Case Study: Privatizing Police Forces

Requirement: 1 1/2 pages

Facing pressure to crack down on crime amid a record budget deficit, Oakland is joining other U.S. cities that are turning over more law enforcement duties to private armed guards. In 2009, the Oakland City Council voted to hire International Services Inc., a private security agency, to patrol crime plagued districts. While a few Oakland retail districts have pooled cash to pay for unarmed security services, using public funds to pay for armed guards would mark a first for the city. Hiring private guards is less expensive than hiring new officers. Oakland police say they consider unarmed guards acceptable, but don’t support armed guards. However, some local leaders say that they have few other options to reduce the city’s violence.

Source: National Center for Policy Analysis (“Cash Strapped Cities Try Private Guards Over Police,” Bobby White, “Cash Strapped Cities Try Private Guards Over Police,”

Wall Street Journal, April 21, 2009, or April 22, 2009; http://www.ncpa.org/sub/dpd/index.php?Article_ID=17885.)

Questions:

1. Do you think that privatization of public services is a good thing? Why or why not?

2. What are the ethical and political questions at stake in the privatization of police?

3. Is the privatization of police forces comparable to the privatization of other public services, say, mail delivery, or food services? Why or why not?

math homework 

In this module, you have been introduced to the capital asset pricing model (CAPM). The required return can be determined by the application of the CAPM:

 

Expected return = Risk free rate + Beta (Expected market return risk free rate)

 

Fully discuss each component and its relation to the expected return calculation. In other words, how does each component impact the expected return for an investment. Next, using an investing site such as Yahoo!Finance, locate the beta for 3 companies within the same industry and calculate the expected return. For example, Pfizer, GlaxoKlineSmith ,and Johnson & Johnson are companies within the drug manufacturers industry. Discuss the meaning of the calculation including which company you would invest and why. (NOTE: For the expected return calculation use 0.08% as the risk free rate and 8.5% for the expected market return).

A high speed train travels from Chicago to Denver at an average speed of 90 miles per hour, but can make the return trip at an average speed of 110 miles per hour. What is the average speed for the round trip?

The environment and healthcare are very important aspects of our lives, as discussed in your textbook. However, it is still unclear whether corporations should focus on these as rights or as privileges.

 

1. Research the concepts “public good” and “private good”. From a business ethics perspective, should corporations and society focus on the environment and healthcare as either “public goods” or as “private goods”? Use any of the ethical perspectives (Utilitarianism, Kant’s Categorical Imperative, Rawl’s Fairness as Justice, etc) to justify your position.

 

Substantiate your all your comments and responses. Avoid the use of Wisegeek, NetMba, Wikipedia, excessive use of dictionaries and encyclopedias, and sources of that nature, which are not considered reputable sources, when substantiating your comments and responses.

 

 

 

Stanwick, P. A., & Stanwick, S. D. (2014). Understanding business ethics (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.