Final Diagnosis......

Introduction
In the bog below I hope to shed light on what this wonderful class has given me. I want to be able to properly and completely explain how this class has helped me better myself in my writing areas that I struggle in, while also allowing me to grow further through certain assignments and activities. These activities ranged from a documentary project to a weekly blog to book work and then to mock trials. These all had their strengths and weaknesses, but were helpful all in their own way and that is what matters. In the blog below I will elaborate further on my semester in Writing in the Disciplines.

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How has this class been helpful to me? This class has been helpful for a number of reasons and has greatly impacted my overall learning. The ways I think this class was useful was that it helped me identify my issue with procrastination, it helped me re-learn how to approach writing assignments that require me to write more concisely, and then how papers can change entirely when verb tense is changed. These changes were especially helpful and I am happy to identify them as what the class did to improve my writing process because they are necessary to create good writing and, specifically to the class, a good report. I have written numerous papers at different levels for my entire life and each time I advanced a grade level I found new ways to make myself a better writer, but have always struggled in three particular areas, which included procrastination, writing concisely, and knowing when to change verb tense and how to properly use it. I normally tend to hold of on doing the assignments I need to do and then when I sit down to do it I have little time to finish it and tend to rush sometimes. I usually still create great work, but the stress and time crunch that accompanies procrastination is not worth it. As I was doing the documentary project procrastination was a common issue and affected my first couple drafts, especially my first one, due to the fact that I was stressed and rushing to finish it efficiently and completely. Now, another issue I have always had is writing concisely and this is a part of the procrastination issue that I have. I am rushed when I procrastinate and so do not focus on my writing and end up repeating myself and writing with details that are not necessary. This was apparent in my documentary project as well in my first draft. My first draft was very very long and had many details that were not important to telling the main story line and I could not fix this until I recognized the issue. So, once the issue was brought to my attention I was able to condense my documentary project to its proper mandated length in later drafts. Finally, verb tense was not something I normally acknowledged in my writing, but after learning the importance of it in my documentary project and in police reports I was writing through book activities I was able to see how important it actually is. For instance we have found that in a report you must write in past-tense because you are describing events that already happened, so present tense would not be appropriate and would not create a product that was desired. The above are things this class has allowed me to learn about myself and improve for the future.
What would I like to see done in class this semester still and in future classes? Now, in regard to what I think we should still do in the class, I think we should discuss how to be sure to properly organize and write correct grammar in my police reports. I feel like this will allow me to display myself as both more professional and respectable in my future law enforcement profession. Then, I would also like to do some reaction reports. To better explain what I mean by reaction reports. I would like to watch a traffic stop or D.U.I. incident in law enforcement by myself or in a group and then react to what I saw in the video with the notes I have and write a report. So, a class dedicated to this would have to be dedicated to watching the video for half of the time and then to writing the report for the other half. I think this would appropriately finish our class strong and allow us more experiences. The semester is ending quickly though so I think if anything these suggestions for what should be done still in this semester should be taken and possibly used in future classes. I think it would only enhance the overall experience of this class.

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Now, what did I think we should have done more and less? Further, as far as what I think of the many things we did in class, I think that certain things we should have done more of and other things we should have done less. In regard to what we should do less, I feel that we should do less blogs related to the text, which we cover with the quizzes and the exercises in the book, and more related to current events in law enforcement or documents in law enforcement. Also, I feel that more class time would be very helpful. I feel that with the Friday blogs, where there is no class, and all of the canceled class that we had we had a lot less class time then I would have liked to have. This extra time could have allowed for us to do a reaction report, which I explained earlier, or even did more with mock interviews. Then, as far as what I want to do more of, I feel that the summary documentary project and the mock interviews were great. I think we spent a lot of time on our summary project and I think it was a good thing because it allowed us to be reintroduced to how to write concisely and how to get to the point like one should in a report. Then, I was disappointed we didn't do more with the mock interviews because they were so fun. I think more time should be spent on them and possibly a class project or competition should be created in the future to do more with it. Then, I think we should have a blog or a written assignment related to this , so that we can really get into it. Now, on top of having more future classes revolving around the documentary project and the mock interviews, I also think that more guest speakers would be very beneficial to the class as well. We have not had any in the class this semester and that was really disappointing. I think a police officer, a lawyer, or even an investigator would give us very helpful information in regard to what a future profession in law enforcement is all about and then specifically what reports need to look like and have within them.
Thoughts on rhetorical knowledge and critical thinking skills gained in class: I think during this semester I have done very well in allowing myself to grasp the information necessary to properly gain theses two critical skills as the class had intended. The documentary project forced me to think critically in order to defeat my writing problem associated with an inability to write concisely enough at the beginning of a draft. I was able to learn how to write concisely and to the point, which I need to do when I write reports in the future. The mock interviews, the blogs, and the book exercises also allowed me to think critically because they forced me to apply what I was learning on paper and in practice with the interviews. I was able to gain practice here from writing reports to blogging about current events and reactions to my evolution as a writer and then from reaction based activities in the mock interviews where I can learn on my feet how something like this goes. Now, in regard to rhetorical skills that I have gained, these assignments and exercises have built up my rhetorical skills as a whole by building my logos, pathos, and ethos on the subject of writing reports and other documents in law enforcement. The logic I have gained through my experience allows me to feel more comfortable in completing reports and other things associated with them. Then, my ethos, or credibility, has also been heightened due to my experience in the class as well. I know how to write reports to a better degree through more concise writing, gained through the documentary project, and by obtaining the knowledge to complete the necessary steps to complete a report through exercises and practice inside and outside of class. Finally, my ethos, or my emotion, was tested by learning that I must keep my emotion and opinion out of my reports because they do not belong there. Only fact belongs in my reports. So, all in all, I think through my experiences in the class this year I have advanced further with these two critical skills that our professor wanted us to learn.

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Conclusion With the above being said, I think this class was great. I was able to learn about my writing weaknesses and then had experiences that helped me correct them. Then, I was able to enjoy many projects and exercises that made the class both beneficial and enjoyable to me. Finally, I encountered things in class I also did not like as well and grew from them regardless. This speaks to what this class brings to the table.

Rough Draft for the Final Reflection

Introduction
In the bog below I hope to shed light on what this wonderful class has given me. I want to be able to properly and completely explain how this class has helped me better myself in my writing areas that I struggle in, while also allowing me to grow further through certain assignments and activities. These activities ranged from a documentary project to a weekly blog to book work and then to mock trials. These all had their strengths and weaknesses, but were helpful all in their own way and that is what matters. In the blog below I will elaborate further on my semester in Writing in the Disciplines.

Image Source

How has this class been helpful to me? This class has been helpful for a number of reasons and has greatly impacted my overall learning. The ways I think this class was useful was that it helped me identify my issue with procrastination, it helped me re-learn how to approach writing assignments that require me to write more concisely, and then how papers can change entirely when verb tense is changed. These changes were especially helpful and I am happy to identify them as what the class did to improve my writing process because they are necessary to create good writing and, specifically to the class, a good report. I have written numerous papers at different levels for my entire life and each time I advanced a grade level I found new ways to make myself a better writer, but have always struggled in three particular areas, which included procrastination, writing concisely, and knowing when to change verb tense and how to properly use it. I normally tend to hold of on doing the assignments I need to do and then when I sit down to do it I have little time to finish it and tend to rush sometimes. I usually still create great work, but the stress and time crunch that accompanies procrastination is not worth it. As I was doing the documentary project procrastination was a common issue and affected my first couple drafts, especially my first one, due to the fact that I was stressed and rushing to finish it efficiently and completely. Now, another issue I have always had is writing concisely and this is a part of the procrastination issue that I have. I am rushed when I procrastinate and so do not focus on my writing and end up repeating myself and writing with details that are not necessary. This was apparent in my documentary project as well in my first draft. My first draft was very very long and had many details that were not important to telling the main story line and I could not fix this until I recognized the issue. So, once the issue was brought to my attention I was able to condense my documentary project to its proper mandated length in later drafts. Finally, verb tense was not something I normally acknowledged in my writing, but after learning the importance of it in my documentary project and in police reports I was writing through book activities I was able to see how important it actually is. For instance we have found that in a report you must write in past-tense because you are describing events that already happened, so present tense would not be appropriate and would not create a product that was desired. The above are things this class has allowed me to learn about myself and improve for the future.
What would I like to see done in class this semester still and in future classes? Now, in regard to what I think we should still do in the class, I think we should discuss how to be sure to properly organize and write correct grammar in my police reports. I feel like this will allow me to display myself as both more professional and respectable in my future law enforcement profession. Then, I would also like to do some reaction reports. To better explain what I mean by reaction reports. I would like to watch a traffic stop or D.U.I. incident in law enforcement by myself or in a group and then react to what I saw in the video with the notes I have and write a report. So, a class dedicated to this would have to be dedicated to watching the video for half of the time and then to writing the report for the other half. I think this would appropriately finish our class strong and allow us more experiences. The semester is ending quickly though so I think if anything these suggestions for what should be done still in this semester should be taken and possibly used in future classes. I think it would only enhance the overall experience of this class.

Image Source

Now, what did I think we should have done more and less? Further, as far as what I think of the many things we did in class, I think that certain things we should have done more of and other things we should have done less. In regard to what we should do less, I feel that we should do less blogs related to the text, which we cover with the quizzes and the exercises in the book, and more related to current events in law enforcement or documents in law enforcement. Also, I feel that more class time would be very helpful. I feel that with the Friday blogs, where there is no class, and all of the canceled class that we had we had a lot less class time then I would have liked to have. This extra time could have allowed for us to do a reaction report, which I explained earlier, or even did more with mock interviews. Then, as far as what I want to do more of, I feel that the summary documentary project and the mock interviews were great. I think we spent a lot of time on our summary project and I think it was a good thing because it allowed us to be reintroduced to how to write concisely and how to get to the point like one should in a report. Then, I was disappointed we didn't do more with the mock interviews because they were so fun. I think more time should be spent on them and possibly a class project or competition should be created in the future to do more with it. Then, I think we should have a blog or a written assignment related to this , so that we can really get into it. Now, on top of having more future classes revolving around the documentary project and the mock interviews, I also think that more guest speakers would be very beneficial to the class as well. We have not had any in the class this semester and that was really disappointing. I think a police officer, a lawyer, or even an investigator would give us very helpful information in regard to what a future profession in law enforcement is all about and then specifically what reports need to look like and have within them.

Image Source

Conclusion With the above being said, I think this class was great. I was able to learn about my writing weaknesses and then had experiences that helped me correct them. Then, I was able to enjoy many projects and exercises that made the class both beneficial and enjoyable to me. Finally, I encountered things in class I also did not like as well and grew from them regardless. This speaks to what this class brings to the table.

Reaction to video

I recently watched a video that really gave me an interesting view of yet another situation in law enforcement that you cannot predict. I watched the video in the non-fiction section that had to do with a police officer pulling over a van for speeding. The events that followed left me with both positive and negative feelings for both parties involved. I will elaborate on this below.

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The video I watched started off with a singular police officer pulling over a van that had a mother and her kids inside. The officer approached the vehicle, informed her of what is going on, and then went back to his car to begin the next part of the traffic stop. The van then drove away though and the officer then pulled them over again. He was not happy and attempted to immediately remove the mother, the driver from the vehicle, but she resisted. He eventually got her to walk to the back of the car, but she would not cooperate. Her son, only a teenager, then exited the vehicle to hep his mother and actually physically engaged the officer. The officer threatened him with a taser and he retreated back into the car. The family was back in the car when backup arrived. They ordered them out, but they drove away again. One officer then opened fire on the vehicle that had children in it. A chase then occurred until the mother gave up. The mother and son were both arrested and charged.

Now, with the above said, this video has a lot going on in it. In regards to the women herself, I think she acted completely out of line. The way she acted toward the police even gave her son the wrong impression, which related to the point that it is okay to not listen and fight against the police. So, now her son was arrested with her. That is ridiculous. I thought the officer's actions were fine, which included the window when they would not open the door, threatening the women's son with a taser, and removing the mother from the car for driving away from him. The only thing I thought the police did wrong here was that one of the officers shot at the van, which contained defenseless children. That officer should know that this can not happen because it puts the children in harms way due to the hazardous decisions made by others.

So, all in all, this very short video had a lot going on in it and a lot can be said about. I feel that law enforcement did some good things and some bad things in a situation that went from simple to crazy very quickly.

Chapter 8: Exercises 3 and 4

The purpose of my blog today is to complete the exercises we were instructed to do from chapter 8 of our textbook. In the blog below I will complete this and in the end an example of a warrant will be produced.

Exercise 3: The first exercise required us to write an introduction for our warrant and affidavit. Exercise 4 also asks us to use this when constructing our search warrant.

I am currently a member of the California Bureau of Investigations and have enjoyed employment there for the last ten years. For the past ten years I have been responsible for any and all criminal activity in the El Fuego area. This can range from gang activity investigation to domestic issues and even other criminal acts like illegal forms of betting. I am a graduate of Lewis University with a Bachelor degree in Psychology and a Bachelor degree in Criminal Justice, where I received the schooling necessary to understand criminals, what is expected of me, and the law in order to appropriately act when the situation calls for me to. After this I was a graduate of the El Fuego Police Academy where I was schooled even more thoroughly into what it took to be a policeman from traffic stops to rapid deployment situations and beyond. I immediately joined the El Fuego police department for five years and then applied for the California Bureau of Investigations and became an investigator. I am responsible for over 200 arrests in my five years with the El Fuego police department and then more than 300 or so successful investigations while with the California Bureau of Investigations. These investigations included illegal betting, gang activity, and drug trafficking for the most part.

Exercise 4: The following will be a complete search warrant with the above introduction.

State of California-County of El Fuego

Search Warrant and Affidavit

John Trendl, swears under oath that the facts expressed by him/her in the attached and incorporated statement of probable cause are true and that based thereon he/she has probable cause to believe and does believe that the property described below is lawfully seizable pursuant to Penal Code 1524, as indicated below, and is now located at the locations set forth below. Wherefore, affiant requests that this Search Warrant be issued.

John Trendl, NIGHT SEARCH REQUESTED: YES ( )  NO (x)

THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA TO ANY SHERIFF, POLICEMAN, INVESTIGATOR, OR PEACE OFFICER IN THE COUNTY OF EL FUEGO: proof by affidavit having been made before me by John Trendl, that there is probable cause to believe that the property described herein may be found at the locations set forth herein and that it is lawfully seizable pursuant to Penal Code Section 1524 as indicated below by "x" (s) in that it:

      was stolen or embezzled 

x      was used as the means of committing a felony 

x       is possessed by a person with the intent to use it as means of committing a public offense or is possessed by another whom he or she may have delivered for the purpose of concealing it or preventing its discovery

      tends to show that a felony has been committed or that a felony has been committed or that a particular person has committed a felony tends to show that sexual exploitation of a child, in violation of Penal Code Section 311.3 has occurred or is occurring.

YOU ARE THEREFORE COMMANDED TO SEARCH:

1. Pacific Telephone Company, 1010 N. Wilshire Blvd., Room #621, Los Angeles, California 
2. Do Drop In Bar, 1631 lager Road, El Fuego

FOR THE FOLLOWING PROPERTY:

1. Anything related to the horse race and book making for bets in accordance to the fifth race involving the horse I'm Not Glue along with any reference to a man named Steve Sober and or a man named Billy Biglunch with a placed bet of one hundred dollars on said horse in their name.
2. Any identifiers for the owner of the building and or the occupier of room #621 where the call was placed to. This includes any identifying papers, ownership papers, phone numbers, and money and bank transactions alike.
3. Fingerprints belonging to Steve Sober on the phone in the bar that he placed the bet on.
4. Any security footage that shows Steve Sober and Billy Biglunch talking when this occurred at the bar to show that they were indeed there.

AND TO SEIZE IT IF FOUND and bring it forthwith before me, or this court, at the courthouse of this court. This Search warrant and incorporated Affidavit was sworn to as true and subscribed before me this 7th day of  April, 2016, at, 11:24 P.M. Wherefore, I find probable cause for the issuance if this Search Warrant and do issue it.

Francis Parker  , NIGHT SEARCH APPROVED: YES( )   NO( )

Judge of the Superior Court,             El Fuego              Judicial District

STATEMENT OF PROBABLE CAUSE:

I, John Trendl, am currently a member of the California Bureau of Investigations and have enjoyed employment there for the last ten years. For the past ten years I have been responsible for any and all criminal activity in the El Fuego area. This can range from gang activity investigation to domestic issues and even other criminal acts like illegal forms of betting. I am a graduate of Lewis University with a Bachelor degree in Psychology and a Bachelor degree in Criminal Justice, where I received the schooling necessary to understand criminals, what is expected of me, and the law in order to appropriately act when the situation calls for me to. After this I was a graduate of the El Fuego Police Academy where I was schooled even more thoroughly into what it took to be a policeman from traffic stops to rapid deployment situations and beyond. I immediately joined the El Fuego Police Department for five years and then applied for the California Bureau of Investigations and became an investigator. I am responsible for over 200 arrests in my five years with the El Fuego Police Department and then more than 300 or so successful investigations while with the California Bureau of Investigations. These investigations included illegal betting, gang activity, and drug trafficking for the most part.

On April 7th, 2016 at approximately 2324 hours I resumed my assignment that included investigating any and all criminal violations that occurred at the Do Drop In Bar, 1631 Lager Road, El Fuego. I was undercover there when I witnessed one of the regulars, Billy Biglunch, talking with the owner, Steven Sober, about betting on horses.

Suddenly, I overheard Biglunch tell Sober that he had insider information that stated that a horse named I'm Not Glue was in good position to win the fifth race.  Sober responded that he wanted to be one hundred dollars on the horse to win.

Later, after Sober and Biglunch finished talking, Sober approached the phone on the wall at the east end of the bar. I could see him easily as I was sitting only about three feet from him. I saw him dial the number 1-213-555-9361 and bet one hundred dollars on I'm Not Glue to win the race. He told Biglunch he had done so with his bookie and that they were set.

I then proceeded to leave the bar and returned to my office. I found that the service for the phone number 1-213-555-9361 is given by Pacific Telephone Company, 1010 N. Wilshire Blvd., Room #621, Los Angeles, California. The number was also non-published.

Based on my experience at the bar, the skills I have acquired over the years, and information from the affidavit I believe that there is evidence of illegal betting at the Pacific Telephone Company business residence and in Sober's bar where I believe evidence of this illegal bet could exist and other bets of this kind could have also occurred. So, I am seeking approval to search these places.

            John Trendl             Date 4/7/16

            Francis Parker          Date 4/7/16


Source: Biggs, Michael. 'Writing Search Warrants". Just the Facts: Investigative Report Writing. ed. Andrew Gilfillan, Gary Bauer, Lynda Cramer, and Bryan Pirrmann. 5th ed. Pearson Education, 2016. 110-124. Print.

 

My thoughts on our mock interviews

In class on Friday we were able to experience some excellent examples in regard to how interviews can be conducted and were able to see what methods worked and what strategies were used. The fact that different strategies and methods were used made the interviews even better overall. This is due to the fact that we were able to see how one could approach an interview in different ways. Not everything about them were perfect though as nothing is. So, in the post below I will elaborate on the two interviews further.

I was involved in the first interview with my fellow classmate Nick as interviewees and I think we did a good job. We were able to take strategy and apply it to our interview, which we initiated with a two interviewer dynamic that I thought would be effective in throwing off our suspect. Our group, including Victoria and Rubi, created a great least of questions that was intended to build up our conversation and create an avenue for our suspect to follow, so that we could get the answers we were looking for. We tried to break the ice in the beginning and introduced ourselves and asked our suspect if she had ever been interviewed before. We did this because we wanted to build a little bit of rapport with her, so that once we began to ask her the questions that were crucial to our investigation she would be able to trust us when answering. Following this, we asked the questions necessary for our investigation and built up our questioning so that when we preformed our secret strategy it would be useful. This strategy is one that was mentioned in one of the readings we have on our blog space and it refers to how investigators attempted to elicit answers they wanted during a interview and or interrogation. Once our above method came together I think we did a good job at getting our suspect to say the things we wanted and preform the interview the way we wanted to. A thing we could improve on is the fact that we need to be looking for the truth and not just a confession, which may have not occurred in our interview if it was real. So, I thought our performance was good for the above reasons.

Moving on, there was one more interview done following ours and it was done by Kayley. She interviewed her suspect by herself with the questions her group had prepared. I thought she did a great job at building rapport when she asked for her suspects name and how she became manager and so on. I also thought she did a good job at asking more and more aggressive and fact based questions as the interview went. She also did well at restating answers so that she is documenting what they are saying  and that they know she is hearing what they are saying. So, she does this for both herself and her suspect. I thought the only issue with her interview was that I felt that she was getting a little bit to aggressive and loud at times when asking her questions. I think this could hurt the rapport you have already established with your suspect that you are interviewing. All in all, I thought this interview was done very well.

Further, I think this experience will be helpful in my future job. I think this because it has allowed me to have the experience of conducting an interview and then allowed me to practice using strategies to help my interview be successful. I think this experience will help me be more educated in regards to what you should look for and then what you can do to make your interview successful. 

To conclude, this experience was great and I think that future classes should do these mock interviews because they were fun and something I found useful for my future professional life. 

Thoughts regarding chapter 6 in the textbook

While reading chapter six in the textbook, Just the Facts: Investigative Report Writing, a couple of key concepts came up that I would like to explore further. These include the mentioning of the limiting of unsupported opinion after it explains the importance of writing a report to the proper length that the facts of the case creates, explaining why the five senses are something that anyone would be thinking about when doing a report, and then what the pros and cons are of the fill-in-the-blanks and report formats. These three things are interesting, but inhibit my full understanding of report writing. In order to be properly prepared to a write a report I would like to discuss these things further.I will briefly discuss why below.

I do not like that the limiting of unsupported opinion is mentioned in here. In what I have experienced in regard to report writing I have been told to leave opinion out of it. This includes all things opinion related. The report is to be fact based and last as long, as I mentioned above that the book touches on, as the facts of a case may warrant. Further, I do not think the mentioning of the five senses is needed in this chapter. An investigator and police officers together know that they must take in the entirety of a scene in order to fully understand what it entailed and then allow oneself to document it in a report effectively. I do not think people need to be reminded to use their sight or their smell, among the other senses, to describe a scene. I think they already know perfectly well that these will be required. Finally, I think it would be helpful to discuss what everyone likes and dislikes about the different report formats. I think it would allow us to understand them better and then allow for us to be prepared to write each one to the fullest extent.

To conclude, I enjoyed chapter 6 and I think it was beneficial to learning about the report writing aspect of law enforcement  to a fuller extent in the form of arrest reports.

The impact of ones appearance

After reading A Black Man Wore Different Kinds Of Clothing To See If People Treated Him Differently I have many different feelings and reactions about it. These feelings and reactions are in response to how the individual, Pedro, in the story felt when he changed his cloths and how different clothing choices affected others so strongly. With that being said, I will elaborate further in the paper below.

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This article honestly made me sad and a little embarrassed as a human being. I mean after all we have been through in regard to our history must we still succumb to these stereotypical views and reactions? It seems as though we must with all of the evidence Pedro was able to gain on the subject as support for such a statement. The common theme for each of Pedro's days were simple. He would structure his days in two parts, which included dressing up first and then dressing down second. He would visit select places, in both attire, and compare the experiences. Pedro had favorable experiences when dressing up. but very negative ones when dressing down. These negatives I am referencing came in all sizes, but were all equally unacceptable in my opinion. Pedro would get extended greetings, more respect, less stereotypical action taken against him, and in fact experience equal and appropriate treatment when dressed up. In the same situations he would not get the door held open for him, be seated at the front of the restaurant, be given a break, right away, when coming up short with bus fair, or have the respectful and carefree conversations all people, despite appearances, should be able to have. The whole thing just upset me. I mean what are other factors that went in to this? I can be sure in saying anything, but race and dress seem to be the biggest factors. Are there other things? I am sure, but clearly the above mentioned are central and I think that is ridiculous. Pedro was just dressing comfortably in sweats and a sweatshirt most of the time. That does not make him a thug or criminal or something, but it seems our society has become blinded by expectations given to us by our media and outdated opinion. In my opinion it is awful and I hope it one day gets better.

Further, I think it is important to mention how Pedro felt while dressing up for this experiment. This experience gave him an influx of emotions it seemed. He felt confident and good when dressing up, but no himself. Then, on the other hand, when he was dressing down he seemed to have to prepare himself for the aggression and anger he would get for being himself and that is ridiculous in my opinion. He could not feel completely comfortable in his attire it seemed and that hurt me to see. So, beyond the results, we see how a person can feel going through a difficult experience like this.

To conclude, I think Pedro's experiment was very successful because it showed the awful present situation our society finds itself in. It seems we have become predisposed to negatively view African American males by their look and dress and that is not right. The feelings Pedro has about the experiment,a s it was happening, in reaction to the experiences he was happening dressing up and dressing down all but confirm that I think.

Visual Cues In People: What do they mean?

After watching the second episode of Making a Murderer I feel there are four characters that stood out to me in regard to the interviews they gave. I thought the visual cues they exuded were very telling in explaining how they were really feeling regarding the investigation into Avery's case and what actually happened. These people included Chief Deputy Eugene Kusche, District Attorney Mark Rohrer, Sargent Andrew Colborn, and Deputy Judy Dvorak. I feel like these individuals, who were front and center when talking about the Avery case that landed him unjustly in jail for eighteen years, through their posture, gestures, facial expressions and more allow us to see how visual cues can be telling when explaining what the individual is truly thinking and or feeling regarding the subject of interest or Avery in this case. In the post below I will elaborate further on what cues were given away by these individuals that caught my attention.

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To begin, Chief Deputy Eugene Kusche was involved with sketching the photo from the description Penny Beerntsen gave him regarding her attacker. Kusche was questioned about whether he had truly drawn the sketch from the description or used an earlier mugshot of Avery in an attempt to help convict him. I would describe him as very stand offish and very unemotional or driven by the conversation. Simply, it did not seem like he cared very much. This was exemplified by his lack of emotion when he answered question and then when he actually rolled his eyes at the questioner. He was so un-enthused and un-interested in the task at hand he was upset that he was being asked certain questions. This shows to me how he was an uninterested, self praising, and disrespectful human being who couldn't even care enough when the case he was being questioned about resulted in an injustice of the imprisonment of an individual for eighteen years for a crime he did not commit.

Further, District Attorney Mark Rohrer was noticeably disgruntled during his interview. He looked nervous when he was answering questions. This was defined by his face getting red, his slow responses, the way he was sweating, and how he was fidgeting with his hands. He could not remain still and the amount of color change in his face and the sweat involved paint a picture describing a man that feels guilty to me.

Moving on, Sergeant Andrew Colborn was the officer that received the call regarding Gregory Allen's recent arrest in Brown County and his confession that he had committed a assault in Avery's to and that the wrong man was arrested for it. The issue here was it seemed that the issue was not documented for eight years following it, so he was questioned about what he knew on the subject. The biggest thing I noticed with Colborn was that he was sitting very drawn into himself with his hands very close to his body. This to me shows that he is nervous. He was very wide eyed and trying to be as still as possible I thought. So, I feel like his stiffness and his wide eyed state explicate a person who is nervous and may be feeling that they are in the wrong in accordance to this case. He looked guilty from the start and the stiffness to me just shows someone trying to hard to hide their true feelings, which I feel are explicated through his wide eyes and nervous aura.

Finally, Deputy Judy Dvorak was also interviewed about the case. I really disliked how she was consistently answering the questions. She seemed to constantly answer the questions with large pauses and even tried to say that since it was a long time ago the information they say happened in evidence presented may not have been discussed the way it is being described. So, she was using the gap between the events and the questioning to help protect herself from her younger self and, on top of that, she did not seem to know the answers to the questions very quickly. She took very long for each question and I think this is an indication of someone trying to lye possibly. Overall, it was her deflective persona and lack of fluid question answering that I feel made her suspicious in regard to her questioning.

To conclude, I understand that there was many years that had passed between the event in question, Avery's unjust arrest and imprisonment, and questioning that occurred. So, this could explain the nervousness and the lack of fluid question answering. Yet, I feel that since this is a big case, in-regard to the injustice it created, the people being interviewed would remember their parts in the situation. So, I feel that the standoffish attitudes, unemotional responses, red faces, sweaty foreheads, fidgety hands, stiffness, wide eyed looks, lack of fluid question answering, and deflection tactics are more a result of lying and deceit that the individuals being interviewed feel are necessary to defend themselves.

Making a Murderer episode two: What scenes caught my attention?

In class on Monday we viewed episode two of the series Making a Murderer and twos scenes really caught my attention. These scenes revolved around the way certain individuals were acting when interviewed about Steven Avery's case and how Avery reacted to facing his accuser. These scenes, for me, allowed you to see both sides of the coin and the true individual personality that exists. With Avery, you see a person who lost everything, but sees the light and has the ability to forgive the one who is partially responsible for the lose of his freedom. With investigators who took away Avery's freedom, I see people who are shaky, nervous, do not make any sense, and display signs of a person who is lying. My feelings on these scenes will be discussed further below.

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To begin, I think in the show when Avery was talking about his accuser, Penny Beerntsen, we see a mature indidivual who was on the other side of a horrible situation accept it and not blame the one that was hurt just as bad. Avery knew she was not the entire reason he was found guilty for something he did not do and he took the high road with someone who had already been through enough as it is. I say this because when Beerntsen came to apologize to him they shared a tight embrace and Avery said it was okay and that it was over. This is the closure a situation like this needs in order for people to get past it. I was very happy to see this in the episode.

Moving on, there were several interviews that upset me in this episode that involved people responsible for the investigation against Avery and the things related to the case beyond it. These interviews included Chief Deputy Eugene Kusche, Mark Rohrer, Sargent Andrew Colborn, and Deputy Judy Dvorak. They each displayed to me signs of deception that I did not appreciate. They werer answering questions about things that had happened in the past, so I understand that they might not remember a lot, but the time it took them to answer questions, the way certain people fidgeted, like Mark Rohrer and Judy Dvorak, it made me feel like they were hiding something. Then, the way inofrmation failed to pass along correctly and how it seems the use of evidence was misused, in relation to Andrew Colborn with the phone call about Gregory Allen in 1995 and the sketch with Chief Deputy Eugene Kusche, I feel that Avery was set up to fail and stay in jail for a much longer time then he needed to and that makes me sick. Once again I feel we see an instance in law enforcement where I think the conviction rate was seen as more important then attaining justice.

With the above being said, these were the instances in episode two of Making a Murderer that made the most impact on me.  

My strengths and weaknesses in my writing

My writing is not perfect and is in need of a thorough examination in order to discover what my weaknesses and strengths are. Some of the things that I want to work on include procrastination, grammar, and paper organization. These three weaknesses really hinder my writing. They affect my writing process, my end result, and the way my content is heard and displayed. When these things are not done to the degree necessary for successful writing a well-done writing product becomes impossible. Some strengths that I have include being thorough and very detailed. I tend to write very detailed papers that are full of information, but this strength turns in to another weakness as well. This is the weakness of redundancy. I tend to write so much that I bring up things I have already talked about and, while I think this is important, I do not need to do it as much as I do because it makes my writing wordy. This wordiness makes clarity in my paper difficult to achieve.

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With the above being said, my writing needs a lot of work. My biggest fear in my writing though, out of those that were mentioned, is the redundancy and over detailed writing I produce sometimes when I do not pay attention to all of the content I am producing. I have to realize that I can delete stuff and that just because my papers are long it does not make them good.

So, I would like to work on clarifying, structuring, and simplifying my future writings so that they are better from the start and do not require as much work to alter them in future drafts.

Tools for Proper Note-taking

Today I am going to write on the subject of field note-taking in law enforcement. One of the most important tools in effective note-taking we discussed in class through information presented to us in our book, Just the Facts: Investigative Report Writing by Michael Biggs, is picking the right notebook that is best for you. We learned that there is no notebook that is above all others and has to be used, but rather that the only thing that matters is that you, as the officer, must be comfortable with the notebook you choose.

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With that being said,  I looked up three different types of notebooks that can be used in law enforcement to take notes in the field. The first two included the LawTech extra large note-pad, and the LawTech normal size note-pad. The only difference between these two notebooks are the sizes. The extra large notepad is 4 1/2'' by 8 1/2'', while the normal size can be bought at 2 3/4'' by 4 1/2'' or 4'' by 6''. So, the extra large one is much bigger than the normal size one that can be bought at much smaller sizes. Now, the notebooks both include a crime broadcast checklist, note-taking/report writing checklist, and a Miranda advertisement. Yet, the extra large LawTech notebook has 120 pages to the 64 or 92 pages that the normal size LawTech versions have and the extra large LawTech has a spiral binding on the top as opposed to the normal size versions that seem to not. So, these two versions, while very similar, have different features that make each interesting and likable in their own ways.

Now, the third notebook I found is called the police field interview notebook. It's size is similar to the normal size version of the LawTech at 4'' by 8'', it has 70 pages, it has an extra large cover that allows for writing while the individual is standing up, and it has plenty of space to take down facts about many different issues. So, this notebook is great as well. It allows you to have plenty of space, pages, and surfaces to take down good notes, which is crucial to law enforcement if you want to get to the bottom of any case.

Now, with these three notebooks or notepads being described, I would choose the normal size 4'' by 6'' LawTech notebook. I would choose this because I feel like it is the perfect size and the other two are too big. I feel like it is important to be able to slip your notebook in your pocket easily and quickly if you need to take action. Then, I think the features it comes with, highlighted by the Miranda advertisement, are invaluable and would be very helpful to have as reminders in the field. The police field interview notebook has a lot of great features too, headlined by the thick cover that allows you to take notes while standing up, but the features mentioned earlier that the LawTech has are unique and give you an excellent resource in the field that the police field interview notebook does not.

Exercise 13 from Chapter Two

The following post is my answer to exercise 13 in our textbook, Just The Facts: Investigative Report Writing by Michael Biggs, where we were asked to rewrite a report using the rules of narrative writing.

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On 7-25-15, at approximately 1230 hours, I received a radio call to meet the reporting party, Katherine Tunney, at the address 1647 Rancho, El Fuego. Katherine Tunney lives at home with her parents, Carol and Gary Tunney.

I then made contact with Katherine Tunney, date of birth: 9-16-89, who stated that at around 1215 hours she was getting ready to leave her residence when she observed a white Toyota van wagon stopped in front of her residence facing westbound on the opposite side of the street. What brought her attention to the vehicle was the fact that the driver was turned in his seat taking pictures of her house. Katherine Tunney said that the vehicle was stopped in the middle of the street and not on the complete opposite side.

Katherine Tunney said that she thought this was suspicious and remembered that her mother, Carol Tunney, date of birth: 1-21-66, was approached by a suspicious person back in April.

Katherine Tunney tried to make contact with the individual. When she approached the vehicle the individual immediately rolled up his driver side window and drove away. Katherine Tunney said she was able to get the license plate number on the van when it slowed down. So, I then asked Katherine for the license plate number and she said it was 836L92F.

Then, a radio call was initiated on the license plate and it came back to a 2004 Toyota Wagon, registered to Bond, Stephen D. , at 3381 El Balzo, El Fuego. Katherine Tunney describes the male subject involved to be a white male, with graying hair.

When talking to Carol Tunney, she said she filed a report with the police department back in April. She was in front of her garage re-potting a plant when a male individual came up to her and asked her what her name was. Carol Tunney said that she did not give him her name and then proceeded to ask what his name was. He declined to respond.

Carol Tunney said the individual left in a car that had a personalized plate of ISPYONU. Then, the information belonging to the vehicle was run. It came back to a 2008 SAAB registered to Toomey, Richard, 36 Paseo De Bonito, El Rancho.

I told Carol Tunney and Katherine Tunney that at this time no crime has occurred. At this time, no contact has been made with Bond or Tunney and information has been passed on to the investigation division.

Nothing further to report.

My biggest challenge

The time has finally come to for our class to be done with our documentary summary projects. I have to tell you that it was not easy at all. This project really challenged me as a writer in a multitude of ways, but the biggest challenge I faced was definitely learning how to maintain the information I needed while meeting the length requirement of five pages.

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The presence of a problem in meeting the length requirements of my writing is not a new issue for me in the slightest unfortunately. In my academic career I have always written more then the assignment required. I always found that when I was writing that I had more to say and so I wrote. This style of writing was allowed by some teachers and professors alike, but also rejected by some as well. I think the bigger issue of the two would be the professors and teachers I had that did not care about myself exceeding the length requirements that were set for the assignment. Now, the type of papers I produced for these classes were good and often yielded me high marks. So, the content is not usually the issue with my papers, but the habit creates a problem when the assignment and subsequently the professor or teacher are strict in regard to the length requirements.

Now, this assignment was particularly difficult for me because the maximum length that I could reach was five pages and I produced about nine and a half pages on my first draft. So, I had a long way to go to get my paper cut down to the required amount of pages that the assignment called for. It was difficult for me to do this at first because it is hard for me as a writer to get rid of writing that I feel is perfectly good. So, I had to read through my draft and go over the main issues that arouse in my documentary and make sure I kept those, but eliminated the things I did not need. So, with each passing draft from my first draft forward I broke up paragraphs, fixed verb usage, and eliminated four and a half pages, two with the second revision and two with the fourth revision, and achieved the maximum length requirement that the assignment called for.

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So, in order to overcome my challenge of meeting the length requirements in this assignment I had to work very hard and produce multiple drafts. I did not do this by myself though. I could not have done this by myself. I used the help of my professor and my classmates in order to see my drafts issues and produce a stronger draft each time. This then led me to producing my fourth and final draft that was exactly five pages in length. It was more concise, organized, and structurally sound because of the help I received, which gave me the tools I needed to complete this assignment, as well as motivated me to overcome this issue and succeed in completion of this assignment.

My writing process so far....

Throughout the past couple of weeks I have been working hard to complete a perfected copy of my documentary summary on The Thin Blue Line. I have had to overcome several obstacles in order to perfect my writing and perfecting you own writing is something I have found to be quite difficult at times. I think, and have discovered overtime, that we as human beings view our work differently then others, but need others in order to get the right advice to advance in our writing process. So, overall this experience has made me a better writer, has made me alter my writing habits, and will allow my professional career to be made easier.

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To begin, this process has made me a better writer. When I wrote my first draft I do not think that I allotted myself the appropriate amount of time to make the best draft, but, nonetheless, I produced a workable first rough draft. I learned myself that my procrastination, which resulted in myself not allotting enough time to write the original draft to the fullest potential I could, was a large weakness that I had. Then, I really had some excellent growth after going to class and getting my paper examined in class. I was shown the many problems it had that I could not see as the author. I was shown how my MLA format was not correct, how my lack of double spacing negatively affected how my paper was viewed, how my paragraph creation and spacing needed work, and finally how I needed to add a small introduction of some kind in order to appropriately introduce my documentary, so that my audience knew what was going on. I took these issues and I went to work fixing them. I was able to appropriately fix my MLA format issues and my paragraph and spacing issues. This immediately made my paper easier to read and look at. Then, I added the introductory information and made a more complete and perfect draft, which was the goal from the start. All in all, I have become a better write due to the trials I have endured writing this summary.

Moving on, I think my experience with procrastination and the emphasis on using proper structure will help me in my professional career. In law enforcement you have to be ready to go at all times and cannot get off task or behind. You must be on time when doing reports and on point with writing down notes in the moment in order to get the information needed to do said reports. If I procrastinate I will not be able to advance positively in these areas. Further, writing in law enforcement has to be concise and structure has to be error free, so if I am aware of proper structure now it will only help me later. So, this experience will benefit me in my hopeful future career in law enforcement I think.

With the above said, there are things I would do differently now. I would make sure that I made time everyday to work on my summary originally instead of doing it all at once. I procrastinated and did not give myself the chance to make a complete and perfected draft. Further, I would take more time to examine the structure of my summary. I would make sure spacing, format, and paragraph separation were correct. This could have saved me time in the future and made my original draft look better and more perfected.

Free write thoughts from class

In class we were asked to discuss how we felt in regard to the freedom we had the last week in our class. Then, in addition we were asked what we learned about ourselves as writers and then how we can make changes in the future. My thoughts on these questions are as follows.

This week I learned a lot about myself as a writer. I learned that I am good at organizing my thoughts, achieving my goals, and completing that goal by getting it on paper or online through a blog. I did this by making sure I made a post each day of the week. I made sure I watched my documentary and that my professor knew I did. Then, I showed I had watched it by blogging about my initial reactions. These reactions took the form of answers to four reflective questions that were posted for us. These questions allowed me to dive into the film further and then allowed me a more in-depth look at something I would need to summarize at a later time. Unfortunately, I did procrastinate with putting my first complete draft together. So, I had some errors that need to be fixed, but it's a rough draft and I know mistakes are expected.

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With that being said, in the future I need to manage my tie more effectively. If I had made just a little more time for myself to create my final summary I think it could have been much better and it is not bad to start with. So, in order to do this I think planning out my days and leaving an hour for draft creation or revision each day could make a big difference.

Further, with the week concluded, it feels great having a tangible draft done though. It makes you feel accomplished and that you have done a good job, which is a step in the right direction. It may not be complete and fantastic yet,  but with more effort and revision it will get where I want and need it to go.

More on my documentary.

In regards to my documentary, The Thin Blue Line, there are a couple of things I would like to discuss before finishing and sharing my summary. These concepts relate to two different questions in relation to the film. I would like to talk about a scene in the movie that really got to me. Then I would like to talk about some problematic concepts I feel would benefit from some further research and discussion.

To begin, a particular scene that got to me in the film revolved around the point in time where Randall Adams, the accused in the murder of the fallen police officer Robert Wood, had his death penalty verdict overruled. In the film, the jury finds Adams guilty of the murder of Robert Woods despite what seemed to be indications that would link David Harris more heavily to the crime and the presence of investigation tactics and use of evidence against Adams that seemed to be lacking in professionalism and logic at times. As a result, Adams was given the death penalty. This verdict was appealed in the appellate courts and was affirmed, but when it went to the Supreme Court it was overturned. So, there seemed to be a chance that Adams could be made innocent. The district attorney vowed to get a retrial because he felt a cop killer should be put to death, but actually ended up asking the governor to commute the sentence down to life in prison, so a retrial actually could not take place. Now, in the film this situation caused people to question the tactics involved. Why were minds changed? Did they fear Adams would be vindicated? This particular scene in my film really filled me anger. I felt that they did feel Adams would be let free and made innocent. So, they had to make sure they kept him in jail so that in a retrial the way they investigated the situation and the different illogical methods they used to get evidence, like trying to get Adams to hold the gun or force him to sign a statement at gun point, and information, from the unreliable witnesses, would not come out. This would make them look bad and it would take away a conviction from the department, which seems to be more important to them then justice.

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The above scene did make me angry, but there were five other things in the film I felt were problematic that could be researched and wrote about further. The first involved the part in the film where it was stated by David Harris that he was coached through his statement against Randall Adams. He claims he was a scared sixteen year old kid and that this occurred. This really made me mad and made me think if there are a lot of instances other then this case where the witnesses are coached. Then, I would like to know how often because I feel that this method of attaining a conviction is quite the opposite of producing justice for all parties involved. The second involved the use of the miller couple as witnesses in the first place. They claimed that they saw Adams in the car that night right as he was pulled over by the police and they passed by. In the film we later find that Mrs. Miller lies constantly and that Mr. Miller said he would testify anything they wanted in order to get money. So, in other words, he would lie too. It made me angry that these two unreliable witnesses were in this case at all because I am sure it effected Adams chances very negatively. With that being said, I think another good point to further research would be how many times an unreliable witness has greatly affected a case. The third thing involved the fact that when Adams was in the interrogation room and he refused to sign the statement and or pick up the gun that was used in the murder the law enforcement agent pulled a gun on him in order to intimidate him. That is just very illogical police work that does not seek justice, but seems to have only one goal in mind and that is a quick conviction. I would want to research how much interrogation is done in a threatening and illogical way like this. I am sure there are others that are not as strong as Adams was here and would have cracked under the pressure, which leads to an arrest that might be the wrong one to make. The fourth thing would involve the fact that Harris bragged about the murder to his friends, had a criminal record, was on a crime spree, and knew about the stolen guns and car involved at the time this murder occurred. Yet, he is not being held accountable or even partially accountable to the level that Adams was who, I might add, had no recollection of any shooting because he seemed to not be involved. This is crazy to accept when you as a person see another person go through something that they seem to not deserve. This makes me want to research whether there are a lot of people that are falsely imprisoned and then how many have been recently and then in total throughout history. Finally, the last thing has to do with the fact that the secondary officer involved in this case seemed to change her testimony over time very conveniently. The original testimony she gave listed points that did not match up with what Harris had said, which can be exemplified by the fact that she said there was only one subject in the car not two like Harris said. With that being said, after her original testimony she went through two weeks of internal affairs investigations and changed her testimony to characteristics that described Adams. This included saying Adams had bushy hair, which he did, even though she originally stated that the hair in the suspect was just middle length hair. So, with this information, I would like to research whether internal affairs  ever tampers with cases in order to help the department win a conviction rather then seek justice.

I really enjoyed this documentary and I hope this additional information gives people great information to think about and maybe even research further. My summary draft will soon be posted in order to give a full and complete picture on this very interesting case.  

What to know about my documentary

I had decided to watch the documentary called The Thin Blue Line for my documentary project. I have since finished watching it.

To introduce some of my initial thoughts on the documentary, I found it to be very similar to the short television series Making a Murderer that we just watched. The film follows the story of Randall Adams, Dennis Harris, and the law enforcement involved on a journey that involves questionable police work and culminates in an unbelievable ending for all parties involved.

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To dive into it further, the film surprised me with the lack of police competence that was shown in regard to achieving justice. In a previous blog, for Steven Avery, I discussed how achieving a conviction seemed to be more important then getting justice for the individual and I was hoping this was the only major evidence for this happening in our world. I was wrong. In The Thin Blue Line, it seems that Randall Adams is caught in a situation with police where he is being held accountable for the death of a local police officer. The police threaten him for a statement saying that he did it, coach a known trouble maker, Dennis Harris, to take the stand against Randall, and even use witnesses testimony that has no backing and is from unreliable sources. The entire investigation against Randall Adams, which got him the death penalty reduced to life in prison, seems to be built on questionable police work. What was more surprising was that Dennis Harris stated that he had stole the gun and car involved in the crime, bragged about it to his friends, and has a criminal record. He is bad news and the police were swayed by him due to the fact that he was only sixteen years old at the time this occurred. The irony in this is Harris ended up killing someone else and is on death row for that separate case. Th entire film was filled with surprises and ended in quite the most ironic and saddest of ways. I cannot wait to elaborate more on it for you guys!

Questions I still have about this film after viewing it revolves around the police department and their practices. Why did they act the way they did? Did they know that Adams seemed to be truly innocent? Did they care about justice? Or did they just want to get a conviction? All of these questions are ones I think are worth looking at in order to understand this most unusual turn of events.

Lets talk about bias!

I think when creating something there are a number of different things that need to be considered in order to make said creation whole. Documentaries and movies alike I feel are no different. The picture itself does not make the work complete. Things such as lighting, camera angles, dialogue, voice and character usage, and music all play a huge role in making a film a complete work. It seems to make the film into a experience where people can form opinions, create reactions, and develop as human beings.

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Now, I think this point is an important one to make due to the fact that I have just watched the first episode of the television series Making a Murderer. In this film the music and the dialogue placement and usage seemed to make a large impact on me. In the film the music was one that encompassed a journey like feeling. It made me feel like the main character, Steven Avery, was on a journey. The type of journey seemed to also be revealed to me as well as I continued to view the video. I say this because the music seemed to move slower at certain times and, in my opinion created a feeling of uncertainty. I think this music was perfect for this film because it filled the role of what the film makers seemed to want for it. I think the film makers wanted to put a spotlight on Avery and force the viewers to become fixated on the character the way they wanted. It seemed they wanted viewers to see his situation as one that is arduous and long, which leads him on a journey through the criminal justice system. For example, the film begins with Avery returning home form an eighteen year prison sentence for a crime that he was not responsible for. So, already we as viewers seem to be attached to this journey that Avery is on by seeing that it will eventually lead somewhere, but we fist must see where it began. The music playing here is slow and has a feeling of uncertainty, which is done I think so we can feel how arduous Avery's road has been. Further, the slowing of pace in the music seemed to create the feeling of uncertainty that really cemented what they wanted. I feel they wanted to create an audience that felt bad for Avery and saw the uncertainty that surrounded his situation. Once they understood this their feeling seemed to be hammered in once they saw the awful journey a, from what it seems, unethical law enforcement agency can cause for a person.

Now, along with that, I think dialogue placement was very important as well. There are two instances I feel explain this properly. In the film, Steven explains what his daily routine is at the prison. When this is occurring the film is depicting the outside of a jail, so you as a viewer seem to feel how awful it must be in there due to his description. The music here, in my opinion, again creates a feeling of uncertainty in relation to what is next for Avery. The other instance where you see this in the film is when Avery is explaining how he would not lie and say he committed a crime of sexual assault that he did not commit. His voice actually stating this seems to allow the viewer yet another opportunity to personally become involved with Avery on this roller coaster of a journey through the system.

With the above information being said, it seems to me that this film creates a lot of bias toward Avery in that we as viewers should see a bad situation where an individual is being mistreated. I feel as though the film has accomplished that. I say this because I believe that, after viewing the first episode once, I myself had created a bias. I felt bad for Avery instantly. I felt, through the music, I was along for the ride on this journey with Avery through the system where he was mistreated and handled without ethics and professionalism by the law enforcement agencies sworn to protect him and treat him with the dignity and respect that is afforded to him by this country. I only saw the negatives in relation to the mistreatment of Avery and was oblivious to the fact that I might not know all of the facts related to the subject and that he has a criminal past of sorts that was discussed in the film.

My problem of an established bias was substantiated when I read an article explaining how Making a Murderer did not paint a complete picture. It was explained that evidence was left out of the film that could have swayed the opinion of viewers, which was explained seemed to be the opposite of what the film makers goals were. The article states that Avery's sweat and blood were found in the car of the murder victim, Teresa Halbach, and that this evidence was not thoroughly examined during the film. This situation shows us that things are not always what they seem and that when we watch or  read about something we should do additional research, so that we are properly informed on the issue and do not allow our first reaction bias to decide how we feel about something.  

Law enforcement or not...no one is perfect

I recently watched the first episode of Making a Murderer and it paints an interesting picture for me. I think it shows that, even in and around the field of law enforcement, no one is perfect and everyone has the ability to act imperfectly and consequently negatively affect a fellow human beings life. In relation to this notion, I found it shocking how much someones past and likability in a community can affect the way an individual is treated. I know that criminal history is used as an aggravating factor that could be used to convict someone, but other factors usually come into play I think. These things involve further investigation when points are brought up regarding the possibility of innocence and alibis, that can be proven by witnesses, that can also provide what is needed for someone to beat a case. Further, the subject of this film, Steven Avery, belonged to a family that did not function in their community as they were expected to. Then, due to this, while also incorporating Avery's past reckless behavior, you found a person who was not liked or respected as much as others in his community. The victim in his case, Penny Beerntsen, personified her community and was one of the respected individuals that Avery seemed not to be. I was shocked by these things, but the first thing I found to be problematic related to the police department and the district attorney and how they handled this case. The police department and the district attorney seemed to want Avery to be the one who would go to jail for this. I think this is explicated in the show when Michael Griesbach, the assistant district attorney, explained that when he told the old district attorney, Denis Vogel, about Avery not being guilty he received no shocked reaction, but another unexpected response. Vogel only asked him if there was anything about Gregory Allen in the files they had related to the case. This showed to Griesbach that Vogel thought Allen could be the person at fault. Griesbach further investigated this and found that there was a complaint in Avery's file about Allen committing a sexual crime on the same part of beach that Avery's victim was assaulted. Further, Vogel prosecuted this case or was involved in said prosecution. This leads Griesbach to believe that the district attorney and the police department may have known of Avery's innocence the whole time and even knew the real assailant from the start. This is awful. A man lost almost twenty years of his life due to the fact that it seems that the legal system acted in an unprofessional and unfair way in order to obtain a fast conviction.

To build on this point, while the investigation was underway, other things stood out to me that the police department did that I found to be problematic. These things involved what seemed to be the misuse of a prior mugshot to draw a sketch of an unknown subject, the misuse of what seemed to be clear evidence of an alibi for Avery, and the police telling Avery that if he admitted to the crime, that he did not commit, then he would be let out of prison right away. All three of these things show a legal system focused on captaining and sustaining a conviction as their top priority instead of focusing on justice as their main objective. In these three things we see police work that is not ethical, with the mugshot, Avery's alibi not holding firm even though witnesses and recites showed he was not close to the crime when it occurred, and police trying to get their conviction, through Avery's admittance to the crime, instead of the justice Avery deserved. This whole situation was a great example of how the world is not perfect. This involves law enforcement and the people they protect.

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This show, in my opinion, is a great example of how communication and writing can make all of the difference in a criminal case. The communication between the investigative parties in this show were severely lacking. I think this was their own doing though. They chose to not hear and or take advantage of beneficial evidence that could have avoided this entire fiasco. They seemed to not pay any attention  to evidence that supported Avery's alibi's, in relation to the recite and the many witnesses that vouched for his whereabouts. Then, throughout the video the viewer learns that the district attorney, and possibly the police department as well, knew that Gregory Allen was a threat in relation to sexual assault crimes and that he was spotted close to the scene of the crime some time before the day of the assault against Penny Beerntsen. So, with that being said, I saw a situation that could have been prevented with better communication between the parties involved. I think in order to improve the faulty communication we see here police departments and district attorney's need to work a little closer together and incorporate active writing and audio logs into their meetings. I say that because the closer relationship will allow for more thorough investigation I think and then the audio and writing logs will keep them honest. These logs would then have to be consistently reviewed to keep these parties honest. I think this needs to occur because although a person has made mistakes before and may not be an active member of a close knit community that does not give the law enforcement agencies, that protect and serve him, the right to pick on him. I think this will also be able to get law enforcement agencies to focus more on justice then conviction rates, which I think they were unable to do here. I think they saw a man who was not particularly liked in the community and has had prior problems with law enforcement, so they thought a conviction would be easy to get.

With the above information being said, my favorite part of this show was not my favorite part for its entertainment value, but rather for the controversy that surrounded it. I thought the mugshot part of this was unbelievable. The reason for this was because a point was made during the program regarding how Avery looked at the specific moment in time he had been arrested and placed in the lineup for the sexual assault case involving victim Penny Beerntsen. This was compared to the sketch, made by Chief Deputy Eugene Kusche, that was made of the unknown assailant. This sketch looked just like a mugshot of Avery from an earlier arrest, but Kusche claims he did not see this mugshot until after he made the sketch. Then, going back to my earlier comment, Avery's current mugshot was compared to the sketch and it was not even close to being the same anymore. The pictures were different. So, if they were trying to frame Avery with this sketch, believed to have been created from an old mugshot of Avery, it looks like they succeeded. In the show it is pointed out that due to the difference in mugshots, from present to past, it could be argued that the old mugshot was used to create the sketch. Then, further, it was stated that the case against Avery was made that night by members of the police department. Avery even explained that the sheriff stated that he had him now and further that the sheriff had all of the power. So, here I see a situation where an entire case was probably created against an individual with a rocky past because the police department seems to be focused on just getting a conviction, as fast as possible, instead of properly investigating the situation and trying to get justice for all parties. I think the goals of this police department were only to get a quick conviction instead of getting a conviction that yields justice for all parties and because of that I thought it was worth mentioning and the reason it was my favorite part.