Assignment:
Watts
https://training.fema.gov/hiedu/docs/critical-issues-in-disaster-science-and-management.pdf
How is your issue reflected in the unmet needs and persistent problems identified by Ruben and Colle?
After reading the chapter, I have come to the conclusion that my issue fits one of the persistent problems and unmet needs however, it fit bits and pieces of other issues as well. Issue 6: Decreasing Impact on Policy and Decision-Making fits the most with my issue due to the overall definition and academic perspective. Baltimore City Police Department and the impact of the consent decree on policing and the community is somewhat of a broad topic. Previous and similar social vulnerability and civil rights issues in cities like Los Angeles CA 1992 and Ferguson, MO 2014 would have a direct impact on outcomes in Baltimore City. The lessons learned and after actions would have similar narratives that all stakeholders could benefit from whether short or long term. Research studies and various other conclusions from like incidents could dramatically shape the situation in Baltimore for the better.
In my opinion, one of the main elements of the problem I am researching is that the members of the organizations that are charged and specifically directed to handle my aforementioned problem is the fact that they have simply lost the capacity to affect policy at the very level of local and state government (Ruben & Colle, n.d.). Policy changes that could have been previously directed could have changed the entire situation for the better or at least shaped a much more feasible outcome than what is currently transpiring (Ruben & Colle, n.d.). With that being said, the inability of local and state governments to gain control of their employees or to correct issues that stem from lack of leadership, transparency, and accountability is an all too familiar problem that particularly law enforcement organizations continue to face. On many occasions, the federal government is dispatched to intervene when legislative and institutional competencies in the local and state governments have overcome district authorities due to their lack of seeing fundamental community issues for what they truly are.