Theses and Dissertations
This collection includes both ASU Theses and Dissertations, submitted by graduate students, and the Barrett, Honors College theses submitted by undergraduate students.
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A Regional Analysis of Police Shootings Through Local Media Coverage studies broadcast reports of officer-involved shootings in the most dangerous cities across the country in order to determine if bias is present while providing readers with a tool they can use to analyze officer-involved shooting stories in their own community. Based on the geographical regions of the United States, the website analyzes the most dangerous city of the region and the most dangerous city in the most dangerous state in the region. For each city, a random broadcast piece is selected from the local media coverage. I then created a list of 10 points journalists should be aware of when reporting on officer-involved shootings. I used this list to break down and analyze how the story fared against my list. In the beginning of this process, I believed that all local media would have a slight bias depending on the region from which they were reporting. In my original hypothesis, I believed that the reports from the West would be against police, reports from the South and Southwest would be pro police, reports from the Midwest would be against police, and reports from the Northeast would be pro police. After analysis, many of the reports did not show any obvious bias. I wanted this project to be a tool readers and viewers could use in order to learn more about officer-involved shootings. With the help of my checklist, viewers would be able to then analyze stories on officer-involved shootings and determine the quality of the reporting. Not only did this project open my eyes to the different reporting styles that could be used to report an officer-involved shooting, it instilled a deeper sense of pride for local journalism. Even through the recent eruptions surrounding officer-involved shootings, the stories I analyzed continue to stick to journalistic ethics and remain unbiased, even in breaking news.
ContributorsIsenberg, Sydney Elizabeth (Author) / Dunn, Heather (Thesis director) / Johnston, Coy (Committee member) / School of Criminology and Criminal Justice (Contributor) / Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-05
Description
This research investigates how the current social stigma of law enforcement officers is established and the effect it has on the future of community-police relations. The research begins by finding the public’s perception of law enforcement over the last 50 years and how the public’s perception of law enforcement has or has not changed in the 21st century. To do this, three eras and one sporadic incident are investigated; the civil rights era, Rodney King incident in 1991, the war on terrorism and the millennial revolution. The idea there is still a large presence of systematic racism and police brutality against minority citizens from the 1960s (civil rights era) until now (millennial revolution) has led to the fall of law enforcement legitimacy. The public’s opinion that law enforcement is not a credible institution is supported by modern influences such as contemporary news networks and public figures. These influences have changed the future generation’s perceptions of law enforcement and promoted the ‘war on cops,’ which alters how law enforcement performs their duties. In response to the negativity built over the last 50 years, police department are working towards building community-police relations to create a positive change. The Phoenix Police Department (PPD) Community Relations Bureau is used as a case study. The PPD was chosen because it is the fastest growing city in the United States and there is personal connection to the author including residency and the opportunity for direct observations and interviews with Phoenix law enforcement personnel. The review of current community-police relation programs in Phoenix only includes three programs for children from seventh grade and up. This has produced the opportunity to create a program that targets elementary aged children. A children’s book, Discovering LEO, helps change the current social stigma of law enforcement through youth education. The story focuses on sharing the positivity of law enforcement officers’ role in the community and how officers are humans just like everyone else. The students who listen to the story learn that police officers are people to trust when you need help, even when the television is sharing negative rhetoric about law enforcement. The story also aims to teach children that the person inside the law enforcement uniform may also be a parent, spouse, friend, and/or neighbor, in addition to their role as a police officer.
ContributorsSchwanz, Morgan L. (Author) / McClelland, Blake (Thesis director) / Johnston, Coy (Committee member) / School of Criminology and Criminal Justice (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-05