Issues in Criminal Justice

Running head: ISSUES IN CRITICAL JUSTICE
Issues in Critical Justice
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1ISSUES IN CRIMINAL JUSTICE
Introduction
Domestic violence is a serious issue in the United States of America, with acts of
domestic violence being perpetrated in almost every American state on a daily basis. What is
even more disturbing is the fact is that police officers are seen to be engaging in acts of
domestic violence at home, which is alarming to accept and deal with, given that law
enforcement officers are to protect people and not abuse them. This report prepares a
memorandum that is sent to the chief officer of the LAPD by a domestic violence officer
working there outlining recommendations that ought to be considered and implemented to
deal with acts of violence that are committed by the police officers of the department.
To – [e-mail]
Subject – Perpetration of Acts of Domestic Violence by LAPD Police Officers
Dear Matt,
I hope this email finds you well. I am writing to you out of an impending sense of
concern regarding some of the domestic violence cases that have been reported to me and
which I have been handling of late. It has come to my knowledge that at least three of the
domestic violence cases that I am currently looking into are cases where the acts of domestic
violence have been initiated by police officers working at our very own LAPD. This
knowledge has left me dismayed and baffled at the same time, given that I never expected
such atrocities to be committed by our law enforcement officers, who are supposed to be
protecting people instead of abusing them, let alone their wives at home. After having given
the situation my thought, I decided to let you know of some of the recommendations that I

2ISSUES IN CRIMINAL JUSTICE
have in mind, and which you ought to consider implementing in order to make sure that these
atrocities are never perpetrated again by our police officers. I have listed these below.
1. Immediate Need for a Policy for Dealing with Acts of Violence by Police Officers
A policy needs to be put in place by the LAPD immediately for dealing with acts of
violence that are committed by police officers. The policy for dealing with such acts of
atrocities should outline punitive measures that are far more stringent than the punitive
measures meant to be undertaken against other perpetrators of domestic violence, given the
fact that it is the duty and the responsibility of police officers to protect victims of domestic
violence and not perpetrate such acts in the first place (Blair et al., 2016). If law enforcement
officers are found to be engaging in acts of violence against their partners at home, it is a
matter of shame, and such officers should not only be terminated from their duties
immediately but should also have harsh punitive measures taken against them, all of which
will be well outlined and detailed in the policy that is drawn up for this purpose (Carmody,
2018). The policy for dealing with acts of violence by policy officers should be absolutely
airtight. There should be no loopholes in the policy that police officers can take advantage of
in order to justify their violent acts. All new officers who join the LAPD should be made to
sign this policy at the time of swearing in so that they are aware of the fact that the terms and
conditions of the policy apply to their code of conduct for as long as they are hired at the
LAPD (DeGue et al., 2016).
2. Explanation of the Challenges that could be faced with Dealing with Such Cases
There are many challenges that are likely to arise when dealing with cases of domestic
violence that are committed by police officers. First and foremost, it could be difficult to
accept that many of our police officers are committing acts of domestic violence when they
return home although they are protecting people and enforcing the law throughout the day.