Assignment 1: Identifying the Best Path Forward
A recent article in Criminology & Public Policy polled a national sample of 1,137 Americans about their support for “popular slogans and their substantive policy goals.” I have uploaded the article to the “files” folder in Canvas.
Your first assignment of the semester is to read the article and write a 500 word reflection essay. In it, you should do the following:
- Identify the key finding. In other words, what’s the big-picture takeaway from this article?
- Identify which policy you are most supportive of and explain why. You should also explain why you’re less supportive of the other policies.
- Explain how likely (or unlikely) you believe it is that we can achieve said policy in the foreseeable future.
Your essay should be uploaded to Canvas no later than 10AM on Monday, February 3rd. If you want, you can write your essay in Word (or whatever you normally use), then cut/paste it into Canvas when you’re finished.
Do not plagiarize. Please note that your submissions will be reviewed for evidence of plagiarism and/or the use of AI software. If you’re unsure about what constitutes plagiarism, please consult with me before you submit your essay.
Assignment 2: Reading Quiz
Due to inclement weather, I’m requiring you to complete Assignment #2 - a reading quiz - in lieu of today’s lecture.
- It will be worth 5% of your course grade.
- There are ten questions (multiple choice, true/false, and short answer) related to the material we’ve covered up to this point in the semester.
- Once you start the quiz, you will have 60 minutes to complete and submit it.
- Your quiz must be submitted no later than 10AM on Wednesday, February 19th.
Assignment 3: Becoming a Police Officer
Each of you have been randomly assigned a US state. I want you to choose any municipal police or sheriff’s department in that state and tell me how to become a sworn officer with said agency. Things you should cover include:
- Hiring decision
- Minimum requirements to apply?
- Testing requirements (e.g., written exam, physical exam)?
- Interview process?
- Automatic disqualifiers (e.g., restrictions on prior criminal record, visible tattoos)?
- Training Academy
- In-house, regional, or state operated?
- Length?
- Topics covered (as well as time spent on each, if possible)?
- Field Training
- Length?
- Overall estimated length of time from application to first day of patrol
Most of this information can probably be found on the agency’s website. You could also call the agency and ask for materials related to the application/training processes.
Then, in a paragraph, tell me if you think this process is sufficient. In other words, do you trust that this process adequately prepares individuals for police work? Are there any areas where you see room for improvement?
Papers are due at the beginning of class on Monday, March 10th. They should be typed and adhere to APA formatting (see here for additional information). You may upload them as a Word or PDF document.
- Title page including your name, the date, and course number
- 12 point font, Times New Roman, black
- 1” margins all around
- Double spaced
- 2 - 3 pages in length
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