To: Rebecca Agosta

From: Jordan Scott

Date: 15 July 2016
Subject of Inquiry: Police Identity vs. Media and Black Lives Matter Movement
Introduction:
Who do we identify as the ones meant to protect us? The ones that we trust our lives to in
situations of certain danger and despair? Yes, you guessed it, the police. Men and women in blue
that we see patrolling the streets fighting the good fight against crime in an epic battle that has
been raging for centuries. This topic applies to everyone that has had an encounter with the
police, which consequently involves just about everyone. Due to recent events of alleged police
brutality and the killings of African-American males, police behavior is a subject hitting
headlines in the media and roaring across the United States like an unstoppable wild fire, one
that sparked the birth of the Black Lives Matter movement on July 13th, 2013. Protest, racism,
and discrimination are the result of this ever growing inferno. This inferno raises many questions
that will be addressed. How will the police change their efforts to be the righteous protectors we
expect them to be? Will the Black Lives Matter movement be identified as having a positive
effect on the situation? Or will they lead the way to violent protest and destruction that originally
began peacefully and for noble causes? How do modern civil rights activist compare and identify
to the ones that led the way for equality back in the 50s and 60s? Will the terrible killings by the
police forever stain their identity? The use of deadly force is often a grey area between what is
justified and what is unjustified. This issue will not improve until both parties learn to have a
different perception of the other through building trust, compassion, peace, and prosperity.
Proposed Research Methods:
The research methods will involve my major in criminal justice and current events in the media.
Interviewing a police officer will be an effective way to learn how the police see this situation.
Social media is a valuable tool as well because police departments are releasing information on
this topic and what their views are. Reviewing forums and blogs will be useful regarding the
Black Lives Matter movement. Finally online testimonies of people personally involved on
both sides will provide a personal and emotional account of the topic.
Inquiry Questions:
1. How has the police presented their identity in the public eye?
a. What are the statistics on police corruption and discrimination?
b. Are the police making efforts to change the way they handle encounters with the
public?
c. Because the police are the law, do they have favoritism in the courts?
i. What unjustified cases have the police gotten away with?
ii. Are there laws in place that favor the police over the accused?
d. What checks and balances are in place to determine if a cop acts outside of the
boundaries of his/her job?

e. What effect does public pressure have on police departments?

2. How are the media and the Black Lives Matter movement changing police
identity?
a. Because the Black Lives Matter movement is bringing alleged unjustified
police crimes to light, does that mean the whole police system is corrupt?
b. Is the Black Lives Matter movement more dangerous than the police due to the
civil unrest they promote, such as the destruction in Ferguson, Missouri?
c. Is the Black Lives Matter movement a noble movement?
i. Or are their intentions for reasons other than peace and equality?
d. How is the media effecting police identity?
i. Is there favoritism in the media regarding the police and Black Lives
Matter?
e. How are officers using the media to gain the publics trust back again?

References:
1. http://www.albany.edu/scj/jcjpc/vol3is1/perceptions.html
2. http://www.vice.com/read/dead-or-in-jail-the-burden-of-being-a-black-man-inamerica-804
3. http://copcrisis.com/?1100
4. https://imprimis.hillsdale.edu/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/Imprimis_April16.pdf
5. https://imprimis.hillsdale.edu/the-danger-of-the-black-lives-matter-movement/
6. http://blacklivesmatter.com/11-major-misconceptions-about-the-black-lives-mattermovement/
7. http://www.economist.com/blogs/democracyinamerica/2015/08/race-and-criminaljustice
8. http://www.wsj.com/articles/black-lives-matterbut-reality-not-so-much-1441755075
9.