Project - Research Paper

Background:

You are a candidate for the position of Chief of the Virtual Police Department. You have researched the city and you have learned about the organization of the police department.

The Virtual City Police Department was created 63 years ago. The department has emerged as one of the primary policing agencies in the state.

It has become a modern police department with 155 sworn officers. There are 70 civilian employees appointed to positions ranging from clerical support to correctional officers to crime scene technicians. The department is considered "medium" size in the spectrum of police departments across the country.

(The organizational chart is the same as the chart for Project 1.)

You are informed that the Mayor is aware of some members of the City Council who are keenly interested in equipping VPD patrol officers with personal body cameras; an operational approach to law enforcement they feels will make a difference in public safety and community relations in Virtual.

The Mayor is also aware that there is opposition from other members of the City council who may acknowledge some benefits to the body cameras, but who will challenge her on the cost, potential for Constitutional-based privacy violations, etc.

As part of your application process, the mayor has asked you to prepare a position paper for her on the adoption of personal body cameras. She has asked that you present both the pros and cons of body camera use as objectively as possible. Depending on what the research reveals, she may ultimately use this objective research document as part of her portfolio on police-community relations.

Assignment:

As part of your application for Chief of Police the mayor has asked you to prepare a research paper for her on the proposal to adopt body cameras for VPD patrol officers. She has asked that you present both the pros and cons as objectively as possible. Your personal recommendation is not part or this research report.

Formatting requirements:

Your report should include:

• A cover page with your name, project title, course, and date submitted

• An introductory section that explains the purpose of the paper

• Five (5) FULL narrative pages, +/- a half-page, (not including cover page and references page) separated by no more than double spacing, 12 pt. font, and 1 inch margins.

• The composition may be a combination of outline and narrative with outline statements and submit to the assignment folder.

• At least 4 external sources; 2 supporting police body cameras and 2 denouncing them

External sources should come from the UMUC Library data base materials or other peer-review publications such as professional journals, peer-review articles, etc. Because these materials are more creditable, they will receive higher point consideration. Internet-based articles, news reports, etc. are also acceptable but may receive lower project point scores.

Wikipedia is never an external resource. However, the footnoted material in Wikipedia may lead you to the original source document which may be acceptable as a creditable external source.

Resources, including course materials, must be cited both in the narrative where appropriate and on a separate references page, using American Psychological Association (APA) citation rules.