Hannah Al-Natoor

Capstone-6
Ms.McMennamy
17 October 2016
Track Work 17-24
I)
Danylko, Ryllie. "Examining Police Training: How Officers Are Taught to Deal with Armed
Suspects."Cleveland.com. Advance Ohio, 08 Dec. 2014. Web. 16 Oct. 2016.

This page is a news source for the city of Cleveland .

I found this source through google.
The audience is the population of Cleveland, Ohio.
This source was written shortly after the fatal shooting of Tamir Rice. It first talks

about the steps that police officers took during the event. It then discusses the failures in
protocol taken by the police at that time. It then goes on to discuss the steps that should
have been taken in place of them, and goes on to talk about the details of police training.
"We ... discovered that officers do not effectively deescalate situations, either
because they do not know how, or because they do not have an adequate understanding of
the importance of deescalating encounters before resorting to force whenever possible,"
the Justice Department report says.
When approaching someone who's either holding a gun or indicating that they
have one, police are trained to first take cover at a safe distance and create a barrier
between themselves and the other person.
The law entrusts the decision of the level of force that is used to what the officer
considers reasonable.
I spent 1 hour on this source because I was taking notes on it due to the fact that it
had a lot of relevant information and for an article it was long.

J)

United States Sentencing Commission. "MANDATORY MINIMUM PENALTIES FOR DRUG

OFFENSES." 2011 REPORT TO THE CONGRESS: MANDATORY MINIMUM PENALTIES IN
THE FEDERAL CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM. U.S. Sentencing Commission, 2011. Web. 17
Oct. 2016.

This is from the United States Sentencing Commission so the source is valid.
I found this source from one of my other sources, as theyre from the same
document.
The intended audience is members of the federal government and concerned
members of the public
In this source there is evidence from fiscal year 2011 on statistics related to
minimum sentencing on drug convictions. It discusses what kinds of minimum
sentencing there are, like 10 years, 20 years , and even life sentences, as well as the
statistics of what percentage of drug convictions belonged in them. It then also talks
about demographics on drug convictions, like what race they were and how often they
had to serve their convictions. It then divulges into how often convictions were actually
served and how often they were avoided, along with other statistics.
Table showing demographics of drug offenders.
For example, White offenders qualified for some form of relief from a
mandatory minimum penalty most often, with 63.7 percent (n=2,328) of all White
offenders convicted of an offense carrying such a penalty obtaining relief from the
penalty. Black offenders qualified for relief from mandatory minimum penalties least
often, in 39.4 percent (n=1,890) of cases in which they were convicted of an offense
carrying such a penalty.

For example, the average sentence for offenders convicted of an offense

carrying a mandatory minimum penalty was highest in crack cocaine cases at 118
months,632 whereas the average sentence for such offenders in marijuana cases was less
than half of that, at 55 months. The average sentence for drug offenders who remained
subject to the mandatory minimum penalty at the time of sentencing (i.e., who did not
receive some form of statutory relief) was 132 months.
I spent 3 hours on this source because it was 120 pages long and was full of
statistics that I was taking note of.

K)

Kristian, Bonnie. "Seven Reasons Police Brutality Is Systemic, Not Anecdotal." The American
Conservative. N.p., 2 July 2014. Web. 18 Oct. 2016.

The author is a writer who writes for various news sites. She also is a
communications consultant for Young Americans for Liberty and a graduate student at
Bethel Seminary.
I found this source on google.
The intended audience for this source are daily readers for the American
Conservative.
In this source the author discusses why they believe that incidents of police
brutality are systemic and not anecdotal. It talks about failures when it comes to police
deescalation training, which leads to excessive force, as police are not aware of better
methods to handle these situations. She then talks about problems when determining what
is excessive force, as it is not explicitly defined. Throughout the document the author lists
possible solutions for each issue discussed.

 On a national level, upwards of 95 percent of police misconduct cases referred

for federal prosecution are declined by prosecutors because, as reported in USA Today,
juries are conditioned to believe cops, and victims credibility is often challenged.
Police use of highly armed SWAT teams has risen by 1,500 percent in the last
two decades, and many police departments have cultivated an us vs. them mentality
toward the public they ostensibly serve.
Excess is in the eyes of the beholder, explains William Terrill, a former police
officer and professor of criminal justice at Michigan State.
I spent 2 hours on this source because it had a lot of elaborated points I am
including in my timed writing that I wanted to take note of.

L)

Rosenfeld, Steven. "15 Reasons Americas Police Are so Brutal." Saloncom RSS. N.p., 20 Dec.
2014. Web. 18 Oct. 2016.

The author of this source is a writer who has published multiple books, as well as
a journalist who covers democratic issues.
I found this source on google.
The intended audience is the general public.
In this source the author takes big points on causes of causes of police brutality
and elaborates on them. He first talks about how police have no training in deescalating
situations. He then brings up how there are little consequences when police do use
excessive force. Then he talks about the use of excessive force and how it has become the
norm, which leads to more incidents of it.

 Officers report that they receive little supervision, guidance, and support from
the Division, essentially leaving them to determine for themselves how to perform their
difficult and dangerous jobs.
These incidents of excessive force are rooted in common structural deficiencies.
CDPs pattern or practice of excessive force is both reflected by and stems from its
failure to adequately review and investigate officers uses of force
Critically, officers do not make effective use of de-escalation techniques, too
often instead escalating encounters and employing force when it may not be needed and
could be avoided.
I spent 2 hours on this source because it included a lot of points I want to
elaborate on in my essay

Reflection:

Through these 8 hours of track, I have learned many new viewpoints on police brutality. I
have gained insight on what factors have lead to police brutality in terms of policies and
practices in the police departments themselves. I now know that a reason excessive force is not
treated directly is because many times it is not acknowledged by other people in higher positions
in the system. I also know that a vital part of police training that is missing is deescalation
training, and that many situations in which excessive force was used could have been avoided if
officers had proper training when it came to deescalating a situation. However because the
majority of their training is firearm based, they frequently resort to more violent tactics sooner.
From my source I have also gained some ideas for advocating, as most of my sources included
ideas for solutions to the problems they discussed. In addition, I have gained insight into how
minimum sentencing reflects policing in the war on drugs, including what areas are most

patrolled for drug possession and trafficking, as well as the demographics and conviction rates
involved with them.