Assignment Instructions
*Week 1 Project: (Final Project Assignment) Problem Identification*
*Study the Final Project scenario carefully. Your first task is to analyze
the problem and develop a plan for need analysis. In this problem
identification document, please include the following information:*
- *How would you document the need for change? What data would you
collect and analyze in order to define the problem?*
- *What do you believe may cause or be causes of the problem? Identify
relevant research that supports your claim. For example, look at the
literature on police brutality, police harassment, police corruption, or
police-community problems.*
- *Identify relevant stakeholders. Who might be affected by the problem?
What is their interest in the problem?*
- *Identify who is likely to support a certain course of action and who
is likely to resist it? Present these barriers and supports for change in a
force field analysis diagram.*
*Make certain that you support your analysis with proper reasoning and
research data. Use structured text like bolding, headings, bulleted lists,
and charts/tables where appropriate to increase the clarity of your
communication.*
*Cite any sources using APA format on a separate page.*
*Submit your problem analysis and the plan for need analysis in a five page
Word document. Name your file MCJ6004_W1_A3_LastName_FirstInitial.doc, and
submit it to the* *Submissions Area* *by* *the due date assigned.*
*Final Project Scenario*
*Tensions between the minority community and the police are regrettable
problems in the United States. One city, Fictionland, has experienced
tremendous population growth and demographic changes in the past 50 years.
The Fictionland Police Department has been criticized by a powerful
citizen-based organization, Center for Justice, for engaging in illegal
racial profiling tactics and for being generally unresponsive to complaints
about police harassment and police brutality allegedly committed against
members of the minority community.*
*Details*
*The Fictionland Police Department in New Jersey was established in 1945 to
deal with the community’s growing concern with traffic congestion and
increasing crime rates. Fictionland’s population in 1945 was 5,000 and
predominantly Caucasian. According to the latest census figures,
Fictionland’s population is now 68,000 and racially diverse. Approximately
25 percent of the Fictionland population is a racial minority. The latest
projections suggest that if this trend continues, at some point,
Fictionland with be 51 percent white and 49 percent racial minority.*
*The department had 14 full-time police officers on staff in 1945, and all
were Caucasian. Today, the department has 60 full-time officers with only
two minority officers on staff. Over the past five years, members of the
Center for Justice have claimed that Fictionland police have harassed many
minority citizens and, on several occasions, have engaged in acts of police
brutality. In particular, the Center for Justice claimed that minorities
have been the victims of racial profiling in traffic stops. Seventy-two
members of the minority community have filed complaints to the Fictionland
Police Department claiming that they have been pulled over without just
cause. In each instance, Internal Affairs (IA) has investigated the
complaints and found no wrongdoing.*
*In one of the many incidents of racial profiling, last year a complaint
was lodged against Officer Tim Smith, a fifteen-year veteran of the force,
for racial profiling and police brutality against Antoine Jones, a
prominent business owner. Again, IA Unit investigated the complaint and
found no wrongdoing and took no action. Approximately two weeks after the
IA handed down their decision on the complaint against Officer Tim Smith, a
damaging videotape was leaked to the press from a whistle-blower in the
Fictionland Police Department. The videotape showed Officer Tim Smith
following Antoine Jones’car. You could hear Officer Smith saying, “Homeboy
in a Mercedes, must be a crack dealer.”on the videotape prior to turning
his siren on. Officer Smith approached Mr. Jones and said, “Boy, give me
your license and registration now!”When Mr. Jones complied and handed the
documents over, Officer Smith threw the license to the ground. Officer
Smith ordered Mr. Jones to get out of his car and to pick up his license.
Mr. Jones was deferential and complied with the order. The videotape
clearly shows, without any provocation, Officer Smith pepper-spraying Mr.
Jones in the face. Mr. Jones was handcuffed and taken into custody. The
arrest report, prepared by Officer Smith, stated that Mr. Jones swung at
Officer Smith and resisted arrest. Eight similar complaints against Officer
Smith had been filed in the past. Each of the complaints was investigated,
with IA Unit exonerating Officer Smith on each occasion.*
*Page 1 of 2 Final Project Scenario ©2007 South University*
*The Center for Justice claims that the IA Unit is unresponsive and tends
to be dismissive of their complaints. The reputation of the Fictionland
Police Department has been sullied, and members of the minority community,
to this day, do not trust their local police department. Some members of
the community are reluctant to contact the police because of negative
encounters they have experienced in the past.*
*Final Project Assignments*
*The final project assignments will include identifying the problem in the
scenario, developing a response policy or program to rectify the situation,
monitoring and evaluating the developed policy or program from weeks 1
through 6.*
*Students will be asked to analyze the scenario to identify organizational
problems that might have created this tension and to develop a response
(policy or program) that will rectify the situation. Moreover, students
will be asked to monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of the
policy/program*