In the police field are women respected the same as men are respected? In the police field women have to work for their respected. Women do not enter the police field with respect just handed to them they have to earn their respect unlike men who gets respected no matter what. Kirsten Leger stated "While women perform as well as men in various patrol assignments and situations, they still face a significant amount of disapproval from the male police personnel population" (Leger, 1997, 231)
Do you think that women are called to do the jobs that the men officers don’t want to do? Female officers are mostly called to do the easy jobs for example an accident or burglary at home. You don’t see to many officers handling a school shooting or a domestic violence call.
Do you think female officers tend to get angry when dealing with a frustrated situation? Men officers become angry when a situation gets more and more complicated.In other words women know how to handle the stress and deal with the situation at hand. According to Susan Grant (2008) "Women are less easy to anger. The more stressful a situation gets, the more calm we get. Anger is more likely to come to a male officer than a female officer."
Are female officers more brutal than male officers? Male officers are more brutal than female officers. Men tend to get angry and use their police power to get what they want, while female officers try to compromise and give warnings before they act to police brutality.
Do you think its easy for women to get promoted in the police force? For women its hard to even get in to the police force. Most of the promotions go to the men just because they are men. Women have to fight to get a promotion or show that they are worthy enough to get a higher position than any man.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cf5FruRHbNg
The above is a television show that depicts one of the four policing types.
The type of policing it depicts is the crime fighter. The crime fighter is said to be one of the most important types of police work. They focus more so on apprehending criminals and investigating serious crimes, rather than pety thefts or misdemeanors. Their main focus is on the victim. They are known as the "thin blue line" that tries to protect society from the murderers and rapists. (279) The show that best depicts this type of policing is Cold Case. Cold is a show that takes fictional stories and brings them to life for the soul purpose of entertainment. This show gives insight to the true meaning of crime fighting and justice as a whole. These officers best fit the crime fighters policing category because they are really focused on the victims and are real advocates of those whom dont have a voice. Their main goal is to apprehend the victimizers or the accused.
Jonathan Crowell and Samantha Kilmurray were shocked with tasers by two police officers in Brattleboro,Vermont. Jonathan Crowell and Samantha Kilmurray were said to have been trespassing on private property during the time they were doing volunteer gardening. The owners of the vacant property, which was the Robertsons family, had reported them not once but twice to the Brattleboro Police Department. Crowell and Kilmurray had peacefully refused to leave the property and held on to barrels. According to many of the witnesses the trespassers were “practicing civil disobedience” and taser guns in this case were an “outrageous use of force.” Gary Benjamin, a resident in Brattleboro, was curious as to why taser guns were used if the trespassers showed no threat to the officers or to the community. Tasers are a nonlethal conducted energy device that administers a shock to an uncooperative suspect by way of an electrified dart. I feel the police could have physically removed the trespassers instead of tazing them because it would have caused less bodily injuries. Smallheer (2007)
Cites:
Police Brutality in Vermont? The Buzzing Taser Controversy in Brattleboro! Personal Injury Newsroom. Retrieved October 2, 2009, from website:
http://wmass.indymedia.org/?q=node/77
Cold Case 'Retrieved 10/04/09,from: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cf5FruRHbNg Jonathan Littman
Youtube. (2009) Waverly hires first female police officer. from: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hw8rMj2DoJM
Kirsten Leger (2009) Public perceptions of femlae police officers on patrol. American Journal of Criminal Justice 21(2), 231-249. doi:10.1007/BF02887451
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Televisions crime fighters
Sunday, September 27, 2009
VERMONT'S POLICE DEPARTMENTS 411
The movement of a Department of Public Safety in the state of Vermont began in 1935 through a special committee that was formed to study the possibility of a statewide police system. After continuous studies were performed by the committee, results were positive and support from the community began to expand. The first bill was introduced to establish a Department of Public Safety in the 1937 Legislature. However, it was later concluded that it was not the correct decision to be made. It was assumed that the defeat of this original proposal was a result of lobbying by the sheriffs who perceived a loss of power.
2) In earlier days when the Vermont State Police Department was formed, most departments used motorcycles to patrol. The motorcycles weren’t powerful and fast like those we see today, but were more like bicycles with a motor. In this day and age, Vermont police use different types of cars and motorcycles to better secure the area. With the vehicles used now, an officer could cover more ground, therefore making up time when having to get to a location that is far away from where the officer is at. Going back to the earlier days, not many people had cars that could go fast like cars do nowadays, so a high speed chase wouldn’t be a problem that an officer from that time would encounter. The problem he would encounter would be when getting a call of an emergency from a distant location. If someone was calling to where they felt they were being robbed, a cop from the present would make it there faster than an officer in the earlier days, therefore being able to stop the crime quicker. Also another problem that an officer would encounter is transporting criminals. Cops have cars with a guard between the driver seat and the backseat where the criminal is held. This guard protects the officer from a violent attack from the criminal. Many good things have come with the purchasing of police vehicles but the downside to it is that cars do need repairs. But in the state of Vermont, many police departments have garages that are equipped with lifts and tools to repair cars, or have a mechanic come in and fix. This is good because an officer won’t have to wait on his car to be fixed at a shop and he can check on it every day.
The above is an example of the history of the police department in Vermont. The story below is another example of the history of the police department in Vermont , if the above did not depict enough info.
According to Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders (2001) “The settlement included a monetary payment to Barreto-Neto and a requirement that the town adopt a formal policy of nondiscrimination against transgender persons and train its employees on transgender issues. Importantly, the Attorney General’s ruling established for the first time in Vermont that transgender persons are protected under the State’s anti-discrimination laws”
Even though 2001 was not that long ago I think that many officers like Barreto-Neto were abused emotionally and physically, and they did not have the courage to step to the plate because they were afraid. Times still have not change since then but since the formal policy of nondiscrimination against transgender persons was adopted we feel that if a person was transgender they would encounter some of the problems that Anthony had, but they won’t be as extreme as they were in 2001. For this simple reason is why America is trying to establish laws for transgender and for others like them so they can feel protected and safe from others who feel different.
SERVICE - We provide the highest level of service and protection to all people in a competent, courteous manner, tempered with compassion and understanding.
RESPECT - We treat all persons with dignity and respect by promoting equality and fairness both inside and outside the Department.
CREATIVITY - We engage in problem-solving as our primary strategy, involving the community in identification of the problems, the best solutions and their implementation.
Burlington Police Department addresses a community challenge, revising training. Every police officer must establish training standards by the Vermont Criminal Justice Training Council in order to maintain certification. The core values of the training unit are loyalty, honor, respect, team work, attention to detail, adaptability, courage, leadership, and professionalism. These values help the officers to do what is legally and morally right and to develop mental, moral and physical strength in order to handle situations in a just manner. They believe that by developing a challenging and empowering environment that promotes discipline, respect, team work, and fitness will enable them to create a well trained Vermont police officer. They described fitness as being a term that reflects the mind and the body. Their mission is to sharpen the intellect while conditioning the body for health.
Burlington Police work to prevent the abuse of drugs and alcohol and to prevent family violence. From their website: www.bpdvt.org/ you will be able to find many sources about safety tips, a survival guide for off campus living students, robbery safety information, identity theft information, etc. They make it easy for people who are reaching out for help to get the proper assistance that they need.
STATISTICS IN VERMONT:
The number of agencies for law enforcement in Vermont is 49, the number of personnel is 786, and the number per resident is 126. The number of sworn personnel is 616 and the number per 100,000 residents is 99. The number of agencies for sheriff’s offices is 14, the number of personnel is 187, and the number per 100,000 residents is 30. The number for sworn personal is 132 and the number of sworn personnel per 100,000 residents is 21. The number of fulltime employees for Vermont’s state law enforcement is 545, and the number per 100,000 residents is 88. The sworn employee’s number is 325 and the number of sworn employees per 100,000 residents is 52. I do not feel that Vermont has an adequate number of sworn officers. Vermont’s non-sworn officers have little power in the ability to arrest a citizen where as the few sworn cops may be providing service to a serious situation. There are numerous non-sworn officers but few sworn officers to support the criminal activities that occur on a daily basis. The number of sworn officers are sometimes proficient in the their efforts to uphold the law, yet those numbers aren’t always enough to produce the necessary protection for the state of Vermont.
RESOURCES
Hardwick Logo. [Online Image] Available http://www.nek4u.net/, September 26, 2009
Attorney General William H.Sorrell [Online image] Avaiable http://www.atg.state.vt.us/, September 26, 2009
Highway Patrol [Online Image] Available http://www.dps.state.vt.us/vtsp/
History of the Police Department (2009).Retrieved September 25, 2009, from Vermont State Police: Department of Public Safety Web site: http://www.dps.state.vt.us/vtsp/history.htm
Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders. (2009) Barreto-Neto v. Town of Hardwick Police Department. Retroeved September 24, 2009, from GLAD Web site: http://www.glad.org/work/cases/barreto-neto-v-town-of-hardwick-police-department/
