WK 2-PP-Sources Of Policy Flashcards
What is policy?
Public policy is whatever governments choose to
do or not do. Governments do many things:
- Regulate behavior.
- Organize bureaucracies and society.
- Distribute services and benefits to society.
-Extract money from society (i.e., taxes)
Sources of Policy
Legislative Branch
Local (city council), state, and federal.
Bi-cameral legislatures.
House of Representatives and Senate.
Assembly and Senate (California).
Unicameral legislatures.
House of Representatives.
U.S. Congress
House of Representatives and Senate.
Judicial Branch
State and federal.
Juvenile, Civil, Military, and Tribal.
Executive Branch
Mayor, Governor, President.
Administrative Law
Organizational Policies
Coalitions
Advocacy and Interest Groups
Research
Media
Windows of Opportunity
Research
The Minneapolis Police Experiment
In 1984, researchers conducted an experiment to determine if arresting the batterer would decrease the number of future incidents of violence.
Police officers were dispatched for a misdemeanor domestic violence call.
Once the police responded, they were given one of three options as to how to respond. The officers were not allowed to use discretion in picking an option, instead the officer had to use the option that was randomly selected (a lottery type of selection) and was at the top of the form.
The three options were:
Arrest with at least one night of incarceration.
Sending the offender away from the scene—if the abuser refused to leave, he/she could then be arrested.
Giving the couple advice/mediation
Findings of the Minneapolis Experiment:
The experiment produced 314 cases that met all of the criteria.
After assessing each of the cases, the researchers found that the arrest option produced the least amount of repeat offenders (10% in police reports and 19% based upon interviews with victims).
In response to the results of this study, police departments around the country adopted mandatory arrest policies to deal with domestic violence cases.
It should be noted that the researchers of this study cautioned police departments that the results of this study need to be replicated in other cities to determine if arrest is in fact the best policy for domestic policy. Replication studies did not uphold the original findings of the Minneapolis experiment, but this did not stop police departments from implementing and keeping mandatory arrest policies once in place.
Windows of Opportunity
These are events that occur that for whatever reason capture the attention of the public and media.
In victimology, these events are usually very tragic such as a murder.
The public becomes so outraged by the event that they demand change.
Together with the media, the public, as well as other advocates of change (interest groups, coalitions, advocates, and political parties) call for legislative change.
Once a window of opportunity is open advocates of change must begin the policy process quickly.
Timing is very important with windows of opportunity because as quickly as a window opens, it can also be shut as the public and media lose interest.
The difficult aspect of windows of opportunity and victimology is that advocates of change must take advantage of the tragedy in order to bring about legislative change.
There are several examples in victimology in which windows of opportunity have brought about major policy changes.
Examples of Windows of Opportunity: Thurman case Story
The Tracy Thurman Case
Tracy Thurman was married to someone who severely beat her on several occasions.
She contacted the police to have her husband arrested, but the police either ignored her or said that it was a family/private matter and they could not intervene.
Tracy was separated from her husband and saw him come to her apartment in a rage.
She immediately contacted the police as her husband was running up the stairs and kicked down her door.
The City of Torrington, Connecticut Police Department received the call and a police officer was dispatched to the scene of the crime.
The police officer knew the address well and did not think it was important to respond quickly. Instead, before arriving at the scene, the officer stopped at the police station to go to the bathroom. By the time the officer arrived, approximately 30 minutes passed from dispatch to arrival at the scene.
When the officer arrived at Tracy’s apartment, he found her on the ground outside the apartment, severely beaten, her neck slashed, and her husband standing over her with a knife in his hands.
The police officer separated her husband and called for backup and an ambulance. While the officer made these calls, Tracy’s husband who was not handcuffed or placed in the police cruiser, ran over to her limp body. Tracy’s husband stomped on her neck rendering her partially paralyzed on one side of her body.
Tracy’s husband was then handcuffed and arrested.
Tracy sued the City of Torrington Police Department for failure to protect her constitutional rights to equal access under the law.
Tracy was granted $6 million.
In response to the monies granted and research conducted on the value of arrest, police departments nationwide adopted mandatory arrest policies.
Examples of Windows of Opportunity: Megan’s Law Story
Megan Kanka
On July 29, 1994 in a suburban community in New Jersey, a young 7 year old Megan was lured into a neighbor’s home with the hope of seeing a puppy.
After Megan entered the home, she was raped and murdered—just 30 yards from her own front door.
The neighbor was a convicted sex offender, one who had served 6 years in prison for aggravated assault and the attempted sexual assault of a child.
Megan’s parents stated that if they had known—if they had the right to know that a sex offender lived in their neighborhood–their daughter would be alive today.
A law was drafted and a petition was passed hand-to-hand to the residents of New Jersey requiring notification when a convicted sex offender moves into a neighborhood.
The petition was signed by over 400,000 residents and was passed by the New Jersey legislature in an unprecedented 89 days (for policy, this is extremely fast!). This is known as Megan’s Law.
The state law became a Federal Law by 1996.
Examples of Windows of Opportunity: Amber Alert history
Amber Alert
In January 1996, nine-year-old Amber Hagerman was riding her bicycle on a warm Saturday afternoon when a neighbor heard the girl scream. The neighbor saw a man pull Amber off her bike, throw her into the front seat of his pickup truck, and drive away at a high speed.
The neighbor called police and provided a description of the suspect and his vehicle, but couldn’t recall much else. Arlington Police and the FBI interviewed other neighbors and searched for the suspect and vehicle. Local radio and TV stations covered the story in their regular newscasts.
Four days later, Amber’s body was found in a drainage ditch four miles away. Her throat had been cut. Her kidnapping and murder remain unsolved.
A concerned citizen contacted a Dallas area radio station, suggesting the idea that Dallas radio stations should repeat news bulletins about abducted children just like they do severe weather warnings.
The idea was presented to the Association of Radio Managers (ARM) composed of general managers of the major radio stations in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. The general managers agreed that such a program would provide an important public service and might help save the life of a child.
The Dallas Amber Plan was started in July 1997 to help safely recover missing children that police believe have been abducted.
Since then, the program has successfully recovered eight children and expanded to other cities and states nationwide
Examples of Windows of Opportunity: Laci & Connor Peterson
Laci and Conner Law
Most individuals are familiar with the case of Laci and Conner Peterson.
Laci was a young woman who was 8.5 months pregnant with Conner at the time of her disappearance in December 2003.
A few months after her disappearance, her body and that of her unborn son were found along the shore of the San Francisco Bay.
Due to the amount of attention that this case garnered, a federal law was passed allowing that a person could be charged for a double murder if the victim who they killed was pregnant at the time of the murder. Prior to this time, the fetus was not considered a second murder and the perpetrator could only be charged with the murder of the pregnant mother and not the fetus, as well.
