(OUTDATED) Blue Badge Betrayal: The Impact of Police Misconduct

BLUE BADGE BETRAYAL

Learning

Objectives

Skills We Learnt Last Week:

1 Learning Facts: Fast Fashion

The fashion industry is one of the world’s larger global manufacturing industries Fast fashion refers to the growing trend of mass producing cheap, low quality clothing to keep up with new fashion trends Fast fashion harms the environment and garment manufacturers

2 Public Speaking Skills: Speech Practice

Getting comfortable with delivering building block speeches

3 Debating Skills: Case Building

When you come up with points as a team in debating, it’s called a ‘case’. Working as a team helps you put your brains together to come up with the best ideas!

Skills We Will Learn This Week

1 Learning Facts: Police and Power

The police exist to protect us and uphold the law, but sometimes betray this trust with corruption or violence

2 Public Speaking Skills: Talking About Rights

Applying our speaking skills to discuss philosophical ideas like human rights

3 Debating Skills: Independent Case Building

Developing your own arguments using speech building without a coach

Reminder: Class Rules

Now that we all know each other, let’s make this class into a proper classroom!

Here are some rules that we will all follow together:

Before Class

Make sure that you’ve eaten breakfast/lunch and have gone to the bathroom

Join the zoom call a few minutes before class starts so we can get started right away!

At the Start of Class

Turn your camera on so we can see your lovely smile! Let your coach know if you need to leave class early 1. 2.

During Class

Keep your camera on unless you are preparing during an activity

Put your hand up if you want to say something Do not leave your computer during class - if you need to go to the bathroom, put your hand up and ask your coach before you go

SYMBOL OBJECTIVES:

Learn a special skill Activity time Key takeaway

1. 2.

Investigate the Crime Warm Up:

You are a detective who has been called to a crime scene to investigate. You must explain what you would bring with you to help solve the crime.

The Crime: During class time, a thief has broken into the school and stolen all of the textbooks and laptops from a storeroom. The kids were in the classroom at the time, but there were some teachers next door on a break, and a janitor was cleaning the hallway outside.

You can only bring three items with you to investigate:

Powder and brush to collect fingerprints

Handcuffs to arrest someone if you catch them at the scene of the crime

Camera to take photos for evidence

Magnifying glass to investigate the door hinges

Computer to view the security footage

Time 2 Mins (Preparation)

1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

Which items do you take with you, and why?

"I would bring a lie detector test, so that I could question all of the witnesses and make sure they are telling the truth."

Learning Facts

What Are the Police?

The police play an important role in our society. They are responsible for keeping our communities safe, enforcing the law, and helping people in need.

Different roles for the police include

Public Safety: protect the public and keep us safe They patrol to ensure that everyone is following the rules and laws Their presence helps deter crime and maintain order.

Crime Prevention and Investigation: prevent crimes from happening in the first place They investigate reports of suspicious activities, gather evidence, and try to catch criminals.

Emergency Response: In emergencies, such as accidents or when someone is in danger, the police are often the first to respond Traffic Control: help manage traffic flow and keep roads safe They direct traffic at busy intersections, ensure drivers follow the rules, and assist with accidents or road closures

The Justice System

The police are part of the justice system, just like judges and juries, law courts and prisons They’re often the first step in the justice system, so they play a really important role in terms of engaging with members of the public and collecting information

Becoming a Police Officer

To become a police officer, you have to go through a recruitment process. They usually interview you to make sure you are responsible and good at problem solving, and they check that you are an upstanding member of the community.

You have to be physically fit, and then you go through many weeks of training You learn how to react in an emergency, handle weapons, engage with the public and strengthen yourself mentally

The police are supposed to protect the public, prevent and investigate crimes and respond in emergencies.

What Powers Do the Police Have?

Learning Facts

Different countries have different rules for police officers to do with how much training they need, what kind of force they can use, and ways they can be held accountable

Police might have the following powers:

Arrest and Detention

1. the power to arrest individuals if they have reasonable grounds to believe that a person has committed a crime or is about to commit one

Use of Force

2. where required, using physical force to stop someone from committing a crime or to detain them

3. searching people and their homes

Search and Seizure

4. collect evidence and interview witnesses

Investigative Powers

Sometimes, police need to get special permission to use these powers This is called a warrant

The police are given their powers by the government. Rules for police are different depending on what country they are in.

Country Norway United States India

Requirements and training

A three year university degree in police officer training (156 weeks)

Graduate high school and do 21 weeks of training

A bachelor’s degree from university and 90 weeks of police training

Powers

Firearms are locked away in cars in most situations

Most police officers are armed, can use force when they feel threatened

Some are armed, can use force when in immediate threat to life or safety

Responsibilities

Senior officer approval before shooting

Some states require bodyworn cameras to collect footage while police are in the field

Complaints are investigated and police can be charged

Do you think it’s important that police have training for a minimum period of time?

Do you think that people should have to do more training if they are allowed to use more force?

Police have more power than regular citizens, to help them enforce the law. Police in different countries have varying degrees of power, and amounts of training required.

What Rights Do You Have Against the Police?

We know that human rights are based on the idea that every person is valuable and deserves to be treated with dignity and respect, no matter who they are or where they come from. These rights help protect people's well-being, safety, and freedom, and they make sure that everyone has a fair chance to live a good life

The police have more power than the average citizen. Because of this, citizens have rights to protect them from these powers. Some include:

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

Right to be treated with dignity and respect: no excessive force or humiliation

Right to remain silent: you are not required to incriminate yourself

Right to legal representation: right to have a lawyer if you are talking to the police

Right to file complaints: police who breach these rights should be punished

Right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures: you cannot be searched for no reason

It’s important to balance citizen rights with police powers.

Activity:

Wrong or Right?

You are going to deliver a speech using speech building blocks about whether you think the police should be allowed to behave the way they did in the story.

Remember that our speech building blocks are:

Introduction Reason 1 Reason 2

Conclusion

Use the building blocks below to help you put together a speech.

The Story

While the police were investigating the theft of the school books and the laptops, they collected some security camera footage of the robber running into a residential street

They decided to search inside every house to see if the books and laptops were there. While they were in there, they found some newspaper cuttings about an unsolved murder They thought the clippings could be suspicious, so they arrested the homeowner for murder and took them to the police station

Time 6 Mins (Preparation) | 1-2 Mins (Speaking)

I believe that the police (pick one)

Introduction

Reason 1

Reason 2

Conclusion

be allowed to search people’s homes and arrest them

The first reason why it (pick one) is....

Insert reason, and explain why

The first reason why it (pick one) is....

was justified was not justified / was justified was not justified /

Insert reason, and explain why

should should not / should should not /

Because (insert two reasons here), the police ... (pick one) not have been allowed to behave that way.

Feedback Time!

Learning Facts

Can

Police Take Advantage of Their Powers?

Sometimes, police officers take advantage of the power they are given.

Different roles for the police include

1.

2.

Corruption: dishonest behaviour, usually involving bribery

Violence: police using more force than is necessary, harming or killing citizens

Sometimes, the issues are systemic within the police This means that they don’t just come from one misbehaving police officer; the entire police force allows it to happen, or ‘turns a blind eye’.

Corruption usually involves bribery

Police using violence and harming citizen

When individual police officers put other priorities ahead of their own duties, this can lead to abuse of their powers in the form of corruption or violence.

Corruption

Corruption happens in the police force when police officers care more about themselves than their responsibility to uphold the law. Corruption can involve bribery (offering someone money to do something bad) or blackmail (threatening to do something in order to get someone to do something bad)

EXAMPLE ONE

A police officer pulls a driver over on the road for driving over the limit. They are supposed to write down the name and details of the driver so they are given demerit points against their license Instead, the driver offers the police officer $100 to not report it, and drives away without getting in trouble

Corruption involves police being bribed or threatened to get them to act in a way that abuses their power.

EXAMPLE TWO

A police officer catches a big company committing fraudulent behaviour, and is supposed to report them for committing a crime. Before he can, a director of the company shows the officer that they have photographic proof that the officer likes to dress up in a giant zebra costume, which is super embarrassing The director tells them that if they report the crime, the director will send the photos to everyone, so the police officer does not report it.

Violence

Even though the police need to use force sometimes, it can also lead to injury or even death.

It’s important when using force that you take account of your surroundings Sometimes, innocent people who just happen to be there could be in danger if you start using force. Even if the force is used against the person committing the crime, it has to be proportionate - you should not shoot someone dead for shoplifting a pack of gum from the supermarket unarmed.

The greater the access to weapons a police officer has, the greater the chance that they could use excessive force On the other hand, if the police officer doesn’t have the tools they need to keep themselves safe, they could be unable to defend themselves and end up getting hurt.

SCENARIO 1

A bank robber runs into a bank, holding a gun. They demand that the bank teller puts one million dollars in a bag that they plan to escape with.

If the police officer has a gun

The police officer can threaten the burglar with force, and can shoot if they think the burglar is going to shoot someone

If the police officer does not have a gun

The police officer is in danger of being shot if they try to intervene, so the robber steals the money and gets away

SCENARIO 2

A police officer is called when someone spots a teenager playing with a toy gun in the park The caller tells the police officer that they think the gun is real

The police officer shoots the teenager, killing an innocent person

The police officer calls for backup before approaching the teenager, realizing the gun is fake, and no one is injured

Case Study: Racial Violence in the United States

African American people, who make up 13% of the U.S. population, accounted for 27% of those shot and killed by police in 2021. That means African American people are twice as likely as white people to be shot and killed by police officers

Police violence occurs when police officers use more force than necessary, which can result in civilians being hurt or killed. In many countries, police violence is disproportionately conducted against minority groups.

Quiz Time

1. Traffic control

What is NOT the role of the police?

a) Fighting in wars

2.

3.

c)

b) Investigating crimes

Which of these is an example of a right you have against the police force?

a) The right to remain silent

b) The right to speak freely

c) The right to make police speak

What is the meaning of corruption?

a) Police officers accepting bribes or being blackmailed into doing bad things

b) Police officers using more force than is necessary and hurting people

c) Police officers being paid a high salary for their job

Fact Recall

See if you can remember what we’ve learned about homelessness

Quiz Time

1. Traffic control

What is NOT the role of the police?

a) Fighting in wars

2.

3.

c)

b) Investigating crimes

Which of these is an example of a right you have against the police force?

a) The right to remain silent

b) The right to speak freely

c) The right to make police speak

What is the meaning of corruption?

a) Police officers accepting bribes or being blackmailed into doing bad things

b) Police officers using more force than is necessary and hurting people

c) Police officers being paid a high salary for their job

Fact Recall

See if you can remember what we’ve learned about homelessness

How Can We Stop the Abuse of Police Power?

Analysing Policy

Policy One: Whistleblower Protection

Often, people are hesitant to report their fellow police officers when they do something bad Sometimes it’s because they don’t want to get caught and have it harm their career, and other times they are afraid of them getting hurt themselves.

‘Whistleblower protection’ means protecting the people who choose to speak up. This could involve anonymous reporting, job protection, or creating a culture of honesty within the police force.

Do you think whistleblower protection is an effective policy? Is there any way that it could go wrong?

Policy Two: External Audit

External organisations are independent, so they are not exposed to the same pressures of officers within the police force Because they are not reporting on their own colleagues, they are more willing to speak up against abuse of police power.

External audits involve things like recording police interactions, for example via body camera. These external actors review randomly selected recordings to make sure that everyone is doing their job correctly.

Do you think external audits are an effective policy? Is there any way that it could go wrong?

Activity: Case Building With Coach

Build a speech for the topic with your coach.

Remember that our speech building blocks are:

1. 2 3. 4

Introduction

Reason 1

Reason 2

Conclusion

Use the building blocks below to help you put together a speech.

Topic:

“Not all police should be allowed to have guns when on patrol.”

Introduction

Reason 1

Reason 2

Conclusion

Activity: Case Building With Coach

Build a speech for the topic without your coach.

They will check in every few minutes to help you stay on track!

Use the building blocks below to help you put together a speech.

Topic:

with police”

Time 10 Minutes Prep (With Assistance)

“It is important that citizens have rights when interacting

Introduction

Reason 1

Reason 2

Conclusion

RECAP

The police are supposed to protect the public, prevent and investigate crimes and respond in emergencies.

Police have more power than regular citizens, to help them enforce the law. Police in different countries have varying degrees of power, and amounts of training required.

It’s important to balance citizen rights with police powers so that police use them responsibly.

Rights against police:

1.

2.

Right to be treated with dignity and respect

Right to remain silent

Right to legal representation

Right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures

Right to file complaints

3. 4. 5. Sometimes, police can take advantage of their powers, resulting in corruption or police violence.

Corruption involves police being bribed or threatened to get them to act in a way that abuses their power

Police violence occurs when police officers use more force than necessary, which can result in civilians being hurt or killed

Potential policies:

Whistleblower policy

External audits

1. 2. Key skills: case building with and without coach supervision

SYMBOL OBJECTIVES:

Learn a special skill Activity time Key takeaway

THANK YOU! EXCITED TO SEE YOU ALL NEXT WEEK!