In 2016, I began working on my doctoral dissertation, which predicted our current state of affairs in the United States. The following excerpt is taken from my dissertation and is published in the hopes that the recommendations provided to address the very situation America finds itself in now are utilized. The complete dissertation is now available for download at Brandman Digital Commons.
America In Crisis
Law enforcement in the United States of America is in crisis (Hook, 2015). A fundamental disconnect, fueled by media reporting, existed between groups that promulgate policing policies and the peace officers who must adhere to the policies despite their limiting nature. Many new policies affecting law enforcement agencies across the nation were derived from recommendations developed by progressive policymakers outlined in high-level directives, like the Final Report of President’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing (Justice, 2015b). The policies, in the eyes of law enforcement professionals, made a difficult line of work nearly impossible to perform. Many members of law enforcement were experiencing less interest in enforcing laws and job burnout (Coleman, 2012; Herzberg et al., 1959). Nationally, the police attrition rate was 14% and many departments across the U.S. were seeing many police officers walking out the door (Roufa, 2017). Without solutions, the United States could experience catastrophic disturbances.
Today in America, law enforcement officers are expressing a feeling of being muzzled because of media reporting and the fundamental disconnect between policymakers, community, and law enforcement practitioners. The solutions to bring the United States back from the brink of catastrophic disturbances rests with the ability to partner academic professionals working on restorative justice initiatives with academic law enforcement professionals. This strategic partnership must sharply focus on causation factors such as imprisonment, poverty, lack of education, and bias policing practices (Stuntz, 2006). Additionally, police administrators must begin to explore the personal impact negative media reporting has on their officers to reduce police officer suicides, increase productivity, and retain good police officers in the ranks (Roufa, 2017).
Over the past 10 years, Americans witnessed the deterioration of trust in law enforcement officers and the criminal justice system, and an increase in violent crimes across America (Sanburn, 2015). Elected officials, law enforcement executives, activists, and communities continue to wrestle with solving issues of inequality, police abuses of authority, and finding a balance in the criminal justice system.
The ability of the United States Government to maintain a peaceful society is predicated upon the way the nation addresses great divides in perceived and actual racial inequalities (Bain, Robinson, & Conser, 2014). Greater scrutiny from the media resulted in unintended consequences, such as the “Ferguson Effect,” now being realized. These consequences included a significant rise in violent crimes across the nation, police reacting to a resurgence of Title 42 § 14141 cases brought against them for alleged abuses of power, police officers becoming less proactive because of the media, and brutal attacks on law enforcement nationwide (Mac Donald, 2016; Sanburn, 2015; Silveira, 2004).
The fabric of the “Great Experiment” was torn apart by catastrophic divides in equity, the media’s portrayed treatment of minorities by police officers, and the American criminal justice system in crisis. The role of police officers radically evolved since Sir Robert Peel enumerated the “Peelian Principles” 188 years ago, which shaped modern policing (Lentz & Chaires, 2007). In the past 23 years, the balance of policing powers and the public’s perception of police officers’ ethics sharply shifted. Media coverage in the United States also became more critical since the controversial beating of Rodney King by the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) in 1992 (Katz, 2016). In addition to facing increased media scrutiny, police officers in America today are also challenged by issues such as nationwide increases in substance abuse, mental health disorders, and poverty. The basis for the current study was to identify the underlying causes of the U.S. policing crisis to develop solutions to address and restore national trust in the law enforcement profession.