Author Archives: anisak99567

Posts by anisak99567

Solutions 1

Posted on February 22, 2015 by anisak99567

In this paper, I intend to address the problems I posed in the assignment, “Problems 1.” There, I mentioned a number of social issues associated with policing. Namely, these were zero-tolerance policies, youth incarceration, and stop-and-frisk procedures. Here, I suggest a number of solutions to these problems.

First, I will run on the assumption that the members of a community are responsible for the well-being of their society and for protecting everyone in the community from harm. The existence of the police does not exempt community members from this responsibility.

The issues I mentioned earlier, while well-intended, are harms to the community. Zero-tolerance policies provide disproportionately heavy consequences for fairly trivial crimes. Youth incarceration punishes youths, who are emotionally and intellectually immature, vulnerable, and prone to make bad decisions by taking away their childhood and destroying their future. Stop-and-frisk practices have been demonstrably racist and ineffective. All of these entities antagonize the community, harm the futures of such community members, are ineffective, and waste time and money.

My suggestion is that we entirely do away with zero-tolerance policies and stop-and-frisk. As an alternative to stop-and-frisk, I suggest installing magnetometers at various subway stations. They can be as inexpensive as $10 but require many staff to run. I suggest innovations in developing a less-costly security system for integration into the subway system. Maybe the structure of the subway entrance and exit system can be improved. I would still recommend that police be stationed to look for suspicious behavior and to check their power, I suggest body cameras and an unrelated officer to oversee that there is no discrimination. I suggest encouraging officers to engage in friendly discussion with the community members and ensure both proper and continuous retraining. I would support legislation that permits easier reemployment for past criminals and sets the minimum age at which one may go to jail to 20 years old as an adult. I would reset the maximum time in prison to 1 year. I would instead increase the number of corrections facilities (focusing on counseling and therapy) to diagnose whether a person can be released or not, determine the condition of the person, provide counseling to rectify unfavorable behavior, reminding them of their role in the community as citizens and providing encouragement to live life in a societally beneficial way. Every effort should be made to rectify the mentally disabled, psychopaths, and pedophiles even though the last two are thought to be uncorrectable. If it is demonstrated they are mentally well enough, they should be let free. If they commit the same crime again, they should be executed because they pose a threat to the community, were falsely thought to be rectified, and will likely fail to be rectified if given a third chance.

http://cebcp.org/evidence-based-policing/what-works-in-policing/research-evidence-review/

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/news/police-reform/

http://changethenypd.org/community-safety-act

http://www.nyclu.org/news/nyclu-applauds-ny-city-councils-passage-of-community-safety-act

https://www.aclu.org/blog/racial-justice-immigrants-rights/working-end-racial-profiling-aclu-testify-senate-judiciary

http://www.foxnews.com/tech/2009/12/29/magnetometers-x-rays-airport-security-technology/

 

Brenden Beck – Research Speaker and Venture

Posted on February 21, 2015 by anisak99567

Brenden Beck is an organizer with “Milk Not Jails” campaign. He also writes a lot about this venture in the New York Times and other public sources. Essentially, this venture is concerned with reducing the number of people, especially juveniles and socially vulnerable people, who are being sent to jail in order to fuel the New York State economy. I have learned that while most of those incarcerated are from urban areas, most jails are built in rural areas, where there are also farms. Since NYS produces about 30% of the milk in the country, Beck and the members of his venture are advocating increase in support for development of dairy farms and propagation of dairy products and closing down of jail cells, which have long been the economic backbones for many rural regions in NYS. This is the meaning of “Milk Not Jails.”

Op-Ed: New York Should Make Milk, Not Prisons

http://fort-greene.thelocal.nytimes.com/author/brenden-beck/

Cuomo says prisons and incarceration can no longer be a jobs program

 

Questions for Precinct Visit

Posted on February 21, 2015 by anisak99567

1. Given the high incarceration rates among juveniles, what measures have been taking place to address and accomodate these juveniles?

2. What types of alternatives to stop and frisk are being proposed and enacted legislation-wise?

Problem 1

Posted on February 14, 2015 by anisak99567

Three issues in policing include bias-based policing, school to prison pipeline, and stop-and-frisk practices. Bias-based policing is a very serious issue that is a cause of great concern to communities, especially in New York City. By bias-based policing, I intend to discuss the police’s heavy-handed enforcement of minor offenses and violation. According to the New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU), there have been dramatic increases in the number of summons issued for low-level offenses in the past several years. These offenses have included disorderly conduct, riding bicycles on the sidewalk, marijuana possession and violations of the open container law. In 2008 alone, 500,000 such summons were issued citywide. Consequently, offenses as petty as riding a bike on the sidewalk can have serious collateral consequences – including deportation, loss of job, loss of public housing or benefits, and interruptions in education. Such broken windows policing is an oppression to the community as a whole and is also disproportionately affecting communities of color, low-income communities, immigrant communities and LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender) communities.

The School to Prison Pipeline (STPP) is a system of policies that pushes students out of school and into the criminal justice system. Zero tolerance policies at schools involve suspension, expulsion, and arrests to handle disciplinary problems such as bringing cell phones and ipods to school, smoking cigarettes, and skipping class. In the process, criminal charges have been brought against youth in schools for violations that would never be considered criminal if committed by an adult. Consequently, students who might easily be disciplined by a visit to the principal’s office end up in jail cells. Even worse, a child who has been suspended is more likely to fall behind in school, drop out of high school, commit a crime, and become incarcerated as an adult. Such school disciplinary, juvenile, and criminal records work against disadvantaged students when they apply for colleges, scholarships, jobs, and selective high schools and, in many places, can prevent students and their families from living in public housing. Also alarming is that the best demographic indicators of children who will be suspended are not the type or severity of the crime, but the color of their skin, their special education status, the school they go to, and whether or not they have been suspended before. If that wasn’t bad enough, in 2004, the federal government spent $60 million to hire police forces for schools and $19.5 million on school safety equipment such as metal detectors. Schools should invest in education, not the far more costly corrections system.

Stop-and-frisk policies are demonstrably ineffective, involve racial profiling, and corrode trust between the police and communities. Stop-and-frisk policies are intended for eradicating crime but since their implementation, they cannot be said to have decreased crime, cut the number of murders, found more guns, or even to involve reasonable suspicion. That statistics show that these policies are discriminatory are only bolstered by Adrian Schoolcraft’s extensive recordings of stop-and-frisk abuse. Also, targeting mostly innocent people corrodes trust.

Sources:

http://samples.jbpub.com/9780763771386/Ross_71386_CH09_131_148.pdf

http://changethenypd.org/issue

http://www.nyclu.org/issues/due-process-and-justice/police-accountability-and-criminal-justice-reform-campaigns

http://www.nyclu.org/content/bias-based-policing

http://www.nyclu.org/schooltoprison

http://www.nyclu.org/issues/racial-justice/stop-and-frisk-practices

http://www.nyclu.org/node/1598

http://www.nyclu.org/content/nyclu-campaign

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stop-and-frisk_in_New_York_City

2/5/2015 2 Questions Guest Speaker

Posted on February 5, 2015 by anisak99567

Oliver Libby graduated from Harvard, is engaged in philanthropy at Harvard Club of New York Foundation, is Managing Director of Hatzimemos/Libby, focusing on energy and advanced technology sectors, is co-founder of The Resolution Project.

Zahn Innovation Center is focused on aiding others in affecting social change by providing training and facilities. It wants to build and empower social entrepreneurs and innovators.

Similarly, Resolution Project seeks to develop and empower young leaders who will affect positive change in society.

2 questions:

1. What is the most difficult aspect of social entrepreneurship and innovation?

2. What is the most important thing to keep in mind when engaging in a social entrepreneurial venture?

Comments by anisak99567

"You make a very strong case. Your idea of making healthcare a state-sponsored system is an intriguing one. However, I am wondering what will become of the current health insurance companies. If someone wanted to look further into this, they may want to look at the number of people employed by these companies, the amount of revenue they generate, and the like. Also, how did the current system evolve into the way it is now? In sum, your argument is compelling."
--( posted on May 5, 2015, commenting on the post Revamping the Health Care System )
 
"I find your solution to the food deserts problem to be quite innovative. Selling products that are being wasted and giving them to those that need it sounds like a good idea. A good thing to look for if one wanted to implement this is to find statistics of food quality after the expiration date, what risks it could pose, how long it lasts, and the like. The idea sounds fascinating."
--( posted on May 5, 2015, commenting on the post Public Health Problems and Solutions )
 
"I think that the concept of raising minimum wage to close the pay gap is a smart and creative idea. That was well thought-out of you. As far as raising the diversity of student body by balancing the number of men and women, especially in the business school, I think that some problems could arise. For example, women are more numerous than men to begin with so equalizing the number of men and women students may not be needed. A question to look at here is why are women being underrepresented at these levels."
--( posted on Apr 20, 2015, commenting on the post Gender and Economic Growth Solutions )
 
"I agree with your vision. The atmosphere in the workplace and indeed throughout the community should be one in which everyone respects one another as human beings. I think the idea of an anonymous complaint panel is an excellent move forward in terms of addressing discrimination in the workplace. You could develop a consulting organization and have people review the cases of discrimination. The anonymous person would just have to describe the person or people involved in the discrimination and in the nature of the discrimination so that it can be investigated."
--( posted on Apr 20, 2015, commenting on the post Gender and Economic Growth Solutions )
 
"I like that you took an overview of the major problems that are facing women in the contemporary workforce. I feel, however, that you need to look at some of the more microscale aspects of the macroscale-level problems you brought up. For example, you explained that women typically choose more relationship-based "soft" skilled careers and that they should be going into more male-dominated occupations, since character traits associated with those occupations are indicative of strong leaders. This is, I think, a part of the pay gap issue. However, the problem with this argument is that if women are, by their own will, choosing to go into certain types of occupations, that's not really the social problem since it was by their own choice. Maybe what you mean is that since computer and engineering jobs are male-dominated professions, a number of microscale problems, such as lack of role-models, contributes to the perpetual lack of tendency towards these "hard-skill" professions. I like that your article stirs up a discussion."
--( posted on Apr 6, 2015, commenting on the post Gender and Economic Growth )
 
"I like that you brought up maternity leave because that's a really microscopic aspect to the problem and is a part of the problem that can easily be addressed. Recognizing the importance of human experience and life, many organizations that hire mothers should be expected to pay special attention to these employees. I glossed over the specific problem of maternity leave but I regarded the career interruptions on mothers due to caring for a child to be among the main factors for the wage gap between men and women in contemporary society."
--( posted on Apr 6, 2015, commenting on the post Gender Inequality Problems )
 
"Really well written. From what I have just read, your three solutions to help people get jobs in an increasingly competitive world is to have the governmental allocate defense money to job creation, give tax cuts to corporations to incentivize training undergraduate students, and to have colleges work with companies to match students to jobs. All three of these ideas are creative and look like they will probably alleviate the problem you are trying to solve. A question that comes up is why the government spends so much on the military and defense. Do we really need to allocate such a vast portion of the nation's wealth for this purpose."
--( posted on Mar 17, 2015, commenting on the post Work Solutions )
 
"The idea of a company without a manager sounds like an interesting and creative solution. But, why is it that the manager would be the cause of a lack of face to face interaction? What actual benefit comes out of removing the manager? Still, the idea of recognizing everyone's power to be the same, that everyone is a leader, is very interesting and is bound to have some positive psychological consequences."
--( posted on Mar 17, 2015, commenting on the post Future of Work Solutions )
 
"I like that you decided to write about robots and how they could bring about an unemployment crisis unlike anything anyone can currently conceive of. As far as the future is concerned, it is highly uncertain. With advances in technology, things may come up that we aren't even aware of right now. But, if I take your argument that future technologies will possess all the capabilities of humans and beyond, interesting questions rise up. With such refinement in technology, questions would be raised as to what is the appropriate job for the human being. Even more generally, the question would arise as to what the position of the human being is in society. As far as the idea of robots replacing humans as members of society is concerned, I see the idea as preposterous. I think the dominant prevailing view that will continue to prevail long into the future by humans of robots and other machines is that technologies of all kinds are our slaves. They are viewed as inferior and will never be accepted as members of the community. At the same time, I am aware that there are efforts underway to discover the secrets to creating life and give rise to consciousness in machines. Such efforts are very interesting and it is unknown how far such research will allow humankind to modify its mode of living. If a method was discovered to give robots life and consciousness, I think there would be great debate as to how to appropriately deal with such technologies. If humans can truly create life from non-life, humans would become responsible for managing such machines and controlling the distribution and knowledge of such technologies as a way to protect the community from malicious robots. If robots could not disobey humans, though, humans would just view them as tools and a renaissance of a kind unknown to contemporary times would emerge to assess the future of humankind. Cool paper. It really got me thinking."
--( posted on Mar 12, 2015, commenting on the post The Future of Work: The Threat of Technology )
 
"I like your statement, "There is no job waiting for me." It sounds deep and dramatic and caught my attention. As far as minimum wage goes, I think the argument you put forward makes sense but some aspects could be made clearer. For example, you mention that if people make minimum wage but cannot survive or live comfortably off of that wage, then more people will be unemployed, this will hurt the economy, and this is the reason we should raise minimum wage. I got this impression while reading your piece although you may have meant something else. I don't think the argument I presented just now is valid though because lower wages don't necessarily mean fewer jobs. Rather, it means more suffering for the people who are trying to get by on some jobs. Some statistics of unemployment and wages can make your argument more convincing. Also, something you can research about if you're interested is what kinds of things is the minimum wage connected to. What permits its acceptable rise or decline? Why not raise the minimum wage? What is the impact of minimum wage on the economy? Also, how many minimum-wage jobs are there and what kinds of jobs are those? How do people earning minimum wage or less than that survive? I read in a newspaper that one woman took three minimum wage jobs to support her family and she was extraordinarily overworked and stressed. Anyways, I found your piece to be interesting and informative."
--( posted on Mar 12, 2015, commenting on the post Work Problems )
 
"I think that your ideas for solutions are positively brilliant. The idea of putting cameras in jails and prisons and using an outside agency to oversee the footage is an excellent way to help resolve the issue of police brutality. There may be some controversy around this idea because if the outside agency is handling this footage, it will need to be able to pick up signs of excessive force as opposed to justified force. We will need a picture of what is "normal" or appropriate in prison or jail. In fact, prison and jail cameras already exist and some judges have ordered that there be more cameras in prisons or jails. This occurs because of incidences in which police officers bring inmates to blind spots of the cameras to malevolently beat them."
--( posted on Feb 26, 2015, commenting on the post Policing Solutions )
 
"Your response is quite enlightening. I did not know about CompStat and this piece inspires me to look into it as a viable solution to racial profiling. The use of body cameras seems like a good idea too. But, body cameras are something that already exists or will increase in number. One issue with CompStat is that police can manipulate statistics to be evaluated better. For example, Adrian Schoolcraft's extensive recordings indicated that his superiors in policing urged him to manipulate data. Furthermore, they encouraged stop-and-frisk and racial profiling in group meetings. So, while there is great potential usefulness to the system, we would have to rely on police using it correctly. Again, maybe body cameras would increase accountability in this case. If you are interested, maybe you can consider more community interaction with police in such meetings."
--( posted on Feb 26, 2015, commenting on the post Solution 1 – Policing )
 
"You have raised some important points. The issues you selected - that is, Stop-and-Frisk and Police quotas - are clear indications of a problem that needs solving. The underlying problem in Stop-and-Frisk is racial profiling and the underlying problem in police quotas is undesirable incentives. Changing the way by which police are evaluated can solve the second problem. The challenge of Stop-and-Frisk seems to be that it is not intended for racial profiling but the police departments conduct racial profiling anyways. So, is there a way to restrain such profiling? Is there an alternative to stop and frisk to accomplish the intended goals? Is there a way to gain effective oversight and policing of the police?"
--( posted on Feb 18, 2015, commenting on the post Policing Problems )
 
"Based on what you are saying, it seems that you think that the crafting of appropriate legislation is what will ultimately decrease crime rates and incarceration rates. You seem to be asserting that society as a whole has made the incorrect assumption that the quality of the police force is what decreases the crime and incarceration rates. What you are saying is very interesting and probably true. Also, I don't think that society as a whole would care all that much if the police robbed gangs, who themselves are thieves anyways. Certainly, society would frown upon it as such funds could be put to use in more productive uses than for mere personal gain. I think, though, that you're still arguing the same thing that the class has been discussing because if the police become the criminals who are oppressing innocent members of the community, I think that you would probably argue again that society would need to craft legislation to either oversee and regulate their activities or that will lead to a change of circumstances that permit undesirable behavior. Your piece is very eloquently written and I liked that you were very passionate about your topic."
--( posted on Feb 18, 2015, commenting on the post Policing is the Problem )