WEBQUEST

 

POLICE BRUTALITY

IN THE BRONX

AND OTHER URBAN AREAS

 


By Roger Dennis

The School for Excellence

 

 

 

 

 

 

INTRODUCTION:

 

Jose, Jamal and Chico were hanging on the corner, just chillin.  Nobody was doing anything even close to illegal.  Two officers drove up, stopped their car, and got out.  They approached the fellas and told them to move on – told them, not asked them, and the one doing the talking had a real nasty, disrespectful attitude.  Chico refused to move.  ‘I ain’t goin nowhere!  We ain’t doing nuthin wrong, and nobody talks to me that way.  You ain’t my daddy!’

 

Real quick Chico was up against the wall, the nasty cop’s hand pushing his head right into the bricks.  He was cuffed real hard and taken to the precinct.  There he was charged with verbal assault, disorderly conduct, and resisting arrest.

 

Have you ever heard of anything like this happening?  How often does it happen?  Why does it happen?  Is it primarily the fault of the police, or is it mostly caused by community folk?  Or both?  Who does it most often happen to – is there a particular group, or type of person who this usually happens to?  In actuality, what percentage of police officers are guilty of mistreating community people?  What do they look like?  Where do they come from?  What has their background been like?  Since they joined the police force what kind of training have they had?  (What is the definition of training?  Are we talking about the organized, formal, staff development that officers will go through when they attend the Police Academy?   Or are we talking about the ‘on the job’ training that officers get when they actually get out on the streets?  When an officer’s partner says, ‘Forget that shit you learned at the Academy; here’s the real deal’, which ‘training’ will carry more weight?)

 

The whole topic of police brutality, or police-community relations, is very confusing, very emotionally charged.  It is also a political football.  It gets kicked every which way, and nothing seems to get accomplished.  We will not be able to find all the answers in this class, but we can make a significant contribution to the eventual healing, or at least improvement, of a very difficult problem.  You are a community activist interested in seeing police brutality come to an end.  You have come to realize that it’s not quite as “black and white” as you initially thought.  You realize that this will not be solved without truly looking at it from all angles.  So you decide to thoroughly research the problem, its scope and causes, as well as the public policies already in place to combat it.  You will also propose your own original public policy solutions in hopes of finally putting police brutality to rest in your community.

 

 

TASK:

 

Your task in this WebQuest is to produce (1) a one-page anecdotal essay (your own experiences and opinions on the issue) and (2) a three-page action plan that will address the problem of policy brutality and improve relations between the police and the people in your community.  You will use the websites provided below to help you in your research, and you will summarize your findings and ideas on the TIPS six-step Public Policy Analyst worksheets.

 

 

PROCESS:

 

1.                  Write a one-page anecdotal essay in which you will answer the following questions:

 

a.     Do you believe police brutality is a serious problem in your community?

b.     Have you experienced it, or do you know anyone who has? If so, describe.

 

2.     Using the websites provided below, research the problem of police brutality in the Bronx and other urban areas in the United States.  Summarize the problem and existing public policies regarding police brutality on the following TIPS six-step Public Policy Analyst worksheets:

 

a.                 TIPS Worksheet 1 (Define the problem)

b.                 TIPS Worksheet 2 (Gather evidence for the problem)

c.                 TIPS Worksheet 3 (Identify causes of the problem)

d.                 TIPS Worksheet 4 (Evaluate existing public policy solutions)

e.                 TIPS Worksheet 5 (Develop original public policy solutions)

f.                 TIPS Worksheet 6 (Choose the best solution)

 

3.     Using the information gathered from your research, prepare a three-page action plan that analyzes the problem of police brutality in the Bronx and other urban areas in the United States, including a description of its scope and causes.  The action plan should also discuss the effectiveness of existing public policies designed to combat police brutality and include your own original public policy solutions to this problem.

 

 

RESOURCES:

 

http://www.pww.org/archives96/96-07-06-2.html

http://www.amnestyusa.org/rightsforall/police/nypd/nypd-02.html

http://www.oz.net/~vvawai/sw/sw33/pgs_31-40/police-brutality.html

http://shadow.autono.net/sin001/kopwatch.htm

http://www.fff.org/freedom/0497d.asp

http://www.jrn.columbia.edu/studentwork/bronxbeat/1999/may/may3/advocacy.html

http://www.house.gov/apps/list/press/ny16_serrano/pr_990206_brutality.html

http://www.progressive.org/mpcontreras1098.htm

 

 

EVALUATION:

 

An “A” paper meets all of the criteria mentioned above, and it is superior and/or exceptionally engaging.  In addition the paper may draw upon any number of factors: maturity of style, effectiveness of argument, use of literary and/or rhetorical devices, depth of discussion, sophistication of wit or quality of imagination.

 

A “B” paper is clearly adequate.  The prose is able to convey the writer’s ideas, but without flair or strong control.  Diction and syntax are usually appropriate, but lack variety. The reader has a clear sense of the writer’s purpose, but is not engaged by the prose.

 

A “C” paper is barely adequate.  The paper features underdeveloped paragraphs.  Transition may be weak or absent.  Although the reader may be aware of some purpose, errors impede the fluency of the paper.

 

An unacceptable paper or a “U” paper is compromised by its brevity and it deficiency of composition, content, diction, syntax, structure, voice and conventions of language as to render its meaning/purpose almost unintelligible.

 

 

The following New York State Standards are addressed in this WebQuest:

 

Social Studies, Standard 5:1, 5:3, 5:4 http://www.emsc.nysed.gov/ciai/socst/socstands/socstand.html

English Language Arts, Standard 1

http://www.emsc.nysed.gov/ciai/ela/elastandards/elamap.html

 

 

CONCLUSION:

 

By completing this WebQuest, you have made a contribution to your community, especially with regard to its relationship with the police.  Hopefully, some of your ideas will be heeded and this problem will improve significantly.