Ferguson Effect

The Ferguson Effect Author’s Name The Institutional Affiliation Course Number and Name The Instructor Assignment Due Date Introduction The ‘Ferguson Effect’ is a necessary social movement in law enforcement agencies (LEA). The infamous assassination of Michael Brown in 2014 increased sensitivity for the LEA in the United States of America (US). Police officers are accused of racial biases, targeted detentions, and other malpractices towards the Black community nationwide during legislative interventions (Lane, 2021). The public backlash and robust media engagement increased professional scrutiny among LEA during the recruitment, selection, and retention of action-oriented police officers. However, the Ferguson Effect is not limited to Brown’s assassination while formulating a hypothetical pattern for police actions. Instead, the LEA officials engaged in other high-profile killings of people from minority communities, increasing demand for new policy reforms and operational transitions in the police department (Lane, 2021). This paper will conduct a critical review of two articles exploring the Ferguson Effect in police departments and practices towards minority communities while enforcing the law. Critical Review Purpose First, Copeland et al. (2022) published an article, “Revisiting the Ferguson Effect: Law Enforcement Perception of Recruitment in the Post George Floyd Era.” The authors examined the harsh criticisms and public scrutiny of the police department through social media propaganda. This article has two critical purposes for the research. First, the authors aimed to gather empirical evidence from police departments experiencing the Ferguson Effect. Secondly, the article measured the impact of the Ferguson Effect on police morale, resulting in complex recruitment for the department. The investigation examined LEA experiences in the past ten years, influencing robust recruitment practices and willingness to serve in law enforcement. On the contrary, Campbell (2023) published an article, “Black Lives Matter’s Effect on Police Lethal Use of Force.” The article expanded the Ferguson Effect’s exploration by integrating the ‘Black Lives Matter (BLM)’ movement while investigating the public monitoring of LEA towards minority communities. The purpose of this research is to explore the influence of public attention and intervention on police morale. The researcher explained how the Ferguson Effect is disrupting police morale while increasing evidence quality without biases towards minorities. Theoretical Assumptions Copeland et al. (2022) used the general ‘Crime Wave Theory (CWT)’ for theoretical assumptions while exploring the role of the Ferguson Effect on police morale. The authors argued that the Ferguson Effect increased socioeconomic and political pressures on the LEA while imposing law in critical situations. The CWT assumption reduced police efficiency in using judgments and resolving crime through direct interventions. As a result, the crime rate observed a cyclical rise among diverse communities as public monitoring and media involvement criticized the police leadership for judgment-based interventions (Copeland et al., 2022). CWT used quantitative insights to examine the Ferguson Effect on police leadership and policy reforms. On the contrary, Campbell (2023) explained the similar situation using the ‘Event Study Approach (ESA)’ as the theoretical assumption. The researcher discussed events such as the ‘Mike Brown Era’ and ‘George Floyd Era’ in aggregating the Ferguson Effect through BLM. ESA organizes data for the researcher to understand the individual and dual shocks on police leadership since the Ferguson Effect. The theoretical assumption examined socioeconomic and community impacts on police actions...