Question 1: Police agencies have been criticized for becoming too militarized. As you have seen in the news, the public is beginning to question why the need for this transformation. The Boston Marathon bombing was one of the first media outlets that really displayed the actual military equipment that the police were capable of utilizing. As you may have seen, it looked like a military war zone in the Boston Suburbs. In Ferguson Missouri, the Police have armored vehicle and air support. Is the Military grade equipment necessary for police agencies to do their jobs safely? Or is the Government becoming a Police State?

Question 2:Technology is changing day to day. Now agencies have the ability to run fingerprints from their cruiser. Agencies have vehicles that are equipped to read license plates looking for stolen vehicles.  Over the last 20 years what type or piece of technological equipment has had the biggest impact on policing? In the next 10 years what technological changes do you believe would be beneficial to police agencies?

Besides the positive aspects of technology helping police, what are some of the negative aspects that the public may view as giving the police too much power, or improperly using the technology and violating constitutional rights?

Question3: Even though the City of Ferguson Missouri is primarily populated by black residents, the police department is primarily made up of white officers. With racial tension dividing the community and affecting the nation, how can agencies like Ferguson better represent the community that they serve?

Hiring more black officers may seem to be a simple answer, but it is not a solution. The amount of qualified black applicants who apply is not nearly as high as the number of white applicants. This is by pure numbers that apply to agencies. If qualified black applicants are not applying for police positions, what can agencies do to become more multicultural? Remember, the black population in the U.S makes up less than 14% of the entire population.

What is your solution to this problem?