Assignment 2: Selecting Prospective Police Officers

Various characteristics are associated with fair-minded, effective, and successful police officers. Many police departments make sure that they carefully screen potential police officers on the basis of qualities like personality traits and achievements. These serve as potential predictors for selecting future police officers with integrity and ability. The goal, of course, is to learn up front whether individuals will actually transform into effective and ethical officers before investing time and money into training police officers.

Submission Details:

On the basis of your assigned readings, by Saturday, April 23, 2016, in a minimum of 250 words, post to the Discussion Area your response to the following:

• Describe what you consider are the most important selection criteria for potential police officers.
• How important are the quality and quantity of college education for individuals aspiring to become responsible police officers?
• What according to you are some personality characteristics that are important for becoming responsible police officers? Describe these characteristics.
• How would you ensure diversity among the ranks—including racial minorities, women, and people from different sections of society? Or how much weight should be given to factors such as race, ethnicity, religion, and gender of candidates during selections?
• If you were the hiring official, would you exclude applicants who fall short of your perceptions of an “ideal cop” but who fit the criteria for the job? Why or why not?

By Wednesday, April 27, 2016, read your fellow students’ postings and respond to at least two of them in a substantive way by addressing issues brought up in their posts. Note that a simple agreement or disagreement with another student’s post will not be considered a substantive response.

Discussion Grading Criteria and Rubric

All discussion assignments in this course will be graded using a rubric. This assignment is worth 40 points. Download the discussion rubric and carefully read it to understand the expectations.

As a police officer, you have been asked to visit an Arab/Middle Eastern American family to gather information for a current case. Before you visit, you must first learn about their culture. For this case study, you will prepare information about the Arab/Middle Eastern culture to aid you in the discussion with the family.

The following should be included in your case study:

1.     Introduction: Provide a brief summary of Arab Americans. Include a discussion about who Arab Americans are and why they came to the United States.

2.     Considerations: Provide details about the following considerations:

o   family structure (head of household, children, and female dress and manner);

o   language

o   personal space/touching;

o    communications (gestures, insults);

o   hospitality; and

o    possible prior discrimination due to the events of 9/11.

3. Summary: How does the knowledge of these considerations assist the officer in gaining information?

Please use the textbook and one additional resource from a professional or academic journal, and document this source within your cited resources. The completed assignment should be at least three pages in length, not including the title page and references. It should be properly formatted to follow APA guidelines for all resources, including in-text citations, paraphrasing, and references.

Book reference

Shusta, R., Levine, D., Wong, H., Olson, A., & Harris, P. (2015). Multicultural law enforcement: Strategies for peacekeeping in a diverse society (6th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Resources: University Library and the Internet.

Locate three contemporary examples in each of the four following categories, for a total of 12 examples:

• Good Samaritan conduct or random acts of kindness
• Acts of vigilantism–violating the law to enforce the law
• Acts of civil disobedience–violating the law to change the law
• Criminal acts committed by professionals in the course of their employment, other than criminal justice professionals, in which the defendant was believed to have violated the ethical standards of his or her profession

Assemble the 12 examples according to the category and in a visually appealing manner. For each example, include the following:

•  A summary of the event
• A graphic illustration, photo, or other visual item related to the event
• One properly APA-formatted reference

Note. including introduction and conclusion to introduce your examples and summarize your work.