Victim advocates provide support to victims and their families navigating the criminal justice process, from community policing throughout sentencing and corrections. To be an empowered advocate for victims of all demographics, it is important to be able to identify the major aspects of multiculturalism and societal diversity within the American criminal justice system.
Scenario
Leaders at your agency for victim support services have asked the victim advocates to give presentations at an upcoming meeting of the city council or state legislature to advocate for improvements to community policing. Your agency wants to show the city or state leaders the current, accurate data that supports their claim that a particular demographic group has been disproportionately targeted or treated unethically by community policing practices and is in need of change.
Preparation
Refer to the gender, racial, or ethnic group you selected in your Wk 2: State Demographic Data assignment. This group should be represented in the prison demographics for your state and will be your focus as you examine the influence of gender, racial, or ethnic aspects of diversity in community policing.
Research statistical demographic information on the imprisoned populations in your state or local area. (You may use the same resources from last week’s assignment.) Examine data for the racial, ethnic, or gender group that you choose to study. Access the Detailed Data Tool from The Sentencing Project for data on these groups.
Research at least 2 scholarly sources about issues in policing the selected gender, racial, or ethnic group.
Using data from your state or local area, create a 10- to 12-slide Microsoft® PowerPoint® presentation to city or state officials as if you were a victim advocate working on behalf of a community to recommend a plan for reducing disparity in the policing of minority groups.
Your presentation should include the following information with supportive examples from your research:
Cite relevant demographic information from state or local statistics on the race, ethnicity, or gender of the group you selected. Note any relevant disparities between groups.
Explain the roles of the various criminal justice agencies and representatives engaged in building rapport with the group you chose. Summarize the ethical responsibilities of criminal justice professionals to serve multicultural populations. Give an example of a risk to effective community policing that could occur based on an officer’s biases or lack of cultural competence with the selected population.
Identify aspects of multiculturalism and societal diversity to consider when policing this group. Describe how cultural, spiritual, or other factors may cause challenges for a minority defendant from this group during their interactions with law enforcement. Describe challenges to developing community policing practices impartial to gender, race, or ethnicity.