Service-learning opportunities provide students with valuable professional experience beyond training and practical skills. In a pilot study of Criminal Justice students enrolled in an undergraduate Homeland Security class, student volunteers report opportunities for practicing leadership at an after-school program. Responses were also compared to…

The Common Core State Standards were designed to prepare all students for college and careers. Using theories of cultural capital and culturally relevant pedagogy, this study of 54 college-bound, inner-city high school seniors seeks to determine how students perceive their college readiness during the implementation of the new standards. While the…

Youth social movements for racial justice, especially against police violence, are on the rise. And this broader policy landscape is reflective of how youth are addressing racism in policing in their local context. Therefore, by drawing upon scholarship related to Black Radicalism, activism, and social movements, this study examines how youth of…

Deliberation has become a defining ideal of democratic theory, and learning is central to robust deliberation. It is challenging for people to learn from each other, however, in contexts of inequality and deep social cleavages--though this is precisely when such learning is most needed. The political theorist Danielle Allen has argued that the…

There is a lack of research as to what impacts law enforcement disciplinary issues. This is important due to the recent emphasis of officer performance and accountability. In 2008, the Southeast Sheriff's Office (SSO) increased their formal academic educational hiring requirement from a high school diploma to 60 college credits. The impact of this…

A team from the University of Dayton, consisting of undergraduate students, a faculty facilitator, and practitioner partners, conducted an innovative oral history project documenting the experiences of ordinary people who lived through the unrest following Michael Brown's death in 2014. The Moral Courage Project sought to investigate the spectrum…

The purpose of this article is to discuss the possibilities of public education. We argue that public schools, despite their flaws, still provide necessary spaces of civic engagement. When major social and/or political events happen, young people have few outlets to discuss, process, and understand implications. In this article, we share the…

The joint efforts of the police and the communities in south-west Nigeria to tackle the alarming rates of crime in various societies has over the year been adopted as a strategic way of curbing crime in Nigeria. This paper examines the divergent views of community policing in south-west Nigeria. The paper is empirical in nature though related…

In the United States, police officers are empowered to use force, and are often people's first point of contact with the criminal justice system. Significantly, in the last decade, the majority of American citizens have acquired smartphone technology, which allows them to document and broadcast police behavior on a scale never before seen. Several…

The year 2019 marks the 25th anniversary of the publication of Eve Bunting's "Smoky Night" (Harcourt, 1994; illustrated by David Diaz). As a Caldecott medal winner, "Smoky Night" is the highest profile picturebook centered on an incident related to police brutality and the profiling of Black citizens--the Los Angeles riots,…

Following the brutal killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis on May 25, 2020, members of the human rights movement in the United States understood instantly that justice within the American legal system, which has a long history of shielding police officers and racist vigilantes from prosecution, was anything but certain. To enhance the chances of…

Surveillance practices are becoming increasingly insidious, finding their way into nearly every aspect of public and private life in the United States. Surveillance by state policing agencies have particularly targeted and criminalized communities of color. Such practices are not simply a new context, but are part of a broader carceral state,…

This research studied the psychological aspects of citizens' assistance to law enforcement agencies on a confidential basis. The comprehensive observance of the psychological norms of cooperation is determined by the professional ethics of police officers, the necessity of nondisclosure of investigation secrets by citizens, and the security of the…

The shocking election of President Donald Trump following a campaign characterized by hateful and divisive rhetoric has left many people fearful. In this essay the authors recount their story about the difficulties they encountered trying to disrupt the normalization of white experience through a local community policing initiative in their…

Examining the context and production of a community publication, "I Witness: Perspectives on Policing in the Near Westside," this essay analyzes the ways in which local neighborhood authors situate themselves rhetorically when engaging with police issues within conditions of asymmetrical power. Furthermore, it describes the collective…