logistics arrangements. Further, considering that the policy would have wider reaching effects on the whole police force makes it more beneficial regardless of the higher cost.
Stability
Can objectives be achieved with variable change
In view of the substantial cost for the policy implementation, the greatest variable change change that could affect its success is the lack of funding. However, in cases of less funding from the government that is the main source of the agencies training funding, a backup plan could be applied.
Backup plan
Police training on brutality would attract interest from various stakeholders and communities affected by the problem. Thus, in cases of failed or less funding by the relevant authority, the program can be funded by interested stakeholders who would include the donor funding agencies and human rights groups among others.
Reliability
Keeping the policy active
The fact that the increased police brutality cases have had a negative impact on the public image makes the police bosses more motivated to correct the image. With that, the policy can be easily kept active and reach all the officers as the bosses would not want to associate with the brutal cases that would taint their image as less effective in offering leadership.
Invulnerability
Can it continue if part of it fails
In the event that part of the policy fails such as lack of skilled personnel on the subject of brutality, the back-up program that is supported by interest groups would help keep the program active and invulnerable to changes. With that, no perceived lack of resources is expected to have significant impact on the policy implementation.
Flexibility
In view of the policy’s flexibility, the training can be applied as a means of addressing key issues affecting the police force. In that respect, the programs involving training on brutality would easily blend with training regarding other aspects that are key to an effective police force.
What other problems
Some of the other key problems that can be addressed by the policy are training on the officers’ health and finances. With that, the sessions would not only seek to address a community problem but also personal problems that could likely affect the officers’ efficiency in their service delivery. That is because financial status and health are key determinants of personal capacity to deliver in a much demanding workforce like the police.
Risk
Regarding the risks of the policy implementation failure, the training programs can be considered to be subject to a balanced risk. That is given the possible resistance it would attract from some of the quarters given that the training on less violent approaches could be perceived as increasing the risks of the officers’ lives. However, considering the increased cases and the need by the police force to improve its public image, the resistant wouldn’t be considered as a significant risk hence the programs can be considered as low risk policy measure.
Communicability
Can others easily understand it
The policy communication can be considered as a simple task given that the targeted persons work in same departments and undergoes the same training. With that, it would be easier to communicate the policy measures to the officers during their training or even in their workplaces. Also, the simple framework of the policy makes it simple to read and understand even by civilians and law makers who have no expertise on the subject. That is given the use of simple language and analysis.
Merits
Regarding the applicability of the policy, it can be considered a practical solution given that it is would serve the interest of the police bosses to enhance their departments’ image and create a favorable public image win the community. With that, the policy would have benefits of enhancing the police force public image as well as the welfare of the officers involved given that they would not have to suffer the consequences of their brutal acts jeopardizing their careers (Akers, 1998).
Evaluation
Political analysis: The policy would have significant effect by helping the society change the perception of the police force as brutal agency hence fostering close social ties that could help coordination between the communities and the police. Economically, the cost of the program would have an impact on the country’s budget hence increasing the taxpayers’ burden (Goodman, 1998).
Administrative ease: As a new policy, it would require substantial resource consideration for the police force administration. In that respect, the challenge would be addressed by ensuring recruitment of suitably qualified persons to address the new subject matter as well as training schedule. However, each police department would be responsible for organizing for its officers training needs regarding logistics.
Program elements: The key elements that the policy would relate to include the funding and expertise on the brutality subject. In that respect, the funding would be the responsibility of the state government while personnel mobilization would be the responsibility of the police department.
Relevant actors: The key actors in the policy implementation would include the authorization that would require the congress review of the policy and its suitability. Regarding the funding, federal government would be responsible. Further, it would require the participation of key interest groups such as human right agencies that would be involved in reviewing the training contents mainly regarding the issue of brutality and racial profiling.
Facilitatory and retracting mechanism: The key facilitators of the policy implementation would be an oversight authority formed combining various interest groups including human right groups, possible donors and researchers on matters of law and the subject in focus. The authority would also be responsible for reviewing the training program and recommending improvements or possible changes.
Parts that need to be phased out: In the preliminary stages of the policy implementation, all considered elements are viable. But continued evaluation with the program implementation would help identify key aspects that can be added or phased out.
POLICY B: extensive background check on officers’ mental state yearly.
The police force could greatly benefit from comprehensive background and mental check on the officers. The reason for such check could be that the police force work that mainly entails facing substantial threats could affect the officers’ mental state and required great mental stability to carry out.
Cost
The proposed check and would cost approximately $20 billion. In that view, the policy would be less costly than the first alternative but would still be viable considering that its impact is mainly on the officers identified to have mental or brutality history issues.
Stability
The policy can be considered as stable given that even variable changes such as lack of funding and increased expertise would not significantly affect its implementation. That is given that the policy would just entail incorporating an additional appraisal element in the current police appraisal programs. With that, the objectives of ensuring that the police force does not have personnel associated with mental problems or unfavorable brutality history would be achieved.
Reliability
Considering the policy’s compatibility with the personnel management program that entails the officers’ appraisal and investigations. The policy can be considered reliable in that it can be kept active with minimal need for additional resources or pressure on the police force.
Invulnerability
The policy can be considered viable regarding its invulnerability to changes. That is because it would be part of the key career appraisal for the officers hence would not likely face much resistance. However, on instances of failure such as lack of skilled personnel to conduct the appraisals, the policy would still remain relevant as it would involve historical records on police officers conduct that can be reviewed even months or years after. Also, in event of the policy failure to deliver, there would be need to incorporate the help of oversight authorities that would ensure that the implementation is done suitably (Lersch and Tom, 2000).
Flexibility
In addition to addressing the mental problem, the check and appraisal on the officer’s conduct would help create a better bond between the community and the police given that the officers would be more considerate of their force use in any encounter (Lersch, 2002).
Risk
The chances of the policy failure are minimal as it would be a crucial aspect of the departments performance and would reflect on the police leadership’s performance as well as individual officers’ career appraisal.
Communicability
The policy can be easily communicated to the police officers as well as the relevant authorities. It is also simple to understand given that it falls in the category of the appraisal parameters that the officers’ careers are based on. Further, use of simple language and implementation framework would make it simple for civilians and policy makers to understand.
Merits
The policy can be considered as realistic given that it can be easily implemented within the police force and with oversight of the relevant authorities such as medical practitioners. With that, the policy is practical given that it would also seek to enhance the public image of the police force given that it would help eliminate officers likely to subject the citizens’ to unnecessary violence (Adams, 1996).
Evaluation
Political analysis: Given the policy focus on the mental status of the health officers, the key social impact of factors would be the ability to maintain a healthy workforce with officers who can easily relate with the community members. Regarding the economic aspect of the program, the funding would have an added burden on the taxpayers.
Administrative ease: Given the need for more expertise on the metal health, the policy can be considered as more challenging than the first alternative as it would need incorporation of the mental health practitioners in the exercise.
Program elements: The key policy elements relates to resources and funding. With that, expertise on mental health would be crucial to the policy’s success.
Relevant actors: Given the policy’s key elements, the key actors can be considered as the federal government that will be involved in the program funding, mental health practitioners who will be key in the assessments of the programs and its implementation and the police department that will be responsible for resources mobilization.
Facilitatory and retracting mechanism: For the policy success, there will be a need for an oversight authority overseeing the exercise given its expertise need as well as the significance it has on the police officers careers. In that respect, an oversight authority comprising of mental health and criminology practitioners will be responsible for the program facilitation (Kane, 2002).
Parts that need to be phased out: The initial implementation does not identify any key elements to be faced out but further evaluation upon the policy implementation will be a great indicator on the policy elements that can be phased out or what needs to be added.
Extrapolation
In view of a study done by the guardian, the following is the statistics of the people killed by the police
Source: The Guardian 31 December 2015.
The above data and chart shows that the whites were the most victims of the police killings with 51% of the total people killed hence the policy is likely to have a significant impact on them.
When considering the number per million, the following is the statistics showing the people most likely to fall victim of the police killings
Source: The Guardian 31 December 2015.
In view of the above data and chart, although many whites fell victim to the police killings, the conversion per million people shows that the population most affected is the blacks with 39%.
In that respect, implementing the policies would have substantial effect on the total number of the whites deaths while having a significant impact on the blacks population.
In view of the two policies, the training on the officers will be crucial in imparting skills that can help them address offenders with less force hence reducing cases of violence and fatalities. On the other hand, the mental check program would help ensure that the police force have personnel capable of mentally handling the challenging police work without unnecessarily resulting to violence that could result to unnecessary deaths.
References
Adams, Kenneth. (1996). Measuring the Prevalence of Police Abuse of Force. Police Violence: Understanding and Controlling, pp. 52–93.
Akers, Ronald L. (1998). Social Structure and Social Learning. Los Angeles: Roxbury.
Alpert, Geoffrey P. and Roger G. Dunham. (1997). Policing Urban America. Illinois: Waveland Press.
Arrigo, A. and Claussen N. (2003). Police Corruption and Psychological Testing: A Strategy for Pre-Employment Screening. International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, 47, pp. 272–90.
Goodman, Debbie. (1998). Enforcing Ethics: A Scenario-Based Workbook for Police and Corrections Recruits and Officers. New Jersey: Prentice Hall.
Kane, Robert J. (2002). The Social Ecology of Police Misconduct. Criminology, 40, pp. 867–6.
Lersch, Kimberly M. (2002). Are Citizen Complaints Just Another Measure of Officer Productivity? An Analysis of Citizen Complaints and Officer Activity Measures. Police Practice and Research, 3, pp. 135–47.
Lersch, Kimberly M. and Tom Mieczkowski. (2000). An Examination of the Convergence and Divergence of Internal and External Allegations of Misconduct Filed Against Police Officers. Policing 23, pp. 54–68.
Jon Swaine, Oliver Laughland, Jamiles Lartey and Ciara McCarthy. (2015). Final total of people killed by US police officers in 2015. The Guardian December 25, 2015, Retrieved 17 April 2016 from, http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/dec/31/the-counted-police-killings-2015-young-black-men
Toch, H. (1995). The ‘violence-prone’ police officer. Washington, DC: Police Executive Research Forum.
