Innovative Plan

This innovative plan is about changing the current criminal justice training curriculum to incorporate cultural diversity and sensitivity training. Developing a diverse committee from within and outside of Arizona criminal justice academia is essential to strategically changing the current criminal justice curriculum. It is hope that this committee will ultimately gain approval by the Arizona Police Officer Standards Training Commission (POST). The proposal will identify key internal and external change agents from diverse ethnic backgrounds that will bring a unique perspective on the need for curriculum training changes. These key agents will ensure that the changes are significant enough to make an ethical impact on how the criminal justice system interacts with people of different ethnic and cultural backgrounds. The curriculum changes when properly developed, taught, and monitored will have an effect on criminal justice practitioners in Arizona. Additionally, if successful, a cultural change will occur within the entire criminal justice system. This change will allow for new relationships of cooperation to flourish so that the community can expect and count on the criminal justice system living up to its creed of honesty and fairness for all (Berg, Csikszentmihalyi, & Nakamura, 2003).

Why a Diverse Committee is Essential for this Proposal

The American criminal justice system is in need of a dynamic cultural diversity-training curriculum, which is flexible enough to incorporate local jurisdictional race and culture awareness issues. The American criminal justice system has a long history of troubled race relations and cultural sensitivity problems that have affected the public's willingness to cooperate with local law enforcement and assist in their efforts to reduce criminal activity. Minority leaders have historically complained that the American criminal justice system has been unfair to minority offenders by sentencing them to longer prison terms than white offenders who have committed the same crime. The correctional institutions have a history of not allowing inmates to practice their religion or identify themselves as a member of a certain ethnic group while in custody. This has caused countless and costly civil rights litigation suits and has increased the risk of correctional staff assaults (Henninger & Huribert, 2006).

The proposal identifies key problems with race, culture, and minority relations within the American criminal justice system and makes recommendations for curriculum changes within the different training programs for court employees, police, and corrections. The recommended changes to the current cultural diversity training program has the opportunity to forge a lasting working partnership with local community leaders that will dramatically improve the image and credibility of the American criminal justice system (Bell, 1999).

Strategically

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