Law enforcement agencies are improving public safety due to advancements in technology. If law enforcement builds a knowledge base of why and how police select, implement, and integrate new technology; how that technology is being used; and whether new technology improves policing in a meaningful way for both the agency and the community, technology can create transparency and citizen trust (Chapman, 2016). Body cameras, for example, can be used by law enforcement to clear themselves and potential suspects of false claims while also furthering community trust and transparency.
Technology can erode law enforcement because it exposes some of their unethical practices. Body cameras have recently revealed the actual outcome of police brutality or fatal encounters. In some cases, law enforcement officers were charged with crimes.
Because many new technologies were created to prevent and protect communities, technology clarifies the perception between public trust and public safety. According to a survey conducted (Crow et al.), the vast majority of respondents supported the mandatory use of body-worn cameras, believing that they would improve officer behavior while reducing citizen complaints. A majority of respondents agreed that implementing body-worn cameras would improve citizens’ trust in the police and their relationships with them. When crimes are solved, and ethical practices are followed, the community develops confidence in law enforcement’s ability to use technology.
References
Chapman, B., 2016. Research on the Impact of Technology on Policing Strategy in the 21st Century. Retrieved from http://www.ojp.gov
Crow, M. S., Snyder, J. A., Crichlow, V. J., & Smykla, J. O. (2017). Community Perceptions of Police Body-Worn Cameras: The Impact of Views on Fairness, Fear, Performance, and Privacy. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 44(4), 589–610. https://doi.org/10.1177/0093854816688037
STUDENT REPLIES
STUDENT REPLY #2 Tika Gray
Due to technology, citizens can see the full spectrum of how law enforcement does their jobs. The past few situations that were highly publicized in the news in the past few years have shown in great detail what actions law enforcement takes. Between body cameras, cell phone footage, cameras used to deter crime, and ring cameras, law enforcement is pushed into being transparent. As a result, the trust factor in certain situations will occur, depending on what the citizens see.
Law enforcement trust erodes when they hide or do not disclose information in certain cases. For instance, turning off body cameras while apprehending a suspect or using force by law enforcement. When the situation is dealing with the use of force, higher management of law enforcement does not promptly release the video footage.
The public during the time of an event wants to know what actually happened in a situation. Nevertheless, law enforcement would like to delay how fast and what is distribute to the public. The two parties want answers. Law enforcement will delay making sure that the facts are accurate; the public wants answers. Unfortunately, I do not believe the two will ever have a true balance.
Sample Solution
Dante Alighieri played a critical role in the literature world through his poem Divine Comedy that was written in the 14th century. The poem contains Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso. The Inferno is a description of the nine circles of torment that are found on the earth. It depicts the realms of the people that have gone against the spiritual values and who, instead, have chosen bestial appetite, violence, or fraud and malice. The nine circles of hell are limbo, lust, gluttony, greed and wrath. Others are heresy, violence, fraud, and treachery. The purpose of this paper is to examine the Dante’s Inferno in the perspective of its portrayal of God’s image and the justification of hell.
In this epic poem, God is portrayed as a super being guilty of multiple weaknesses including being egotistic, unjust, and hypocritical. Dante, in this poem, depicts God as being more human than divine by challenging God’s omnipotence. Additionally, the manner in which Dante describes Hell is in full contradiction to the morals of God as written in the Bible. When god arranges Hell to flatter Himself, He commits egotism, a sin that is common among human beings (Cheney, 2016). The weakness is depicted in Limbo and on the Gate of Hell where, for instance, God sends those who do not worship Him to Hell. This implies that failure to worship Him is a sin.
God is also depicted as lacking justice in His actions thus removing the godly image. The injustice is portrayed by the manner in which the sodomites and opportunists are treated. The opportunists are subjected to banner chasing in their lives after death followed by being stung by insects and maggots. They are known to having done neither good nor bad during their lifetimes and, therefore, justice could have demanded that they be granted a neutral punishment having lived a neutral life. The sodomites are also punished unfairly by God when Brunetto Lattini is condemned to hell despite being a good leader (Babor, T. F., McGovern, T., & Robaina, K. (2017). While he commited sodomy, God chooses to ignore all the other good deeds that Brunetto did.
Finally, God is also portrayed as being hypocritical in His actions, a sin that further diminishes His godliness and makes Him more human. A case in point is when God condemns the sin of egotism and goes ahead to commit it repeatedly. Proverbs 29:23 states that “arrogance will bring your downfall, but if you are humble, you will be respected.” When Slattery condemns Dante’s human state as being weak, doubtful, and limited, he is proving God’s hypocrisy because He is also human (Verdicchio, 2015). The actions of God in Hell as portrayed by Dante are inconsistent with the Biblical literature. Both Dante and God are prone to making mistakes, something common among human beings thus making God more human.
To wrap it up, Dante portrays God is more human since He commits the same sins that humans commit: egotism, hypocrisy, and injustice. Hell is justified as being a destination for victims of the mistakes committed by God. The Hell is presented as being a totally different place as compared to what is written about it in the Bible. As a result, reading through the text gives an image of God who is prone to the very mistakes common to humans thus ripping Him off His lofty status of divine and, instead, making Him a mere human. Whether or not Dante did it intentionally is subject to debate but one thing is clear in the poem: the misconstrued notion of God is revealed to future generations.
References
Babor, T. F., McGovern, T., & Robaina, K. (2017). Dante’s inferno: Seven deadly sins in scientific publishing and how to avoid them. Addiction Science: A Guide for the Perplexed, 267.
Cheney, L. D. G. (2016). Illustrations for Dante’s Inferno: A Comparative Study of Sandro Botticelli, Giovanni Stradano, and Federico Zuccaro. Cultural and Religious Studies, 4(8), 487.
Verdicchio, M. (2015). Irony and Desire in Dante’s” Inferno” 27. Italica, 285-297.
