User:Sybear/Evaluate an Article

Which article are you evaluating?
Community Resources Against Street Hoodlums

Why you have chosen this article to evaluate?
I was watching the film Training Day, and was curious about the historical accuracy of the film. The events of the movie are loosely related to the LAPD's CRASH unit, which had multiple corruption and scandals within the 1980s and 1990s, before being dissolved in 2000.

Evaluate the article
Lead Section

The lead section is very concise and contains the historical relevance of the unit, from its formation, giving the location it served, and its overall purpose. It briefly goes over the Rampart Scandal, which was one of the leading factors into its dissolution due to corruption.

Content

The content of the article has only a few sections. I attribute this both to the lack of public information due to its significance as an undercover unit, as well as the time period it operated within, which was before the advent of the digital era. Additionally, due to the corruption involved by several CRASH units, it goes into a brief summary of two major incidents, one being Operation Hammer, and the other being the Rampart Scandal. As there are a few films that have been based upon the unit, the popular culture sections addresses this and provides some insight into correlations and film basis.

Tone and Balance

The overall tone and balance are written quite neutrally. The authors present facts rather than their own opinions regarding the issues within the LAPD's corruption scandals of the time. While readers may feel certain emotions regarding the LAPD after reading this article, there is no inherent bias towards or against the organization as a whole. This represents one instance of controversy and explains the role of the unit during its time.

Sources and References

There are a few "official" sources, which are cited from the LAPD's official website, which likely has some bias and lack of neutrality. Most of the references are news articles, interviews, or secondary sources. This is likely directly related to the covert nature of the unit, and the unwillingness of official sources to reveal or provide discussions related to the scandals. Most of the links do work, however some are not updated and/or do not redirect to the proper location.

Organization and Writing Quality

The article is well-written and is easy to read and digest. The sections and major topics are presented well, however more information would be better. There are no grammatical mistakes present.

Images and Media

There is only one image, which is the patch of the LAPD crash division. It is properly referenced and cited, adhering to the copyright regulations.

Talk Page Discussion

The talk page is interesting, as there are many discussion on whether the article maintains a neutral point of view, and if it should be removed as it is close to being a stub. The majority opinion is that there are many missing points at the time (2005-2007), due to the lack of articles relating to the major points. However, these articles have since been created and help to explain further into the corruption scandals.

Overall Impressions

I believe the article is quite short and could undergo revision to be more descriptive. However, the overall importance is still valid. The two notable sections of the Rampart Scandal and Operation Hammer dive deeper into operations of the CRASH unit. This page serves as a general point of information with summaries, but is not as in-depth as the related articles. It seems that the lack of references or sources is a barrier to expansion and further work into cultivating the article.