Please help me give feedback to my classmates post following these guidelines

In your responses to your peers, offer feedback on their presented case studies/articles. Do you agree or disagree with your peers' assessment of their materials? Do you have any recommendations to help your peers with their research?

THOMAS

For this discussion I picked two papers that deal directly with the. paper I am working on. The first one is from the University of Chicago Legal Forum. The Dynamics of Excessive Force, by Daria Roithmayr.

The second paper is thin-slice of institutionalized police brutality: tradition of excessive force in the chicago police department. Criminal Law Forum, 30(4), 425-450. By Paul Bleakley.

The first paper by, Roithmayr focuses on what is a contributing factor in the excessive force culture within CPD. If this behavior is not condoned it will stop. But, as she points out. This "bad-apple" behavior is allowed, and even awarded by the supervisory culture. A "whatever it takes to maintain control over the citizenry" attitude has been in place for decades. As a former (LEO), Law Enforcement Officer assigned to the south Chicago area I had many encounters with CPD's style of "maintaining order" style of policing. I can't say I condoned it, but due to the circumstances, I understood it. But also, as an observer, it was a necessary evil needed at the time to maintain order.

The second paper by, Bleakley, also focuses on the style, and acceptance of excessive force prevalent in CPD. Again, I can relate a story pertinent to this type of officer safety. While on duty, I was queried by a CPD officer if he could shoot a few rounds out back of our station from an AK-47 assault rifle he had taken off a14 year old gang member who was driving a Cadilac around where our station was. Now please keep in mind this was in the 1980s, so it was a pretty big deal. Back then, and even today, gangs gave the minor aged members heavy weapons to hold. The minors, if prosecuted served less time in jail, and when they turned 18, their crimes, for the most part, were expunged of record. The officer involved was only carrying a semi-auto handgun. The AK-47 was on full auto, who do you think would win that situation.

What I gleaned from both of these papers emphasized the unofficial culture is stay on top, no matter what it takes, we'll cover for you. Change can only come from the top. Can CPD change?