Example Of Essay On The Three Databases That Are Looked Upon For The Library Orientation Are Abstracts Database, Congress Database And Dissertation Database.

Mid term
1. A. Why does the United States have the highest rate of incarceration in the world?
There are an over one million American citizens incarcerated today; that constitutes for 2.5% of the American Nation’s population and twenty-five percent of the world’s total population of incarcerated people. The spike in incarceration rates seems to have jumped exponentially in the late 1980s and continuing to increase steadily in the years to follow. Although the arrests in the 1980s and early 1990s were drug related, it was also the same period during which the Congress increased the jail term for drug related offences.
As a result of the crack cocaine related incarcerations extended over ten to fifteen years and even to twenty years or life terms. Hence, an enormous number of incarcerations were attributed to America’s war on drugs. During the later part of the 1990s and 2000s, crack cocaine arrests were supplemented by meth arrests. The vast majority of these arrests were among the African American community. In fact over seventy percent of drug related arrests essay over the African American and other low income communities.
B. List and discuss Sir Robert Peel Principles.
 
2. It costs $55,000 a year to incarcerate a person for a year in NY State. Is this the way we want our society to allocate its resources? Why or why not?
The allocation of any resource in society should be weighed according to the relevance of the cost and benefits of that resource. The $55,000 spending on incarceration seems steep to a society recovering from a series of recessions. The popular sentiment that echoes through the community is the rehabilitation of any criminal who and not simply to incarcerate the individual for the rest of his/her life. However the cost of economics plays out differently. The incarceration of the members in a particular street gang could bring down the muggings in a busy business sector; open up new investments in the area. In the 1980s, crime rates across the United States increased significantly however; the rates dropped in the 1990s and have continued to drop since then. This is partially due to long term incarcerations and majorly due to the strengthening of the economy. The industry moved into areas that were once crack cocaine hat spots and the local economy surged forward. There were legitimate jobs available in the market. This development deterred several youngsters to go back to school and onward into respectable jobs.
This change was possible only due to the absence of significant criminal activity. The sustenance of such developments that contribute to the overall improvement of neighborhoods relies on the continued incarceration of hardened criminal elements. These are individuals who will return to a life of crime than to seek out new avenues. Their release will not only increase their likelihood of returning to crime; it will also lure the younger generation into crime. This will directly impact a neighborhood’s prospects of becoming economically stronger. Crime cannot be prevented by only removing the opportunity of the criminal elements; it also includes the depriving an individual of motive. The only way to accomplish this is to increase the quality of life in society. $55,000 is a very small cost to pay in keeping citizens safe, developing rundown neighborhoods and discouraging more people from a life of crime.
 
3. A. Why are more African American males under the control of the criminal justice system now than were enslaved in 1850?
There are a variety of reasons why there are more African American males under the criminal justice system now than were enslaved in 1850. Although there are indications that these incarcerations are largely due to robbery or drug related offences that are racially profiled, the ratio in population has also changed. The prison population today boasts of 86% males; out of this only 36% contribute to African Americans. Moreover, in 1859, there were about 4.6 million African Americans in the U.S.; today, there are 46 million. Hence, there really might not be significant fallout as expected. Furthermore, the actual jailed number is less than the enslaved population in 1859. The numbers are boosted by those in probation and by those released on parole.
B. Discuss the influence of August Vollmer on U.S. Policing.
August Vollmer was a pioneer in U.S. Policing. He innovated and introduced several police practices during his tenure. The most notable were the use of fingerprints to solve crimes, introduction of the polygraph machine, mechanizing of police patrols and introducing motorcycle/car patrols, scientific investigation; the use of soil, blood and fibers, introducing tests in intelligence and psychology for police recruiting, introducing the first records system, the inaugural crime prevention unit, traffic police program and hiring of the first woman police officer. August Vollmer created the base for policing that modern policing has been able to build upon.
4. Discuss the development and rise of militarization in American Policing in terms of equipment and tactics and deployment? Also, discuss how militarization efforts were utilized in Ferguson, MO.
The U.S. Department of Defense provided law enforcement agencies with military surplus equipment to counter situation such as the 1997 Hollywood shootout that had police officers pinned down by two bank robbers. The robbers wore heavy vests that protected them from any gunfire that the police retaliated with. Moreover, they used automatic rifles that are normally used by paramilitary forces around the world. This incident forced the Department of justice to rethink strategies in the amount of firepower that a police officer needs to carry. Nowadays, police are almost armed equally as U.S. Marines. Their operational protocol was also drastically altered by the Patriot Act.
Missouri State laws differ significantly for law enforcement officers in engaging perpetrators. They can in fact discharge their weapons just to stop the pursuit of flight involving a shoplifter. The militarization has given the Ferguson police department excess fire power and with a license to shoot. This dangerous combination ended in tragedy more than once. The shooting of Michael Brown and the aftermath of the way the protests were handled by the police showed how they had deviated from Peelian principles.
 
5. Discuss the premise and history of the War on Drugs in the United States. Also, why did the War on Drugs not make you safer?
The war on drugs in the United States is a failed war. The political interests of the Congress and the clandestine operations of the CIA make it impossible to win this war. In fact the crack cocaine boom was the result of a botched CIA attempt to fuel an ethnic war in Nicaragua by financing it through the drug trade. The CIA identified and exploited the African American community to push the sales for the crack cocaine. The congress responded by passing laws to extend the jail terms for drug related offences. This resulted in the eventual destruction of the crack cocaine market in the U.S.
The safety of the African American community was severely hampered. Their civil rights were trampled through false arrests, wrongful convictions. However, the newly passed ordinances that allows police from breaking and entering any residence without the occupant’s knowledge or authorization; even without a warrant is a shocking reality. Police have broken in and gunned down innocent civilians based on inaccurate information from unreliable sources. The killing of Matthew David Stewart in 2013 is only one of the incidents. In fact the police have gunned down over five thousand innocent civilians in the days following 9/11. Clearly, this war on drugs that claimed the lives of senior citizens, teenagers, war veterans and single mothers is not one where the danger comes only from the criminal’s gun.
 
6. While racial discrimination is constitutionally illegal, why is it that the overwhelming majority of the prison population remains disproportionately African American?
Racial discrimination has been declared illegal in many parts of the world including the United States of America. However, racial profiling and racially targeted killings continue with the perpetrators getting away with a slap on the wrist if they are found guilty at all. The disproportion of African Americans in prisons has a direct correlation to the war on drugs in the 1980s and 1990s. The war on drugs descended only on African American neighborhoods. It was clear from the beginning that the cost for the drug induced money was going to be exceedingly high. The sentences on robbery and armed robbery were also increased. Hence, once lodged in jail, the stay for an African American male is slated to include a long duration of time.
The initial draft for the drug related offences had two variants. One variant of the sentence that awarded heavy jail terms to members of the African American community and a lighter variant for the Caucasian community that involved only probation or a maximum of five year terms. Eventually the Supreme Court saw it fit to declare that the discrimination among racial lines was unacceptable. Hence, Congress devised a new law; one that held harsh sentences and tried juveniles as adults for gun violence. It was plain knowledge for all that anyone related to the crack cocaine business had guns and several African American juveniles were actively involved in the trade. As a result, there are African American males incarcerated for twenty years or even serving life sentences for crimes that their Caucasian counterparts would serve a maximum of ten years. Hence, while the other prisoners keep moving on, African American males stay longer than any other race while still accommodating new inmates. This accounts for the disproportionate population in prisons.
7. What does the term, “New Jim Crow” suggest about this new racial order? And, what are the implications of Alexander’s specific use of this term?
The New Jim Crow refers to the racial profiling of African American prison inmates using the war on drugs as a ruse. The original Jim Crow laws segregated African Americans from quality facilities that were enjoyed by their Caucasian counterparts in the Southern States. This segregation involved housing, schooling, job recruitments and even prevalent in the United States military. The new racial order creates laws that involve long incarcerations, the destruction of social development after release from prison and not providing adequate opportunity to allow the African American males to build legitimate businesses.
The problem with this new order does not end with the jail term; it continues the individual even upon release. The lack of opportunity at legitimate employment, difficulty in securing bank loans, admissions in schools, approvals for conducting business and housing allotments are severely affected. It leaves the individual very little choice in opting for a new lifestyle and forces him back to a life of crime. In the end, repeat offenders spend even life terms in prison without parole. Alexander specifically uses this term to refer to the U.S. war on drugs having other ulterior goals such as controlling and suppressing the African American community.
 
8. What does her comment that: “In fact, studies indicate that people become increasingly harsh when an alleged criminal is darker and more stereotypically black ‟they are more lenient when the accused is lighter and appears more stereotypically white” (p. 104), imply about contemporary discussions of color consciousness and the color complex even within the black community?
Michelle Alexander refers to the lack of apathy towards the color related profiling by law enforcement among civil rights organizations. Civil rights organizations were always present and yet they did not do much to stand up for the African American males incarcerated indefinitely by the Justice System. The civil rights advocates rarely involve in criminal cases fearing their association with criminal elements. As a result they have chosen to be blind to the segregation that still manifests itself against the African American community even today. Civil liberties organizations do not want any negative publicity headed in their direction.
They require scenarios where they look to exhibit the exploited individual as a shining example of the community. They have no love for the rights of convicted criminals. They also have chosen not to purse cases involving segregation that won’t receive the level of publicity. These groups are unwilling to represent their own afflicted communities for want of misplaced morals. The author shares in disbelief that over a million African American males languish in prison on account of jail sentences that were handed to them for the color of their skin continue to suffer due to the indifference by organizations that were once formed to fight for them.
 
9. List and discuss the four eras of policing in the United States.
The four eras of policing in the United States are Political era, Reform era, Community era and Modern era. The Political era started during the 1800s where the police was not only responsible for fighting crime and maintaining order. They were also tasked with civic duties such as housing the homeless, garbage collection and even conducting consensus for cholera patients. The police personnel from this era were considered unfriendly and corrupt. The reform era came about in the 1900s when the American citizens embraced a more liberal and social lifestyle. This was also the era in which policing received its foundations for the modern era with innovative procedures.
The 1970s started the community era for policing where the community became an active member in helping the police department and partnering them in various initiatives aimed at preventing school dropouts, vocational training for former inmates and even played a key role in preventing crime. The final era is the modern era that has been dominated by the use of technology and modernization of the police force. However, with all the advancement, the police department has also turned out to be more trigger happy and heavily armed.
 
10. A. Discuss in extensive detail all parts of a Thesis (i.e. introduction, review).
The introduction is the section that gives the reader an idea of the paper’s importance, the arguments, and makes the organization of the paper clear. This section composes of the explanation of purpose and background information, explanation on why this topic needs to be written about. The thesis statement is a basic statement of the position; the answer to the research question. The thesis statement is a brief listing of the major points that in the paper and their order.
Arguments form the next section. Each of the main arguments can either argue a point that supports the paper’s position, or argue against something that is wrong. This is a lengthy paper, so ideally there will have to be more than three arguments to make. The organization of the arguments should flow from one to the next or, ideally, the strongest arguments first and weakest last. Finally, the conclusion; this section should summarize and look to the future.
B. List three databases that were discussed during the library orientation.