Multicultural Law Enforcement: Strategies for Peacekeeping in a Diverse Society

by Robert M. Shusta and Herbert Z. Wong

Book Overview

For courses covering multicultural issues in law enforcement.A classic text in peacekeeping, cultural awareness, and diversity in law enforcementMulticultural Law Enforcement: Strategies for... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 013505088X
• ISBN13: 9780135050880
• Release Date: January 2010
• Publisher: Prentice Hall
• Length: 539 Pages
• Weight: 1.70 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 6.9" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

Excellent

I purchased this book for a college course in Criminal Justice. I purchased it new and the condition was as explained. Fast Delivery and just what I wanted. Thank You.

A MUST-HAVE FOR ANY CRIMINAL JUSTICE PROFESSIONAL (Police Tactical & Cultural Diversity Trainer)

"Multicultural Law Enforcement - Strategies for Peacekeeping in a Diverse Society" (Fourth Edition) is an absolute must-have for any police academy, corrections, or college law enforcement program. No other textbook covers such a wide range of topics in such depth concerning how criminal justice professionals are affected by diversity in the society and workforce. As a law enforcement officer with experience ranging from major metropolitan street patrol to Captain in charge of training, I have traveled extensively throughout the West Coast providing training to correctional and law enforcement officers in cultural diversity as well as arrest and control tactics, self-defense, and gun and baton retention. It is my professional opinion that this extraordinary volume will not replace, but instead will complement, the training necessary for street survival tactics, and that professionals who are trained with MULTICULTURAL LAW ENFORCEMENT (MLE) will be more likely to avoid resorting to the use of force. As presented in MLE-4, law enforcement professionals can better understand issues of respect and avoid perceived disrespect due to a lack of cultural awareness. Increased awareness often causes involved parties to be more cooperative and/or exhibit less resistance. MLE is superior to other materials used in "sensitivity training" in the profession, in several respects. It provides "cultural diversity training" rather than "sensitivity" training, which has been shown to be counter-productive in military and paramilitary training, according to two Pentagon Reports. Each edition of MLE has addressed "hot-button" issues and made recommendations that would surely have prevented unnecessary lawsuits if only more officers had been trained with this text. On September 19, 2007, the headline of the Los Angeles Independent read: "Jury Award Stands: An LAFD firefighter will receive $6.2 million after winning a harassment case." - These types of payouts that occur each year are specifically due to the type of ignorance of those who limit their professional portfolio to street survival techniques. We would all be better off if these millions of taxpayer dollars were instead spent putting more officers on the streets, providing more and better training, and offering superior equipment to improve officer and public safety. All law enforcement administrators will realize the liability, and vicarious liability, that comes from not embracing the type of cultural diversity training explained in this easy-to-understand and highly beneficial text.

Criminal Just Instructor and State Police Lieutenant

I will simply say this about this text. This information is a must read for all who entertain the thought of being a police officer, be it city, county, state or federal. This text is crucial as an "additional tool" for officers; educating one's self in multi-cultural diversity is a good thing especially when taking into account the incredibly diverse population in the U.S. (A dozen scenarios of unecessarily escalated contact with police officers come to mind...) I am a Lieutenant with the Indiana State Police and an adjunct criminal justice professor at a local college. My students are all interested in becoming police officers. For the most part they come from small towns in mostly white areas. The benefits of specific awareness/respect of other cultures will only help them should they reach their goal to become officers. The better educated more culturally aware officers are truly the most effective ones. Great investigators know how to relate to all kinds of people. This textbook gives us some insight into the communication barriers and cultural hot buttons as well as general behavioral aspects of others. I consider this topic a fundamental building block for a well rounded police officer. Through awareness and understanding we can perform our jobs better and better serve all of our citizens. (our duty) I think some of the previous reviews of this book must be from officers who are too stubborn to change or too disinterested to study. Most officers mistakenly believe that their skills at marksmanship, hand-to-hand self-defense, pursuit driving skills, physical fitness etc., are the most important attributes of a good police officer. Statististically speaking, officer safety and effectiveness improve dramatically by reversing the order and placing "communication" first in line. This text helps to point out better ways for officers to communicate to the people they are sworn to protect and serve. This improved communication has a residual increased officer safety. "I'd rather talk them into jail than fight all the way there..." My thoughts.

Realistic

Multicultural Law Enforcement by Robert Shusta, et al, provides a realistic and factually-based appraisal of the many social dimensions that today's police officers need to keep in mind when enforcing the law.Those who see this book as biased are unfairly reacting to the author's discussion of realistic scenarios, and are probably seeking to avoid serious consideration of situations that make them uncomfortable. Rather than denying the potential for bias in police work, this book meets such issues head-on, bringing to awareness the need to deal with complicated social issues in today's multicultural world.

Good insight into how police must consider community culture

Authors give insightful ideas on how to police with a variety of different cultures now facing America. The book offers almost a "how-to" for Departments considering a need to implement a more culturally sensitive process for their city. Cultures considered include the obvious African American, Hispanic, Asian, Indian as well as "lifestyle" cultures.