User:DAnthonyRocket/sandbox

While some authors, most notably former Devon and Cornwall Constable John Alderson, have traced the core values of community policing to certain original Peelian Principles, the term only gained purchase in the late 20th century and, then, only as a response to a preceding philosophy of police organization. By the early 20th century, the rise of automobiles, telecommunications and suburbanization transformed how the police operated. Police forces moved to using a reactive strategy versus a proactive approach, focusing on answering emergency calls as quickly as possible and relying on motor vehicle patrols with the intention to deter crime. Some police forces such as the Chicago Police Department began rotating officers between different neighborhoods as a measure to prevent corruption, and, as a result, foot patrols became rare. These changes significantly altered the nature of police presence in many neighborhoods. For example, the Kansas City preventive patrol experiment provided evidence that aimless motor patrols were not an effective deterrent to crime. Similarly, by 1981, a study by the US-based Police Foundation suggested that this had caused the police to become isolated from their communities.

In response to some of these problem, many police departments in the United States began experimenting with what would become known as "community policing". For example in 1967, President Lyndon B. Johnson appointed a Blue Ribbon committee to study the apparent distrust with the police by many community members, especially along racial lines. The resulting report, the President's Commission on Law Enforcement and Administration of Justice suggested the development of a new type of police officer which would act as a community liaison and work to build bridges between law enforcement and minority populations.

Kenneth Peak has argued that community policing in the United States has evolved through three generations: innovation (1979 to 1986), diffusion (1987 to 1994) and institutionalization (1995 to present day). The innovation period occurred following the civil unrest of the 1960s, in large part as an attempt to identify alternatives to the reactive methods developed in mid-century. This era was also saw the development of such programs as the broken windows theory and problem-oriented policing. The diffusion era followed, in which larger departments began to integrate aspects of community policing, often through grants that initiated specialized units. Lastly, the institutionalization era the mass application of community policing programs, in not only large departments but also smaller and more rural ones.

Article Evaluation:
Blue Wall of Silence


 * 1) The article is relevant throughout however it restates several items which can become distracting.
 * 2) Some of the sources are quite old and updates have come to the forefront due to things such as Fergusson and other police oriented killings of citizens.
 * 3) The article seems to be geared more on the side agains law enforcement  but not overly so where the article suffers integrity.
 * 4) The article is written more as facts and figures so there is less opinion being represented however as stated above the facts and figures go more against law enforcement.
 * 5) The citations do go to links however they represent a mix between academic sources and publications for newspapers such as The Metro Times.
 * 6) The citations go to a variety of sources which are in my eyes biased due to the nature of journalism versus academic works.
 * 7) The talk page lists issues as stated above about the bias against law enforcement and suggests it either be deleted or greatly revamped as they state it as an important article due to links to it.
 * 8) The article receives low ratings from three Wikiprojects.
 * 9) The article receives a lot of backlash for its American centric approach and its biases. Comparing to other Wikipedia articles we've discussed in class this one is skating by the skin of its teeth, it is of low importance and quite badly written but due to its links from other articles and its ability to be greatly improved and its potential it is still around and still active for alteration.

Article Selection:

Weapons Effect - Weapons effect

Police Militarization - Militarization of police

Blue Wall of Silence - Blue wall of silence

Internal Affairs - Internal affairs (law enforcement)

The article I feel needs some work is that of The Blue Wall of Silence. This article relates directly to a negative aspect of police culture where the idea of “blue bloods” and “us against them” come into play. The intention of law enforcement is to serve the community as best as possible in order to protect and serve but when police brutality and corruption come into the fold this is damaged. Further damage is inflicted following when officers willingly lie and falsify information in order to protect fellow officers disregarding the safety or justice to the public. Areas to look at can include departments that are notorious for placing corruption above citizens such as the New Orleans police department as well as linking to articles on internal affairs. Internal affairs also can be worked on as it receives a stub class rating and circles back around to police culture through the issues of creation to combat the blue wall of silence and the culture of  corruption  in toto.

For our topic of police culture I feel it is (as stated above) best to be its own article. With this idea of police culture I feel we need to include the good as well as the bad of police culture which forms the public opinion of how law enforcement operates. There are many articles including things such as militarization and the us against them mentality that forces the culture down a dark path. Looking on the reverse there are also the positives such as outlining that (initially at least) a great number of officers enter into enforcement with the desire to help the public thus creating a culture of individuals wishing to assist. An article from class that can outline a little of the culture is the Manning, Maanen piece entitled Policing: A View From The Street, and in specific the section on police occupational culture that goes into showing how and where they get the culture from. Articles to be linked to could possibly include internal affairs which looks into the negative side of police culture.

Adding more information on the creation of the police and the desire to have them a separate entity both in appearance and operational design. More information comparing the "traditional" sense of policing and how it has become a topic for controversy as of late would be beneficial to understand why community policing is a step to repair the policing image.

History section.

Bibliography.