Length: Five to seven double-spaced typed pages; five pages minimum.

Use MLA format

(follow Sample Student Essay in MLA Style on pp. 301-311). MLA in-text citation of sources
and Works Cited page are also required (see Chapter 14).
Due Date: Final Draft due April 15

th

(Wed.); April 16

th

(Thurs.).

Writing Objective: Problem/Solution (Proposal) argument which argues for a specific action for
a practice, public policy, or change in attitudes.
This will be a problem/solution argument paper on one of the following sociopolitical publicpolicy issues. Your job is to narrow down and focus one of these broad topics into a specific
claim and proposal argument:
Education (No Child Left Behind; Rising Costs of College Tuition)
2. The Gender Pay Gap (Women earn more BA degrees but earn less than men)
3. Crime and Society Today (Racial Profiling; police brutality against minorities)
4. Technology/Science Advancements and Society (women in STEM fields)
A topic of your own choice (to be discussed with instructor for approval)
You may use the Problem/Solution Argument instructional sections from Chapter 11 in our
textbook (pp.241-247) as a guide for your paper; especially review the section on Preparing a
Problem/Solution Argument located on pages 246-247. You should also review proposal
arguments weve read for class and analyze their rhetorical uses of the four different appeals,
strengths, and weaknesses; consider what works/doesnt work in these arguments and apply
certain strategies and appeals accordingly in your own writing. In writing this assignment, your
task will be to select a topic and then devise a claim in which you take a stand on a particular
public-policy, practice, or change in attitudes issue. Your proposal indicates and proves that
there is some problem or need which needs to be addressed, some action/solution should take
place, and suggests that there are good reasons why it should. You also need to state specific
effects of your proposal (how your proposed solution will work and what benefits will come
from it). You will then support your proposal claim with evidence from a minimum of five
current research sources. Remember to cite all research sources in your paper according to
MLA format (in-text parenthetical citation), along with a complete documented list of
sources used in your paper on a separate Works Cited page (refer to Chapter 14 guidelines
and examples in our text).
In order to write a fair and credible paper, you will also need to show that you are aware of the
pros and cons of arguments that might be made by people who disagree with your position
(counterarguments). You may also want to address previous proposals/solutions that have been
offered in the past and show that your solution is better in some way and more feasible. In order

to avoid bias and oversimplification of the problem, you also need to indicate that you have
knowledge of other factors which may be involved in the issue.
Be sure to choose an issue that you care about so that you can argue your proposal with passion
and conviction. In other words, if you don't believe in what you're proposing in your paper, your
reader will also not be convinced or persuaded to take action (build your ethos in the argument).
Also make sure that your proposal is workable/feasible, thus allowing your audience to consider
your proposal in reasonable terms.

Sharlene Pennington
ENG 100

Spring 2015
Dr. Hirata- Knight
Paper III Rough Draft
Crimes are usually the major headline on our newspapers and weekly news reports on TV
concerning with the overall safety of the community; however, todays news is more so
concerning the actions and unlawful ways police officers have been dealing with their cases.
These cases includes the many killings of unarmed African American men including a few cases
such as the Ferguson shooting involving Michael Brown, Eric Garner chokehold taken place in
Staten Island, New York, and Tamir Rice taken place in Ohio. Statistics provided by ProPublica
states that the 1,217 deadly police shootings from 2010 to 2012 captured in the federal data show
that blacks, age 15 to 19, were killed at a rate of 31.17 per million, while just 1.47 per million
white males in that age range died at the hands of police. These statistics portray a large increase
in number in comparison with the police homicides of African Americans compared to white
males. Something is wrong with these statistics and nothing but racial discrimination seems to
fit the reason to why the killings of black males are larger in number in comparison to white
males. Racial discrimination is prohibited nationwide, however people still practice this
inhuman act and in this case, law enforcement is involved in this problem. Racial profiling by
officers in the field in regards to the streets has shown unfair treatment specifically towards
African American males and is becoming a more serious issue when racial discrimination is a
factor. This factor is being illustrated through recent police brutality and shootings of unarmed
black males by white officers and should be addressed.
Police homicides have gotten out of hand and facts provided by these cases show these
killings are because of racial discrimination. On August 9 2014 in Ferguson, Missouri, Michael

Brown who was 18-years-old was fatally shot by officer Darren Wilson. Brown was a black male
while Wilson was a white male. Wilson was notified of a robbery by police dispatch committed
by Brown at a convenience store. Wilson recognized Brown and Dorian Johnson as one of the
description of the suspects to the robbery on the street and stopped them with his cruiser. An
altercation occurred in the car of Wilsons until he fired his gun and Brown and Johnson fled the
car with Wilson focused on Brown. Brown stopped and turned around to face towards Wilson
and Wilson fired a total of 12 bullets causing the last fire to be the fatal shot. Brown at the time
was unarmed and was still shot to death. No evidence of threat of any sort shown towards
Wilson was displayed and yet, Brown was shot to death by 12 bullets. Brown did not have any
weapon on him that could pose a threat to Wilsons life but he still felt the need to shoot fire at an
unarmed 18 year old black male. Wilson reported that Brown looked like a demon and that he
feared for his life and that is what caused him to open fire. If that was the case, being a trained
officer with proper training, Wilson should have known how to defend himself without causing
the death of another. Racial discrimination is the leading factor in this case and is the main
factor of Brown's death.
Another case involving an unarmed African American male results in physical harm. On
July 17 2014 in Staten Island New York, 43 year old Eric Garner was killed after being put in
chokehold by a police officer for 15 seconds. A video recorded by a local bystander shows
Garner arguing with police officers that were accusing him of selling illegal untaxed cigarettes.
An officer grabbed Garner by the hand at an attempt to arrest him, Garner pulled his arm away
from being handcuffed. The officer then wraps his arm around Garners neck putting him into a
chokehold which led them both on the ground. Garner cries in the video I cant breathe but
was still put into a chokehold. Garner lost consciousness and was later admitted to the hospital

which he was announced dead at. The New York Police Department prohibits the use of the
chokehold in any given situation, yet this action was done and has resulted in the death of
Garner. Garner was unarmed and posed no harm. No other factor but racial discrimination
seems to be the leading factor towards the reason for the officer to react this way.
Another case involves a young black male resulting in death. On November 22 2014 in
Cleveland, Ohio, 12 year old Tamir Rice was shot and killed by a white officer Tim Loehmann.
Rice was seen at a park holding a bb gun and Loehmann shot fire after spotting Rice at the park.
The police dispatch caller notified twice that the gun which seemed to be mistaken for a pistol
was probably fake and that a juvenile was in possession of it. Seconds after arriving at the scene,
Loehmann shot fire twice at Rice. Given that he was told twice through the dispatcher that it
was probably a fake and that it was a juvenile, he still felt the need to shoot fire. No pose of
threat towards the officer was displayed. The information from the scene proved to show that
this situation could be handled differently. No other factor but racial discrimination seems to fit
the leading cause to Rices death.
In order to prevent any more of these police homicides, law enforcements should develop
a more accurate recruitment process that involves personality and psychological tests amongst
trainees. Racial discrimination exists in most places in the current government law system. A
study from the sentencing project shows that more than 60% of the people in prison are now
racial and ethnic minorities. It also states that 1 in 17 white males are more likely to be in jail,
whereas for black males, its 1 in 3. The New York Police Department training is so focused on
having their trainees focused on the concept of the officers safety, it is missing out on other
important key concepts as a part of their training. According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics
(BJS) Census of State and Local Law Enforcement Training Academies, training topics based on

hate crimes/bias crimes is provided in 85% of the police academies across the nation, and
requires a median number of 4 hours within a 18 week training program. Other topics such as
firearm skills, self-defense, and health is provided within 99% of the police academies across the
nation and has a median number from 60-45 hours of training. Although these topics are
significant and need to be covered, hate crimes/bias crimes topic seems to be underlooked and
insignificant in police academy training systems.
More tests that involve cross cultural training systems should be implemented throughout
the nation and more implemented through the states in which these police homicides take place
in. Other outside agencies should be enforced and brought in when evaluating the competency
of these cross cultural training systems. These tests should include psychological and personality
tests that would go into a more detailed insight of whom they hire into the field. Experts should
evaluate these tests to determine the accuracy of these potential trainees. However, certain states
are aware of the problem at hand. NYPD Police Commissioner Bill Bratton states that special
attention will be given to procedures detailing the use of force during arrests in a reaction to the
Garner case. According to ABC news, more states are becoming aware of the problem at hand
with these horrible police homicides. Across the country state lawmakers are determining
whether leaving it up to local prosecutors to charge police officers for suspect deaths is ethically
sound. California and New Jersey are looking to follow in the footsteps of precedent-setting
Wisconsin, which last year mandated independent probes for officer-involved fatalities. A new
Missouri bill would require local prosecutors to bring in outside investigators and prosecutors in
similar cases and a bill in Colorado also might be forthcoming.
These police homicides have been investigated and some are still in the process of being
investigated, however, the cases are still causing chaos nationwide stating that they are

unjustified. Daniel Pantaleo, the officer responsible for Eric Garners death by use of the
chokehold walked free without any chargers pressed against him even though the case was ruled
as a homicide by medical examiners. An unarmed black male was killed at the hands of a police
officer who used a prohibited action of the chokehold and was able to walk free. Harsher
punishments should be introduced and applied to these cases. A lot of factors come to play in the
jury when determining whether a cop should be pressed charges or walk free, and a lot of these
factors are unfair to the civilians that are involved in these cases. Cops are trained for their
safety first, and self-defense is required for them in training and these factors can be used in any
court hearings. Civilians on the other hand do not have any say to defend themselves because of
their unfortunate deaths. A death is a death and involves the loss of a life, and should not be
taken lightly.
If law enforcements reevaluated their training programs and provided harsher
punishments for officers committing these police homicides, it would bring an overall
stabilization nationwide. Citizens around our nation would not be protesting and causing chaos
and anger around the nation. An overall sense of justification would be present and no chaos
would occur. Most importantly, it would reduce the killings of unarmed black males that leads to
racial discrimination. That too would bring overall peace within communities and an overall
feeling of safety within them as well.
These cases are very unfortunate and a lot of them have been unjustified. Michael
Brown, Eric Garner, and Tamir Rice have lost their lives from police homicides because of racial
discrimination. This issue is a very serious problem especially within police departments and
should be fixed and reevaluated by training systems by providing more specific tests on cross
cultural ethics. Because these problems have occurred and cannot be undone, harsher

punishments on these officers should be enforced so that a sense of justification can be provided
for communities. Because the problem with racial discrimination is broad and still exists, not
much can be done to prevent the overall thinking of human beings, but by implementing specific
tests that involve cross-cultural tests in police departments, it could prevent the unfortunate
deaths of these unarmed black males.