You are an environmental behavioral specialist for criminal justice professionals in the law enforcement field. The chief of police has asked you to review the seven-person undercover narcotics unit because there have been several internal affairs investigations involving excessive use of force, mishandling of evidence, and mishandling of informants. The chief knows the six men and one woman on the team and believes they are all good officers.
He uses them outside of narcotics work to make death notifications to families when someone dies in an accident or crime. He also knows they have been doing a lot of excessive drinking on the job and after work. They are highly productive in terms of quality cases and seizures of controlled substances, and they are working around the clock, on some cases 24 or 36 hours in a row. You must evaluate the situation and provide the chief with suggestions.
In a report to the chief of police, you will cite the findings of your research and observations with recommendations to the chief. Statements of fact in your presentation require that you cite the reference from which you obtained the information in the text of the paper and that the reference be included in your reference page. As always, your paper will be submitted in the current edition of APA format. No abstract is required because this is a short position paper, but a title page, reference page, and appropriate running header with page numbers should be included.
Assignment Guidelines
How does stress impact discretion on the part of the team members? Explain.
Select 2 areas of discretion for a narcotics team, and describe the possible temptations in these areas.
How could the additional assignment of death notifications affect members of the team? Explain.
How does the microcosm of the police agency insulate itself from the community? Explain.
How do special teams like narcotics or SWAT take this one step further? Explain.
How can overcoming the fight or flight syndrome lead to unnecessary heroics, putting the members of the unit in danger? Explain.
Identify 2 issues in the handling of social and professional relationships under stress conditions in the unit.
How can these issues arise? Explain.
How can racial and ethnic demographics contribute to bias in this type of unit? Explain.