(R1) 245 words Public opinion concerning policy issues. During my reading this week public opinion seemed to live or die by volume in terms of its effectiveness. A large group that is united in it's opinion on a topic can push change, but a large group broken up into several smaller opinion groups can cause a slow down in policy setting by voicing different ideas, concerns, and options. Kingdon pointed out that public opinion is usually “rarely well enough formed to directly affect an involved debate among policy specialists over which alternative should be seriously considered” (Kingdon, 2003, p 66). I can see how public opinion can be both informative and confusing for public officials at the same time. When considering situations where public opinion succeeded in swaying public policy and/ or sent a clear message- Ireland's vote to amend their constitution and approve same sex marriage came to mind. This historic moment occurred on May 23, 2015 and it is the first time a nation has legalized same sex marriage through a popular vote. Social media was used heavily by people on both sides leading up to the vote. I feel that this is a good example of the public voicing a desire for change, spreading their message to gain support, and following through in large numbers. In terms of influencing change with political leaders, Ireland's Minister for Health Leo Varadkar revealed that he was gay for the first time during the campaign. This is a prime example of what public opinion can do when the people are able to agree on a policy change. The vote in Ireland was years, likely decades, in the making and there were political, activist, and public groups on both sides of the argument working to forward their agendas and ideas. I feel that public opinion was a huge factor in carrying the yes vote. You can watch a news video about the vote here: (R2) 245 words  After reading this discussion post I knew immediately what I wanted to center my discussion post about. Being that my area of concentration is going to be criminal justice, I can't help but bring up police reform. Police reform is a big topic in the U.S. right now. Understandably, many cities across the nation want more accountability for the police. I work for a police department and I can tell you, I support accountability for the use of deadly force in police departments. I also strongly support the prosecution of officers found to abuse their powers and position. So this brings me to the "8 Can't Wait" movement. This movement is a project by Campaign Zero that is trying to bring change to police departments by using their voice and the voice of citizens to demand change in the legislature and at the department level for restrictions on the use of deadly force. The 8 things this campaign asks for are to require de-escalation, require a duty to intervene, ban chokeholds and strangleholds, require warning before shooting, ban shooting at moving vehicles, and to exhaust alternatives bef.

1. (R1) 245 words
Public opinion concerning policy issues.
During my reading this week public opinion seemed to live or
die by volume in terms of its effectiveness. A large group that
is united in it's opinion on a topic can push change, but a large
group broken up into several smaller opinion groups can cause a
slow down in policy setting by voicing different ideas,
concerns, and options. Kingdon pointed out that public opinion
is usually “rarely well enough formed to directly affect an
involved debate among policy specialists over which alternative
should be seriously considered” (Kingdon, 2003, p 66). I can
see how public opinion can be both informative and confusing
for public officials at the same time.
When considering situations where public opinion succeeded in
swaying public policy and/ or sent a clear message- Ireland's
vote to amend their constitution and approve same sex marriage
came to mind. This historic moment occurred on May 23, 2015
and it is the first time a nation has legalized same sex marriage
through a popular vote. Social media was used heavily by
people on both sides leading up to the vote. I feel that this is a
good example of the public voicing a desire for change,
spreading their message to gain support, and following through
in large numbers. In terms of influencing change with political
leaders, Ireland's Minister for Health Leo Varadkar revealed
that he was gay for the first time during the campaign.
This is a prime example of what public opinion can do when the
people are able to agree on a policy change. The vote in Ireland
was years, likely decades, in the making and there were
political, activist, and public groups on both sides of the
argument working to forward their agendas and ideas. I feel that

2. public opinion was a huge factor in carrying the yes vote.
You can watch a news video about the vote here:
(R2) 245 words
After reading this discussion post I knew immediately what I
wanted to center my discussion post about. Being that my area
of concentration is going to be criminal justice, I can't help but
bring up police reform. Police reform is a big topic in the U.S.
right now. Understandably, many cities across the nation want
more accountability for the police. I work for a police
department and I can tell you, I support accountability for the
use of deadly force in police departments. I also strongly
support the prosecution of officers found to abuse their powers
and position. So this brings me to the "8 Can't Wait" movement.
This movement is a project by Campaign Zero that is trying to
bring change to police departments by using their voice and the
voice of citizens to demand change in the legislature and at the
department level for restrictions on the use of deadly force. The
8 things this campaign asks for are to require de-escalation,
require a duty to intervene, ban chokeholds and strangleholds,
require warning before shooting, ban shooting at moving
vehicles, and to exhaust alternatives before shooting. More on
these questions and the research behind them can be found at
https://8cantwait.org/ (Links to an external site.)
. When this movement first began, I found my email
overflowing with letters from individuals demanding that these
8 things be implemented into LVMPD's policy as well as be
implemented into law. These emails and voices of the
community asking for change have actually influenced change
in many police departments across the nation already. In Nevada
they even introduced a police reform bill into the 32nd special
session that would be known as AB3.

3. https://lasvegassun.com/news/2020/jul/31/police-reform-bill-
introduced-in-nevada-assembly/ (Links to an external site.)
The article at this link talks about the bill that was introduced
and some of the things it would change in legislature, most
notably a ban on chokeholds (one of the 8 can't wait demands). I
am very proud to say I work for a department who does not and
did not authorize chokeholds to be utilized. And any officer
who did use a chokehold, was disciplined appropriately. This
bill further goes on to require any police officer witnessing
misconduct to step in and stop it (another 8 can't wait demand).
AB3 also requires reporting on use of force incidents (another 8
can't wait reform). Some things AB3 put into law that weren't
asked for by 8 can't wait are the right of citizens to record
officer actions in public, and for officers of any rank to be drug
and alcohol tested immediately after being involved in an
incident that results in substantial bodily harm. While I could
go on and on about this topic, I think it is evident that this piece
of legislation was as a result of the media, public opinion, and
special interest groups. Sometimes using your voice really does
bring change. I am also happy to say that many of these reforms
that are now in law were already in my police department's
policy as we try to be a very forward thinking, learning agency.