Assignment #4
Sofia D. Avila
12/16/22
I do believe we must rethink how we enforce traffic laws in cities and suburbs because they do not accomplish their task of deterring unsafe driving. Instead, they reveal more racial profiling and decrease the sense of trust and safety communities feel towards officers. The enforcement of traffic laws specifically minor traffic stops ineffectively decreases unsafe driving and instead has increased the fatalities involved in these interactions. The increased fatalities from traffic stops result in a decrease in trust and safety which only fuels the number of fatalities as individuals will feel at risk when stopped. Individuals are more likely to become paranoid or aggressive, which can go deeper into racial disparities.
“the risk of escalation created by disproportionately stopping Black drivers — exacerbated by pre-existing tensions between the police and Black residents — was a greater threat to public safety than the traffic violations.” – Cities Try to Turn the Tide on Police Traffic Stops, The New York Times.
This same article, states how some police unions and officers argue that “pulling over cars to search them is an essential weapon against serious crime”. This statement is contradicting itself, the minor traffic stop due to a vehicle’s broken tail lights, expired registrations, or window tints should not suggest officers be able to use probable cause in searching a vehicle. This is the stem of racial disparity, distrust, and life-threatening interactions.
Banning traffic stops in Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Seattle, etc, is in a way controversial if we are thinking about all traffic stops. I believe that in order to bring positive changes to the justice system and affected communities we would need to reform traffic stop protocols. Focusing more on individuals who are speeding, recklessly driving, and other more dangerous infractions would primarily deter unsafe driving. While stopping vehicles for minor infractions should not be enforced as heavily, officers should also be limited as to when to enforce probable cause that would lead them to search a vehicle. Cities and schools should also focus on educating individuals about their rights as a way to feel more secure when presented with these situations. Officers should also learn how to properly de-escalate situations in order to solidify trust and safety among communities.
Assignment #3
Sofia D. Avila
11/25/22
After listening to the “Ear hustle: Episode 2: Misguided loyalty” podcast, the theory that would apply to explain Tommy Shakur Ross’s involvement in gangs and crime would be Merton’s Strain theory. This theory explains how societal structures can pressure individuals into committing crimes, Merton proposed a typology of deviant behavior defined by culturally defined goals and the institutionalized means available to achieve these goals. There are 5 categories in total, and 4 remain within a system which are conformity, ritualism, innovation, and retreatism. The 5th category falls outside of the system which is rebellion, this is the category which Shakur falls under. Rebellion in Merton’s Strain theory is when an individual rejects culturally and society-defined goals and actively replaces them with unacceptable ones.
To start, as Shakur was explaining early childhood life, he had both parents growing up and was one of the middle children among 5 siblings. His mother was a nurse and his father was a Baptist minister, so he grew up going to church. His parents wanted him to become a minister to follow in his father’s footsteps, but he wanted to do other things which eventually led him to resent going to church. Here we can see that Shakur is being presented to institutionalize cultural goals placed by his parents to follow his dad’s footsteps in church. As he started to resent the church and misbehave, his father would discipline him which resulted in him to further resent church and authority. One day when Shakur was ordering food from a taco stand, he was approached by three gang members who attacked him and took his food. Shakur felt humiliated and powerless, this encounter was what drew his attention to gangs.
At the young age of 13, Shakur started becoming close with one particular person who was affiliated with a gang called Eight Tray. With more exposure to gang culture, Shakur became more and more interested in joining. Applying Merton’s Strain theory, Shakur was becoming more interested in the societal structure of “togetherness” and culture in gangs. He rejected acceptable cultural and societal defined goals placed by his parents and replaces them with the cultural and societal goals in gangs, which are seen as unacceptable to overall society. Shakur would be exposed to more delinquent activities when he joined Eight Tray such as selling drugs or driving lowriders, this exposure would result in Shakur engaging in school fights, stealing cars, and snatching purses. His established goal in Eight Tray was “ghetto fame” where he wanted to establish his position in Eight Tray by doing the same level of crimes or beyond. He earned his name “Joker” and wanted to represent them by protecting the name of Eight Tray and upholding his reputation as Joker. These were the true societal structure of gangs, the pressure would result in Shakur committing crimes in order to achieve his new goal of representing Eight Tray.
In the year 1992, at the age of 19, Shakur would shoot Standford Bursey who was a part of an enemy gang of Eight Tray. This encounter would forever change Shakur’s life as his mother and younger brother were shot and killed as a form of retaliation for killing Bursey. He would be arrested and convicted for the murder of Standford Bursey only 4 days after hearing the news of his mother and younger brother, he served 31 years in prison.
Merton’s Strain theory properly explains Shakur’s involvement in gangs and crime. In the beginning, Shakur was conflicted with his own personal goals matching up to the goals his parents wanted him to follow. Applying the rebellion category of this theory suggests how an individual will tend to rebel if they undergo stress caused by inconsistency between their culturally defined goals and accessibility to the means required in achieving those personal goals. Shakur did not have the accessibility to establish his own personal goal because his parents wanted him to follow a goal they already established for him. When he would misbehave, his father would discipline him as a means to straighten him out to follow the set path they had for him. This influenced his rebellious behavior as he would reject these culturally and society-defined goals and actively replaces them with unacceptable ones by joining a gang. The true societal structure of Eight Tray would put pressure on Shakur in order to represent and withhold his reputation by committing crimes.
The Ban of Minor Vehicle Stops
The ban of traffic stops can put a stop to officers abusing authority and targeting people of color or of a “certain demographic.” Sandra Bland was pulled over for failing to signal during a lane change and after an argument with the officer, she was arrested. Sandra Bland later died in the cell. Traffic stops unfortunately for people of color is a traumatic experience and can result in death like Jenoah Donald and so many others. I don’t believe that traffic stops are solely for safety of the community. It does more harm than good.
Do you believe banning traffic stops like in Philadephia, Los Angeles, Seattle, etc, will bring positive changes to the justice system and the affected communities? Write your thoughts on this question.
Banning traffic stops in general is a really bad idea. Traffic stops are probably the most important thing in the law enforcement community, some traffic stops help solve murders, sometimes they even discover a dead body, or they can tell when a driver is in need of desperate help. The only positive change that’ll help the justice system is to not abuse the power they have, and in fact listen to the community. Enforcing a traffic stop has to have a good reason like a broken tail light or flat tire. These things can help the community out and not worsen the state for the police department.
Discussion forum #11
I think colleges and schools should help students to learn more about hate crimes that could help to decrease the hate crimes.Why can’t we stand up today together and say stop the hate crime? Because we don’t have enough time to spend and talk about discriminations between two colors of people. Today I want to talk about the real hate crimes related to the skin color white and black. I think we all remember George Floyds. He died because of a white police officer which makes Black people in the USA worry about their future. Then we came up togethers and protested against the color separation. I think we should come up before this happens in a stronger way that can help people to open their mind and say no to hate crimes.
Discussion forum #14
If we look around the world today we can say nothing is equal in reality. People who have more money have more power. Politician people have much more power than anyone because big politician leader can change the law with their money in private people that are poor they can not do that . These things usually happen in an underdevelopment country the most. One of the best example I can give you today is that if you look at my country in Bangladesh you will find unequal power every where. Peoples were using their political power to the poor people and taking their land over and over.
Assignment 3
will choose influence and social categorization theory. That means when someone has negative experiences and they want you to do the same, that puts you in a difficult situation with them. Which makes them commit crimes. This is what happens when we hang around with some bad people at a younger age and they make your life dangerous which separates gang boys from the family and their community.
At the beginning I want to mention the family because family is one of the most important things for a young kid. Family should tell them the good side and treat them as proper good people. For example Tommy also had pressure from his family to be like his father even though he wanted to play football and go against their expectations, which I believe all added up to Tommy, thinking it would be a good idea to join the gang team. This line proves that if his family treated him goodly then he would never think about joining a gang.Tommy said that he had issues with authority due to his father beating him. He also said that he wanted to fit in with the other guys in the gang who had nice things and shiny cars and, in order to do so, had to commit crimes to prove his faithfulness to the group. He also got bullied at a taco stand when he was 13 and wanted to toughen up by joining a gang.
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