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Cultural Awareness in Criminal Justice Module 5-2 Assignment
Southern New Hampshire University
CJ-120: Cultural Awareness in Criminal Justice
Abe Vasquez
April 3, 2022 2
Views
The culture I have chosen to delve into is that of Native Americans. I would have to conclude that Indigenous Americans have little faith in the justice system, and a negative point of
view towards law enforcement officers. The reasoning behind this stems from an ongoing detrimental relationship among tribal jurisdictions and outside law enforcement agencies, resulting in the underreporting of crimes by the Native American community. “Advocates have long complained about the lack of comprehensive state and federal data on missing and murdered Native Americans, which is often linked to incidents of sexual violence and human trafficking.” (Ortiz, 2020)
“Researchers said they examined 105 cases of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls from the region and found that 62% of cases were never included in any official missing persons database; 74% of cases have no public documentation related to manner of death, whether charges were filed or a suspect or person of interest was found; and 56% of cases don’t mention or make public the victim’s tribal affiliation.” (Ortiz, 2020)
Misunderstandings
An example of a misunderstanding between Native Americans and police officers is within the tragic end of Jonathan Tubby. Tubby was pulled over in 2018 for a traffic stop. Once officers learned Mr. Tubby had a warrant, he was arrested and taken to Brown County Jail. While attempting to get Jonathan out of the car, officers shot out the rear window and used pepper spray. Once outside of the vehicle, Tubby was hit with a beanbag that knocked him to the
ground. “He jumped up and he ran. The video that we have ends as soon as Jonathan jumped out
Cultural Awareness in Criminal Justice Module 5-2 Assignment
Southern New Hampshire University
CJ-120: Cultural Awareness in Criminal Justice
Abe Vasquez
April 3, 2022 2
Views
The culture I have chosen to delve into is that of Native Americans. I would have to conclude that Indigenous Americans have little faith in the justice system, and a negative point of
view towards law enforcement officers. The reasoning behind this stems from an ongoing detrimental relationship among tribal jurisdictions and outside law enforcement agencies, resulting in the underreporting of crimes by the Native American community. “Advocates have long complained about the lack of comprehensive state and federal data on missing and murdered Native Americans, which is often linked to incidents of sexual violence and human trafficking.” (Ortiz, 2020)
“Researchers said they examined 105 cases of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls from the region and found that 62% of cases were never included in any official missing persons database; 74% of cases have no public documentation related to manner of death, whether charges were filed or a suspect or person of interest was found; and 56% of cases don’t mention or make public the victim’s tribal affiliation.” (Ortiz, 2020)
Misunderstandings
An example of a misunderstanding between Native Americans and police officers is within the tragic end of Jonathan Tubby. Tubby was pulled over in 2018 for a traffic stop. Once officers learned Mr. Tubby had a warrant, he was arrested and taken to Brown County Jail. While attempting to get Jonathan out of the car, officers shot out the rear window and used pepper spray. Once outside of the vehicle, Tubby was hit with a beanbag that knocked him to the
ground. “He jumped up and he ran. The video that we have ends as soon as Jonathan jumped out
