Neighborhood Criminal Eviction

  Neighborhood Criminal Eviction In the criminal justice system we are often confronted with issues where the public’s concern and the legal and ethical constraints are going to be at odds.  For this assignment you are going to read a scenario and address how to handle the situation.The drug problem was getting totally out of hand.  As Chief Andres Gonzales was driving down Plumb Street with his family three weeks ago, he saw at least two drug deals go down.  To make matters worse, the dealers weren’t even doing the selling.  They would stand 50 or 60 feet away and watch as the “Munchkins,” children no more than 10 or 11 years old, did the deals for them.  Something more had to be done.The Plumb Street neighborhood used to be a good place to live.  Most of the residents were middle class people who worked for the city’s largest employer, National Chemical.  Three years earlier, “The National” was purchased by a large West Coast conglomerate, and operations at the local plant were greatly curtailed.  As a result, unemployment in the Plumb Street neighborhood increased dramatically and with it an increase in criminal activity.  Still, it was a close-knit area.  The residents worked closely with the police department in attempts to keep the neighborhood a nice place to live.  They formed the Plumb Street Neighborhood Association, a Community Watch Program, and a Neighborhood Citizens Patrol in an effort to keep down the criminal activity.  A Community Police Officer was assigned to the area to coordinate activities.  Still, there seemed to be no significant impact on the criminal and drug activity in the area.  Two weeks ago, Chief Gonzales called a meeting of the Plumb Street Neighborhood Association.  After four hours of debate and discussion, he emerged from the meeting with the following list of drug and crime control propositions to be implemented after two weeks of public hearings and notices:1. Each resident of the Plumb Street neighborhood over the age of 8 shall be issued a photo identification card to be carried with them at all times.2. Any person in the Plumb Street Neighborhood shall display the identification card to a police officer upon request.3. Persons in the Plumb Street neighborhood without identification and not an invited guest of a resident shall leave the neighborhood.4. Any resident may request the police department to check on suspicious persons.  The police shall respond and identify the person.5. Police may establish checkpoints from time to time to limit ingress of nonresidents or nonguests.6. “Cruising” past the same location more than once in a three-hour period shall be prohibited.Yesterday, after two weeks of public hearings (in which no person objected), the Neighborhood Criminal Eviction Program was implemented.Scenario taken from: Close, D. & Meier, N. (2003) Morality in Criminal Justice: An Introduction to Ethics. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth/Thompson Learning. (P.568)   Drawing on all that you have learned in the program, in ethics, Constitutional Law, theory and policy, etc. write a 5–7 page paper address the following: