The Pros And Cons Of Community Legalization

In order to increase our understanding of justice in the United States, we can look at how some individual cities contribute to creating their own construction of justice. One of the major distinctions between major cities is the way the police collaborates with their community, for instance the difference between Richmond, California and Baltimore, Maryland. Richmond’s officers have all been mandated to attend community meetings or discussions, while off-duty and when they are on-duty, they spend as much time as they can walking around, interacting with the community. Baltimore engages in a system that may be labeled as community policing, by some, but the methodology is unlike Richmond’s community policing; Richmond’s policing policies are …show more content…
Colorado is a state that initiated a ballot to legalize cannabis for recreational use and many people voted for this ballot, thus the citizens of Colorado wanted cannabis to be legalized and to an extent, less arrests for cannabis use and possession. Colorado’s legalization of cannabis is an example of how listening to what your community wants and then actually trying to accomplish what the community wants, can help build relationships between the citizens and a government. Community policing can work the same way, if they community wants to something done about a certain crime or crimes, they can work together to alleviate the problem, but if they solution they crafted isn’t enough, they can keep collaborating and work towards a better community, together. Paul Carls, the author of an article on Emile Durkheim, wrote that Durkheim theorized that, “… society is an ensemble of ideas, beliefs, and sentiments of all sorts that are realized through individuals; it indicates a reality that is produced when individuals interact with one another, resulting in the fusion of individual consciences”. Durkheim’s ideals are relevant in a modern setting, because in America, we have a very individualistic culture, yet we are separated in police, politicians, and communities; we need to come together as one to become a society that favors each …show more content…
In chapter 17 of Demystifying Crime & Criminal Justice (2013), according to William R. King and Matthew C. Matusiak, there is an excessive use of force from officers throughout the country, but that is a myth, in reality there is just a lot of reporting and the community believes that there is a lot of abuse and violence from the police. The difference in use of force between officers stems from the training that officers receive, for instance, one of the reasons Richmond Officers use less force, is because of the new training regime that was that instated in 2008, according to the Mercury News (2014), by Chief Magnus. Chief Magnus instated a very rigorous and thorough training regimen focused on the escalation and use of force, as well as dealing with the community. Any tactic or utility that can be used as force is thoroughly reviewed and studied before deployment as well. Thus, the Richmond Police were focused on making sure force was absolutely necessary and how much to apply. Whereas Baltimore is currently using a more defensive and response use of force hierarchy; force is used on suspects, whenever there is any kind of threat. In Richmond, according to the Mercury News (2014), “Richmond officers undergo firearm training monthly and role-playing scenarios for disarming suspects four times a year, a higher average than many other