Applied Criminal Justice Ethics free essay sample

This has to be one of my favorite assignments since becoming a student at Kaplan. I have been interested in the Criminal Justice since I was a small child. I come from a long line of military, however, my passion has always been Criminal Law. I remember even as a young girl in the 2nd grand, I had dreams and aspirations of becoming a lawyer. Now that I have an ex husband, and two children of my own and find the justice system a little â€Å"Leewayish† (if that’s even a word) on dead beat fathers, my dream has now become to be a â€Å"Ball busting District Attorney for deadbeat moms and dads. I am sick and tired of seeing the same faces in court every other month with the same stories that they cant find work, or they cant see their kids, or they were helping with the flood cleanup. We will write a custom essay sample on Applied Criminal Justice Ethics or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page I am sure you can feel my frustration! Other avenues of the law that I have a particular interest in is detective work, private investigation and cold case files. I am also an avid photographer so I would love to take that passion and put into crime scenes, while I pursue a law degree. My best friend Shonda, who I have interviewed for this assignment, is now a detective. She absolutely loves her job, but is currently back into school to further herself into a law degree. I love the cold cases being solved after all hope is lost, on television I know, but still yet. The Jaycee Duggard story gave me a new passion for cold case, when she was found years later. After her kidnapper left her emotionally scarred, she was still able to return to parents who never gave up hope. For my interviews I picked a street cop turned detective to see where her thought process was ethically on the questions at hand. For my second interviewee, I picked a K9 officer who was on the meth task force, but due to meth running a rampant race with the unemployment level sky high, I had to settle for the less enthusiastic Prison Corporal. I never hope to work in a prison ever in my years of criminal law. I do, however, like the Detective work that Shonda does. You will see their thought process are both criminal law focused, but on two very different sides of the Criminal Justice system. Shonda Ellis Duncan is a 30 year old married mother of 2 and has chosen a career in law enforcement in a small town municipal department. Approximate population of the area is 120,000 and ethnicity wise it is 99% white and 1% other races. Due to the unemployment rate being at 22% in the small town of Oneida, Tn, she states methamphetamine amp; prescription drug sales and theft are on the rise. This county also has high instances of possession and manufacturing of meth on a weekly basis which is contributing to early use, and early deaths as young as 30. I had the chance to go back home and Interview an old high school friend of mine who started back in law enforcement as a 911 dispatcher in 1998 after High school graduation. Full name: Shonda Ellis Duncan. Current Title: Investigator. Synopsis of training: She started law enforcement in Aug 2002 amp; was fresh out of college. She had obtained a degree in Paralegal Studies and done her internship for the DA. One evening she got a call for a friend telling her Oneida Police Department had a position open and he wanted her to apply. When she arrived, she stated the Chief of police had been waiting on her but she was not interested in the thoughts of law enforcement, but fresh out of college with a family, she needed money and went ahead and applied with the thought it would be something till she could find something else. She stated â€Å"She started as a Patrolman. When I got back from the academy I was also trained as a 911 dispatcher and corrections officer. I am the only officer in the department trained in everything. After the election in Sept this year, our Chief became the new Sheriff. He asked me to go with him to the county and be a detective but I couldnt afford the pay cut or loss of insurance. The city told me if I stayed theyd make me investigator. Im the first female to hold that title in Oneida†. (Shonda Ellis Duncan, personal Interview 2011) Interview Questions: * 1. Why are ethics and character so important in the field of law enforcement? * 1. † People see police officers as a symbol of the law. We are a walking talking version of the written text. We must maintain good character and ethics for people to have any hope in our system. As corrupt or dysfunctional as it may be, it’s all we have. † (Shonda Ellis Duncan, personal Interview 2011) 2. Do the interviewees feel that police are more ethical today, or were they more ethical ten years ago? * 2. â€Å"I don’t know if police or more ethical now or not. I do believe they are held more accountable. It reminds me of a story an old retired trooper told me a while back. He was telling of bringing a prisoner in the Sally Port. He said he got on the radio and hollered, â€Å"someone come catch ‘em†. He said he’d get on one side of the patrol car and use a cattle prod to â€Å"goose† the prisoner out the other side. This would be frowned on now a days lol. † (Shonda Ellis Duncan, personal Interview 2011) 3. Why do police officers become involved in misconduct? 3. † I believe police officers get involved in misconduct because some an idea that they are not held to the same standards ad laws as the general public. They have a false sense of entitlement. † (Shonda Ellis Duncan, personal Interview 2011) 4. Do the interviewees feel that there is enough training offered in ethics at the police academy level? If not, why is that? 4. † I believe there was enough ethics taught at the academy. I think the most valuable lessons in this are learned on the job though. If you watch a good honest cop, you can learn more from him than a lecture. † (Shonda Ellis Duncan, personal Interview 2011) 5. Should ethics training be offered as an on-going process for law enforcement officers? * 5. On-going ethics training is always a good idea. We train with our guns and cars every year. Couldn’t hurt to make ethics required every year too. † (Shonda Ellis Duncan, personal Interview 2011) 6. Do the interviewees feel that education and/or training in ethics would reduce incidents of police corruption? * 6. â€Å"Training may reduce corruption incidents. It’s a nice idea. A wise man once told me though that power corrupts. I believe this to be true. If you think of yourself as a superior to everyone else, there is no law, no training or in-service that can fix that kind of ugly. I don’t know if someone can be â€Å"trained† to be humble. Either you are or you ain’t. I think this is true for cops. You’re either a good one or we appreciate your interest in law enforcement. Of course a good cop has to maintain order. You must have respect to be successful. An officer’s presence alone demands it. One must remember the spirit and the letter of the law though and hold it dear as it is precious. â€Å"(Shonda Ellis Duncan, personal Interview 2011) My next interviewer is kind of a surprise to me. When I got back in touch with him, I figured by his lovely high school record and reckless nickname, he would have definitely served some time for being so reckless by now. I was quite surprised to see how grown up and responsible he had become after his bad impression was left on our high school principal. Maybe sometimes the rotten egg can turn good after all. Anthony Young is a 34 year old single father of one son who found that the commute to Morgan County, which is a 30 minute drive on backroads, deemed beneficial to him to secure employment at a maximum security prison. Although he states he constantly has to look over his shoulder for upholding whats right in the prison sector of the avenue of Criminal Justice, he said its his calling and there is no place he would rather be. His hobbies in his off time include spending time with his son, hiking in the Big South Fork national Forest, hunting wild game amp; deer, four-wheeling, and collecting classic cars with his most prized possession being a purple corvette! Since I interviewed a former road cop now turned Investigator, I wanted to touch on someone who was totally trained in just corrections as an insider to the prison system. I spent the afternoon with CPL. Anthony Young, 34, who is a seasoned officer with Brushy Mountain State Penitentiary in Morgan County, Tn. He is a short haired wild side living on the edge kind of personality with short hair and a beautiful smile. Can be tender hearted if need be, but mostly sounds kind of gruff. He chuckles as he knows this is going to take a while and states, â€Å"You owe me big time for this†. About Anthony: Anthony Young, Tennessee Department of Corrections, Morgan county correctional complex. He was hired on Februay 28th, 2005 as a correctional officer. He then was promoted to corporal on October 16th of 2007, since then he states he has supervised everything from the minimum security yard to the maximum security housing units as far as working with the normal operation of the institution. â€Å"I have been the supervisor over the visitation department working with both inmates and civilians, and I am currently the grievance chairman(which being the complaint dept is amusing)† (Personal Interview of Anthony Young, 2011) Interview Questions: 1. Why are ethics and character so important in the field of law enforcement? Character and ethics are an important part because with the type of people we have to deal with we have to set an example for them as well as be professional as possible; at the same time trying to maintain the security of the institution. I have saw that the officers with the strong character are more respected by the inmate population because they are more consistent with their daily duties, and the inmates know what those officers expect out of them everyday as opposed to the more laid back go with the flow ill let that slide officers. I feel the ethics are used to be fair with what decisions you make while performing your duties. One of the big things that we hear over and over at the academy is be firm, fair, and consistent by being firm you show them what you expect out of them day in and day out, which takes character. By being fair you use ethics to make sure the punishment fits the crime. By being consistent means you are the same every day, you dont lock up a guy up today for being out of place and let someone go for doing the same thing tomorrow. If you do it to one you have to do it to all as it shows both character and ethics on your part as well as it sets the standards that they have to go by. † (Personal Interview of Anthony Young, 2011) . Do the interviewees feel that police are more ethical today, or were they more ethical ten years ago? â€Å"Wow this is a tough one, I would probably say they were more ethical 10 years ago due to the fact of the different generation. as far as we go in corrections, 10 years ago the Tennessee prison system was not over populated like it is today. You didnt have the need for as many officers as you need today to carry out the daily duties of the institution. Your officers were usually older more mature officers that had to actually pass the civil service test in order to even be considered for a job interview. Somewhere in late 2007 the civil service test was done away with as far as corrections goes, since then we have gotten younger officers mostly fresh out of high school. Most of the younger officers are not as security minded as the older officers and the inmate population can manipulate them easier causing much more problems and a lot more injuries and staff turnover as opposed to yesteryear. † (Personal Interview of Anthony Young, 2011) 3. Why do police officers become involved in misconduct? â€Å"As far as corrections goes I feel that its mostly the money. I have seen a lot of officers lose their jobs due to misconduct by bringing in contraband. law enforcement officers are underpaid all across the state, most of us in corrections have second jobs just to be able to make it in todays economic time. In march of 2007, tobacco products were banned from the prison system, since then I have watched numerous staff lose their jobs due to bringing in tobacco to the inmates, they are selling it for as much as $400 a pound, and the inmates are turning around and selling it to other inmates for as much as $150 dollars a ounce! I have saw officers lose their jobs over $20 prepaid cell phones that they have brought in and sold to the inmate for as much as $800 a piece. These officers are looking at the quick money now to make a truck payment or house payment as opposed to the monthly pay they will make as long as they have their job. † (Personal Interview of Anthony Young, 2011) 4. Do the interviewees feel that there is enough training offered in ethics at the police academy level? If not, why is that? â€Å"In reference to our academy we have to attend I would say yes. Ethics comes up in almost every class we have to attend for the 6 weeks we are at the academy. It is constantly drove into your head about what kind of environment we are about to enter into and the possible outcome of both the ethical and unethical decisions you will make. In the kind of environment we work in unethical decisions could very easily get you or someone else killed. † (Personal Interview of Anthony Young, 2011) 5. Should ethics training be offered as an on-going process for law enforcement officers? â€Å"I feel as long as we have law enforcement officers, it should be. One who loses the ethical bearings on the job at hand, will also lose a life or cause someone else to be injured. Samantha and I grew up in a town that was 99. 9 percent white population, in the prison system there is no room for racism. This mindest of white versus black can get a green horned corrections officer killed or injured to a bad point of never being able to walk again, see, work. Some of these guys are in here for the long haul, so they have nothing left to lose. If you slip up with the wrong racist comment, someone will get hurt. I thank god for ethics and morals being taught to me all my life and even in my correctional officer career. † (Personal Interview of Anthony Young, 2011) 6. Do the interviewees feel that education and/or training in ethics would reduce incidents of police corruption? â€Å"I feel that it could, a lot of officers are not worried about the consequences of making unethical decisions, which not only affect themselves but others as well. If they are constantly reminded of the outcome and the thought stays fresh inside their mind they would be more likely to make more ethical decisions. (Personal Interview of Anthony Young, 2011) In conclusion, I feel that Shonda with a background in college probably has more of an ethical expertise as opposed to someone with just Corrections officer training like Anthony possesses. Education wise, Shonda has the upper hand. Shonda is also a former street cop, in our old town which is still 99. 9 percent white population and zero gang related activity. Anthony works in a prison setting where they get a melting pot of races and a ton of gang affiliations. I think on the job wise, Anthony has the upper hand ethically. The two professions I chose to interview, could not have been more different. In regards to Shonda, she is one of the only women on the force in Scott County. She has a lot of men backing her up and trying to protect her. I think a good decision for her was to become a detective/investigator over a road cop in a town that seems to be over run with alcoholics, trailer park domestic violence calls, meth manufacturing and prescription drug sales. At a whopping 5 foot, if someone wanted to do some damage to her, she may be tough but people messed up on drugs are no match for anyone. She loves her job on the force and is very well respected by all. I am so very thankful to call her my friend. In regards to Anthony, he is a former street fighting self assured redneck. He grew up hard, lived hard, and partied harder. After the birth of his son, he settled into parent mode and become a corrections officer. Due to the reputation of his past acts under the age of 18, Anthony had to seek employment out of town. He drives 33 miles to work one way. He has made a name for himself at the prison as well. He never waivers from whats right and wrong, he never ever buddies up or demeans the inmates, and he always has the back of his fellow officers and in turn get the same respect he is given. I think growing up in a town of all white people and having racist family members, like you do when you grow up in a town like ours, probably hurt him morally. Now that he is an adult, he has to take actions like an adult and act morally as deemed by the position in which he carries. Anthony will tell you, this is not a job for the weak or the racist.

The Hitch-Hiker and Samphire Essays

The Hitch-Hiker and Samphire Essays The Hitch-Hiker and Samphire Paper The Hitch-Hiker and Samphire Paper The two short stories of Samphire and The Hitch-Hiker can be considered as two very different stories, however some similarities can still be found between them. The story of Samphire, written by Patrick OBrian, is a story about a woman named Mollie who, as made obvious in the story, simply despises her husband named Lacey, a strange little man who doenst show much real care for his wife. Appearing to be a conventional married couple on holiday by the sea, as the story progresses, the emptiness of their relationship becomes visible, and Mollies unhappiness leads to her desperate attempt to kill her husband, which doesnt go through as planned. Roald Dahls The Hitch-Hiker is a comedic and suprising story about a man who picks up an unusual hitch-hiker. The strange hitch-hiker eventually gets the driver into trouble with the authorities, but as unexpected events take place, the drivers view of the strange hitch-hiker changes. A good way to compare stories is to first look at the main characters, or the protagonists and antagonists. For the first story of Samphire, it is obvious that Mollies husband Lacey is the antagonist of the story, atleast that is how the author describes him to us; the author makes it quite clear to the reader that everything Lacey does annoys Mollie, that he is weak and does not really care for Mollie. It is noticeable that Mollie does not say one word to her husband throughout the whole story, more evidence that her husband is simply to self-involved to even notice her silence. It is evident that Lacey is even slightly abusive in their relationship: Lacey was her lord and master, wasnt he? Love, honour, and obey? He put his arm round her when they came to a sheltered turn of the path and began to fondle her, whispering in his secret night-voice, Tss-ts-tss, but he dropped her at once when some coast-gaurds appeared. Mollie attempts to murder her husband, almost appearing as the heroin of the story at this point due to the readers hate for her husband, essentially making her the protagonist of the story. For the story of The Hitch-Hiker, identifying the protagonist and antagonist becomes a little more complicated. In the beginning of the story, we percieve the driver, essentially Roald Dahl as the story is in the 1st person, as the protagonist and the hitch-hiker that he picks up, named Michael Fish, as the antagonist. Roald Dahl describes the hitch hiker similarly to a rat so that it makes the reader assume that the hitch hiker is probably a murderer or some other sort of criminal; once the reader assumes that, it will make them predict that something bad or interesting will happen involving the narrator and hitch-hiker. However as the story progresses, we see that the hitch-hiker may have been wrongly labelled, helping the driver out of a speeding ticket and changing the antagonist to the police officer that pulls them over for speeding. In these ways, the two stories are quite different in terms of protagonists and antagonists. Both stories are based closely on the conflicts and relationships within them. A distinct conflict can be found within the story of Samphire between the married couple of Mollie and Lacey. Throughout the story, the author makes it clear to the reader that everything her husband does annoys Mollie to the point that she simply stops caring: At the next tobacconist, by the pier, he made the same joke to the man there. She stood near the door, not looking at anything. Though she hesitates at first, Mollie tries to push Lacey off of the cliff and nearly succeeds in killing him, elevating their conflict. Though at first the conflict seems to be between the hitch-hiker and the driver, the main conflict within The Hitch-Hiker comes down to the strife between the driver and the police officer. We are introduced to the hitch-hiker as a sinnacle, suspiscious looking man who appears to be nothing but trouble, and though the hitch-hiker tempts the driver to speed, he then saves the driver from the police officer by stealing the officers black book. Though the driver never fully trusts the hitch-hiker, by the end of the story they form a relationship as the driver is thankful of the strange hitch-hiker. Each story has its own themes that make the two stories unique from eachother. One similarity between the two stories themes is that the stories both finish at the same place they started. For instace, in Samphire, the story starts with the woman Mollie being miserable with her husband. The climax of the story is when she attempts to kill her husband, however she does not succeed, and the story ends where it started, ending with the line: and there were her feet marching on the path; one, the other; one, the other, down, down, down as if to show that this was not the first time she had done this. With The Hitch-Hiker, the story begins with a man driving; he then picks up a hitch-hiker and they get pulled over for speeding. By the end of the story however, the hitch-hiker has stolen the police officers black book, therefore essentially going back to the start. The other similarity between the stories is that there is an element of misjudgement within them. For example, in Samphire, the husband Lacey misjudges his wife into thinking that she actually cares about him and his samphire plant: In the morning she said she would like to see the samphre again. He was very pleased and told the hotel-keeper that she was becoming quite the little botanist, his misjudgement of course leading to the attempted murder. As for The Hitch-Hiker, it is the driver that misjudges the hitch-hiker; although the driver labels the hitch-hiker as a rather suspicious person, he rescues the driver from a speeding ticket, and the drivers way of judging people by speech and appearance is changed. The literary presentation is another thing to look at when comparing two stories. In terms of the level of detail that is used in the stories, each story uses about the same amount, each being fairly descriptive in their own way. OBrian does a good job of painting a picture of the enviroment and misery in Samphire, where as Dahl uses descriptive imagery to show us exactly what the hitch-hiker would look and act like. One difference between the two stories is the atmoshphere of the stories; the atmosphere of Samphire is almost one of misery and emptiness, whereas the feeling that you get when reading The Hitch-Hiker is one of interest and intrigue, mostly wanting to see what the characters say to eachother and finding out who the mysterious hitch-hiker is. The major difference between the two stories in terms of literary presentation however is the conversation and interaction between characters within the stories. The only conversation within Samphire is done by the husband, whereas Mollie never talks, leaving the story to progress through actions rather than dialogue. On the other side, The Hitch-Hiker is based solely on the witty dialogue between the driver and his passenger that keeps the story progressing and interesting. Overall, the two stories have their similarities and their differences; while certain similarities can be found between the two stories themes and conflicts, they each become unique when it comes down to the characters and overall literary presentation.

(ONLINE CLASSES ARE NOT A GOOD IDEA) Annotated Bibliography

(ONLINE CLASSES ARE NOT A GOOD IDEA) - Annotated Bibliography Example They gave recommendations on supporting the ease and speed of use of CMS, and how it can support diverse teaching needs and goals of end users. These authors are credible sources, because Ioannou is a doctoral student in the educational technology program in the Department of Educational Psychology at the University of Connecticut, while Hannafin is an associate professor in the Department of Educational Psychology at the University of Connecticut. They have worked on similar studies on technology enhanced learning environments and technology integration. The intended audiences are: school information technology or information systems manager or director and end users of CMS. The main limitation of the article is that it did not conduct any empirical research on a specific CMS to determine its strengths and limitations. It depends on existing studies to argue and support its preference for client-based CMS too. I plan to use this paper to explain existing CMS uses and limitations. Th is article can also help provide recommendations on CMS development. (251 words). Ramage, T.R. (2005). A system-level comparison of cost-efficiency and return on investment related to online course delivery. Dr. Thomas R. Ramage Publications. Paper 2. Retrieved from http://spark.parkland.edu/ramage_pubs/2/ Ramage (2005) compared the costs and revenues of Illinois community colleges and their online delivery systems, in order to examine their cost-efficiency and to contrast the outcomes among online courses at chosen community colleges. Findings showed that online programs at 83% of the community colleges were not cost efficient and did not give a positive return on investment. Apparently, online courses are not cost-efficient, since only two of the 12 participating colleges were determined to be cost efficient. The mean return on investment was negative at –15%. Cost per student credit also varied, which indicated that diverse factors influence the costs and