The Next Big Issue: Autonomous Vehicles

INSTRUCTIONS (5% penalty if the word count is over 1,250)

In this course you examined scenarios in which law enforcement leadership decisions require a balance of protecting constitutional rights with actions to ensure community safety. As the use of new technology by law enforcement often ventures into legal areas that are not clearly defined by statutes or case law, leadership involves foresight, analysis, planning, and communication of anticipated issues. The goal of this project is to apply the legal foundation you learned in this course to address a technological advancement or other policing issue.

There are three parts to this assignment: identification of an issue, an analysis plan, and a communication plan.

PART 1

IDENTIFY AN ISSUE: AUTONOMOUS VEHICLES (EX: Waymo, Tesla, etc)

Amidst rapid technological proliferation, political shifts, and uncertainty, effective public safety leadership requires foresight of legal issues before they land on your desk. Foresight is about understanding complexity and making foundational choices on issues as groundwork to direct people in the future. For this part, scan the horizon and identify the next big issue that presents a legal challenge, and is impactful and important to the future of your agency or law enforcement.

PART 2

ANALYSIS PLAN:

The use of new technology by law enforcement often ventures into legal areas that are not clearly defined by statutes or case law. Whatever issue you choose, an analysis plan can involve many levels of investigation and resources to gather insights, reveal the scope, analyze the legal issues, related concerns, possible court decisions, and develop a leadership course of action. Depending on your issue, items to identify in an analysis plan might be:

the legal protections or rights that are at risk;

the people or “rights-holders” (individuals or groups);

the legal context of the issue (stare decisis, court cases, judicial opinions, case law, penumbra rights, inferred rule or legal standards, etc.);

the environment, stakeholders, forces, and trends; and

the tasks, resources, or activities to address the above.

PART 3

COMMUNICATION PLAN

In the second module of this course, you articulated a vision for constitutional policing and how your positive leadership and messaging might inspire personnel with a higher purpose in their work. As you develop this component, consider your influence in shaping the experience of law enforcement on a broader scale. This legally gray area is an opportunity to lead constitutional standards while balancing the interests of public safety and effectiveness. At a minimum, your communication plan should include:

your analysis and interpretation of the issues at stake;

your decided course of action on the issue;

your reasoning for the decision; and

your leadership message to three audiences: internal (the people you lead), governance (the people you report to), and the community (the people you protect).

GRADING:

Identification of an issue (10%): The issue presents an emerging legal challenge, with complexities, ambiguities, and overlapping interests of law enforcement. Potential implications in the future of the agency or law enforcement make issue a good choice.

Analysis Plan (30%): An effective examination of the legal issues, concerns, outcomes, and contextual details to critically inform a course of action. A range of course materials, research, and legal artifacts were used in a compelling and convincing way.

Communication Plan (30%): Understanding of the issue, three stakeholder perspectives, and the decided course of action is well-reasoned and articulated. Analysis of the legal issues balances the intersecting interests of law enforcement. Demonstrates a clear and powerful leadership of the emerging issue aligned with a compelling vision for the future.

General Writing Quality and Execution (30%): The writing or presentation is polished, clear, effective, professional, and communicative.