Notebooks

If I needed to take notes at a crime scene I choose a specific type of notebook. The notebook would be slightly smaller than the regular paper size notebook. The reason I would have it smaller would be so I would be easier to carry around. Also because when you take notes at a crime scene they should be short and concise. This would help me make sure that my notes would be short. It is also important to keep your notes neat, organized, and easy to read for when I have to refer back to them. Therefore I believe a lined notebook would be best with space at the top for a title and date. I would want it to have pockets so I would be able to put any papers I need in there. I would also want there to be a place to keep a pen or pencil. This could mean a notebook with a special spot for a pen or a spiral notebook that would be big enough to fit a pen. The pictures below give some idea to what I would want my notebook to look like.

Kindness

The Twitter post about a Chicago police officer and a homeless man was moving. In the news today one will read many bad things about cops. This post however changes the mood. In this article it explains how a Chicago police officer spent his time and money on a homeless man. The article explains that the police officer saw a homeless man digging through the garbage and decides to buy him a meal. After that they shook hands and went their own direction. This is something that almost everyone can do for someone in need, but often times we choose not to. This article shows that there is still good in the world. It is very refreshing to see something noble about police officers after the most recent headlines.

Summary Writing

This past week I have learned many important things that will be useful for summary writing. The first thing that I learned was how to properly introduce a film or documentary into a summary. Before I did not realize that there was a certain method to it. I also did not know that that the director needs to be added when introducing the film or documentary into the summary. The second thing that I learned was that when writing a summary one cannot use opinion words such as fantastic, wonderful, or brilliant. I was completely unaware of this before this week and I know that I have put my opinion into the first draft of my paper. The third thing that I learned when writing a summary is that I cannot use the phrase “we get introduced” instead use the phrase “the film introduces.” During this week I have learned many important facts about summary writing that will be useful to this class and my career in law enforcement.

The Usual Suspect

I watched the film The Usual Suspect for extra credit. At first I thought that it wasn’t going to be that great because it was an older movie, but I was wrong. In the beginning of the movie I was a little bit confused because so much was happening, but once the movie got going the movie was very good. The Usual Suspect was about the police questioning a man, who they had thought was Roger “Verbal” Kint. They were trying to get as much information out of him as possible about what had happened the night on the pier. He told the cops the story about what had happened on the pier and why he and his friends had to attack the men on the pier. He kept a very smooth and calm demeanor until the name Keyser Soze was mentioned. He went on to tell this story about who this terrible man was and how scared everyone was of him including himself. The last twenty minutes was by far the best part of the movie and I won’t ruin the end of the movie for those who haven’t seen it. All and all I would strongly encourage everyone to watch the movie just because of how great the ending was.

After Innocence

I have not seen very many documentaries. Most of the ones  that I have seen have been for a history class. History does not spark my interest so it was hard for me to find many documentaries interesting. However I did watch Blackfish a year ago and it changed my mind about them. I found Blackfish to be very interesting and saddening. Overall my view on documentaries has not been very good, but there is a select few that will spark my interest.

One key way that documentaries can help a writer is because it gives the writer a different perspective. Documentaries tend to show a view that is not common to most people and it tends to open the viewers eyes about things that are happening in our world. Another key way that documentaries can help a writer is because documentaries are full of important information that can be used to have a strong paper.

I watched the documentary After Innocence. It was a full of useful information that I can use later in my job in the criminal justice field. It was very moving and taught me many things. It showed me that just because an eye witness can seem to be 100% positive that the suspect in question committed the crime doesn’t mean that the suspect actually committed the crime. I found this documentary to be very sad because in some of the cases some of the legal teams realized that one of the prisoners were guilty, but the process to release them seemed to be so slow. One would think that the process would be fast, but this is not the case. I also found it very sad that some of them still had their record even though they were exonerated. Also the wrongfully imprisoned seemed to struggle so much once they were released. I felt so bad for them because so much of their life was wasted in prison and then they get out and then they continued to struggle with things.

This documentary will help me as a writer because showed me that there are different sides to every story and I just need to take the time to listen. Too many times I just want to hear the part of the story that I think is right without hearing the other side. I think this is one reason why some of the people were wrongfully imprisoned. I know that now things are different with DNA and how it can be used now and is more effective and that eye witness accounts are now known to be inaccurate, but it is always good to keep in mind that some people are truly innocent and to make sure all the right steps are taken before imprisoning someone.

Memory

          Memory is a very important tool in the law enforcement field. One of the points that the article made was that memory is not always accurate. It can change the way one remembers something. That is one reason why it is important to take notes when investigating a crime scene because one could think that he or she will remember everything, but in fact he or she can forget vital details that could lead to a conviction. Another reason why memory is important, but can be tricky in the law enforcement field is because if two people witness a crime occur they could disagree with how the offender looks. This can lead to the police officer to be unable to catch the offender because the witnesses did not agree with how the offender looked. This has occurred many times. Even though there are many things about memory that can be tricky, in the TED talks video it explained how it can be easier to retain more in one’s memory. He was saying that it is easier to remember things when you associate something that you will remember with it. This can help many people and maybe even help law enforcement officers remembering the order that a crime occurred.