Category: NReina

Casual Argument-Nreina34

Social Media Is Exposing More Of the Police To the Public.

In today’s society, everyone believes what they read on social media.  It is the new “news” source that seems intoxicating and is convincing mostly the younger generation.  Like everything else, this is a good thing and a bad thing.  This is having a negative impact on police forces throughout the country because of the increase of the exposure they have now.  Advancements in technology give people the capability to video certain events and this is catching the police on their mistakes.  There are cameras everywhere nowadays, cell phones, iPods, patrol cars; all these places are easily accessible to start videoing.  

All of these factors pointing against the police is giving them a bad reputation which means, who is going to want to be a police officer anymore?  There have been declines in police recruits all throughout the country and the bad reputation is a contributing cause to this.  Ultimately, the media is ruining law enforcements and the way they carry out actions in their profession.  Yes, the police do make mistakes but at the end of the day, they are human beings like the rest of us.  There are going to be times where people mess up and unfortunately for them, sometimes their mistakes cause fatal happenings it is just the nature of the job.  

 

        

Works Cited

Brumfield, Ben. “Police Caught on Camera: The Good and the Bad.” CNN, Cable News Network, 21 Apr. 2015, http://www.cnn.com/2015/04/20/us/police-actions-under-scrutiny/index.html.

Libaw, Oliver Yates. “Police Face Severe Shortage of Recruits.” ABC News, ABC News Network, abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=96570.

PTSD Claims – Nreina34

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“Charlene has long, graying dark hair parted down the middle and super-serious eyes, which she has to lower to compose herself for a minute when I ask her, alone, if she saved Steve’s life.”

  • “Graying dark hair” can mean that she has had a lot of stress in her life and it has taken a toll on her.  This could also prove that PTSD is contagious if her graying hair is a result of Steve’s disease.
  • “Which she has to lower to compose herself for a minute when i ask her, alone, if she saved Steve’s life” shows that the process of healing Steve could have been very difficult.  But her composure shows that he is better now and is happier this way.

 

“These most recent years, Steve is funnier—after all…but it’s not all good days”

  • Steve can be showing signs of being happier and healthier and his family is starting to notice.
  • “But it’s not all good days” shows that this disease is seriously affecting Steve but the results are inconsistent.
  • What happens when he is having a bad day?
  • Was he a really funny person before everything that happened?

 

“And hypervigilant. He doesn’t like living on Five Cent Ranch Road, which runs through a decidedly vulnerable valley.”

  • “Hypervigilant” due to the anxiety brought on from the disease, he now feels vulnerable where he lives because of the location.  
  • This sense of insecurity can drive someone insane.

“At the very top of a largely uninhabited hill, it will be hell—and sometimes impossible—to get down in winter because of the snow, but Steve doesn’t care, and wants to grow old with Charlene and die up there. At that elevation, with that vantage point, it’s one of the most defensible pieces of land in town.”

  • Steve is moving to an inconvenient location I believe so that he feels safe and secluded from everyone else.  
  • Is Charlene okay with the move or is she just agreeing to help deal with him?
  • “it’s one of the most defensible pieces of land in town” What does he have to defend against?
  • His act of moving can be defined as another point that PTSD can be contagious.  Steve’s need to move because he may feel unsafe and vulnerable in his house directly alters Charlene.

“In the Vines’ household in Alabama, at any unpredictable time of night, the nightmare starts in Iraq.”

  • What does this mean? What happens when these nightmares start?
  • Shows how PTSD seriously affects soldiers back home, trying to live a regular life.
  • Is PTSD “contagious” because of these outrages and nightmares?

 

White Paper 2nd Draft- Nreina34

For my research essay, I will examine how the media portrays law enforcement and how it’s affecting these departments around the country.  

Throughout the country police officers feel as if they are perceived to be the criminal and that isn’t the mentality a police officer should have.  Social media is a major cause to the irrational hatred the police receives and it is ultimately leading to a decline in numbers in law enforcement. These accusations of the media are not at all false, the majority of police officers agree with the idea on how the media treats them poorly.  Police officers are everyday citizens outside of their job and have to deal with these things, and for someone who protects and serves their community to be ridiculed for doing their job is truly unjust.       

  1. Forget Criminals, Police Now Fear Activists and the Media

The Essential Content of the Article: This article published by The National Interest provides a case in Alabama where a man was pulled over by a police officer but instead of cooperating he decides to beat the officer as others join in and video the helpless man.  The officer didn’t fight back in fear of repercussions of the media and said, “I hesitated because I didn’t want to be in the media like I am right now.  It’s hard times right now for us.”  

What it proves:  This article proves that the media has an affect on the mindset of a police officer now and is now altering decisions that can risk their life.  This is a perfect example of how unwanted prejudice leads to attacks against law enforcement, which is happening all around the country.

  1. The Real Reasons Nobody Wants To Be A Police Officer In America

The Essential Content of the Article:  The main point of this article is that numbers in the police force have been declining rapidly around the country.  Entrance exam numbers have gone down tremendously, for example in Fairfax County, Virginia, there were 4,000 applicants for their exam in 2011, but now will only catch the eye of 300.  

What it proves:  There must be a major cause to this 90% drop of applicants and people are now looking to the media to be that influence.  Ultimately, this is proving that not only does the media affect day to day officers, it is trickling down into the young minds making them not want to pursue their dreams anymore in law enforcement.  

  1. Most officers say the media treat police unfairly

The Essential Content of the Article:  Pew Research Center ran surveys in 2016 to get the opinion of police officers on how they feel the media treats the police.  The results were shocking, with 81% of them saying the media treats them unfairly, and half of that saying they strongly agree.  Also, this survey also showed that about 50% of police officers feel that the public doesn’t understand the risks and hardships they go through and could be another potential reason for their tarnished image.

What it proves: This research backs up the theory that media is influencing law enforcement and all of it is undeserved.  Society believes that the news headlines that ridicule police officers do not alter them, but how would you feel if you had to be the “bad guy” all the time when you’re just trying to do your job?  

  1. We’re not seeing more police shootings, just more news coverage

The Essential Content of the Article:  I decided to utilize this article to show an opposing side to this argument.  This article published by CNN preaches upon that their haven’t been more “controversial” police incidents, there has just been more media coverage on them giving them more exposure.  A big part to this more exposure is cell phones because it gives eye witnesses the ability to record everything that goes on.  

What it proves: This may prove that this type of behavior from law enforcement can be a recurring thing dating back way farther to Eric Garner and Ferguson, Missouri.  Maybe more exposure to these incidents will educate the public about what is really going on in our police departments around the country.

  1. How Social Media Is Changing Law Enforcement

The Essential Content of the Article: This article helps seek through the “pros and cons” that social media brings to law enforcement.  This is only a part of the argument but I feel that it has a lot more importance than people think it has.  Social media nowadays is used by law enforcement to assist in looking for missing children, and also helps spread word about important news from the police to the public.  But social media has created a whole new world of law enforcement including pedophiles using a these networks as a platform to meet young children, and ISIS and other organizations like that use social networking to recruit people overseas.  

What it proves:  This proves that social media is a double edged sword for law enforcement, but it can be a very vital thing to law enforcement.  It is starting to be used in police departments to communicate with the public, gather information about certain people, and can also be used a form of evidence.  This goes to show that the police really are trying to help out but at the end of the day the media still portrays them as victims in certain scenarios.  

  1. Social Media and Crime: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

The Essential Content of the Article:  The article posted by The Conversation states that there are 3 sides to social media and crime.  It states that essentially social media is taking over to be the majority’s primary news source which can potentially be a major problem due to all the controversy between the industries.  It also shows how social media is a good thing for law enforcement by it aiding with investigations, having more access to the public, and it has also made it alot easier to communicate with the public in times of crisis.  There are too much of a hatred bias on social media for it to be the main news source.

What it proves: This proves that a lot more people (the majority of them being young) turn to social media as their news outlet which eventually is going to turn into a big problem due to how unreliable it is.  People will believe anything they see on social media nowadays, it is so credulous of them.  

  1. The Use of Social Media Monitoring Tools for Law Enforcement

The Essential Content of the Article:  This piece gives examples at how social media benefits the police.  Police are able to use social media to find tips from followers about the bragging of crimes on social media.  Also, police agencies use social media in hiring decisions.  Law enforcement agencies already do extensive background searches on their applicants before they are hired but by looking into social media accounts it gives these departments a better look at the character of their candidates.  

What it proves:  I wanted to use this article to show that even though social media is a burden on law enforcement, it also very useful for the police.  This is why there must be a resolve between these two industries.  There is too much distrust between them and how they are skewed against each other.  

  1. Social Media and Law Enforcement

The Essential Content of the Article:  The impact social media has on law enforcement has made the interactions between them erratic.  A big example is how the police are affected by the attacks on their credibility.  Social media gives information to irrelevant people which is how things get escalated, and at the same time police officers are verbally attacked on social media at all times.  In addition, the rise of “questionable” videos online poses a threat to departments and is called cop baiting.  By doing this, it makes police officers second guess their decisions which can end up hurting themself.

What it proves: This proves that there are people out there on social media that want to expose police officers for their every move.  Cop baiting is a serious epidemic among our country and is starting to make police officers question if things are a set up sometimes, it’s really sad.  Social media makes police officers the biggest public figures it also comes along with the fact that the barrier between their professional and personal is no longer existent.  

  1. American policing is broken.  Here’s how to fix it.

The Essential Content of the Article:   A major reason as to why there is so much shown hatred towards law enforcement is the accusations that police officers are prejudice and this article points out some of that racial prejudice that goes in in Baltimore, Maryland.  In order for the media and the police to nicely mesh with each other, the police have to fully clean up their act before they can turn around and point fingers.  An investigation given by the US Department of Justice uncovered many instances of unreasonable targeting against black individuals in that area.  

What it proves: This does prove that there are some prejudicial and bias things that go on through some police departments, so the haters are right, but to an extent.  But before the media goes a day without trying to expose the men in blue, all police departments have to clean up their act before they call themselves the victims.  

  1. Fostering Better Relationships Between Police and Media

The Essential Content of the Article:  This article focuses upon the fact that these two professions have so much controversy because they do not fully understand the other person’s job.  A former crime reporter named Carolyn Lowe who worked for WCCO-TV decided to take a challenge and took a college class to try and learn more about law enforcement.  One class led to another and next thing you know, she has a masters degree and is a certified officer.  She really wanted to gain better insight on the job of policing and she did by taking matters into her own hands by actually becoming one.  

What it proves:  This proves that if we were to just understand what goes on in these professions, there would be a lot less skepticism and controversy between them.  There is a resolution and it will come one day but if we do not put ourselves aside then it will not happen.  The media is seriously affecting the way law enforcement is now acting and there needs to be a resolve before things really do get out of hand.  

Summaries- Nreina34

McDonald’s incident: Enough with the hatred of cops

It seems counterintuitive that the ones who dislike and slander the police are the ones who call them the second they are in trouble.  Police officers around the country are being discriminated against for no reason at all, just because they are police officers.  

The media in today’s society has such an influence on its viewers and these news stories are giving people the wrong idea of law enforcement.  It just puzzles me at how some people can hate the only people who are willing to protect you at all costs.  When police officers are being turned away trying to order food it just really confuses me as to how someone can not support people that help you.  I guarantee you if a man with a gun came into that store and tried to rob the place, that employee would have called the police.  

The moral of this summary is that the public is turning against the wrong people.  We owe it to police officers to show them the respect they deserve, not by treating them like the criminals they detain.  By changing the idea everybody has of the police it will benefit all parties, keeping everyone safe and happy.  135 police officers were killed in the line of duty last year, 21 of them being in ambush style attacks.  It’s time we start seeing all the good things the police does for us rather than all the “negative”.  

Viewpoint: College athletes should be paid

It seems counterintuitive that people still think Division 1 college athletes should be paid.  The best athletes from around the world come to the United States to compete in “NCAA Division 1” college sports, the highest rank of collegiate sports.  A common misconception in the sports industry is people feel D1 athletes should be paid but in fact, they shouldn’t and never will be.

The main driving argument is that these athletes generate millions of dollars for the universities they attended, which is true, but some do not see the big picture.  By going to these colleges they are given experiences like no other and helps tremendously with creating a future for these students.  Having the opportunity to play Division 1 sports is the best paycheck anyone should ever receive because it opens up a whole new world for these college kids.  You get the exposure that professional sports need to see you and for most Division 1 athletes, helps them create a future for themselves.  

New Backup Camera Rule: Cameras Will Be Mandatory by 2018

It seems counterintuitive that backup cameras will now be mandatory on all cars but we have gone years without this being a requirement until now. The  movement towards safer roads will continue in 2018 with this new law.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration just finalized the regulations of backup cameras after years of perfecting it.  As of the new year, all new cars will be required to have backup cameras to help prevent more “backover accidents”.  Backover accidents are when drivers reverse over the other without noticing; these accidents have about 200 people killed and 14,000 people injured every year.  

A common topic that has everyone thinking is, how much more will these backup cameras cost?  Some people can’t afford a vehicle so by making backup cameras required, there is curiosity as to how much this increase the price in vehicles.  Fortunately for consumers, the new mandated backup cameras will only increase the price of new cars $40-$140.