public perception of police article
Being a officer is one of the toughest jobs about. They are qualified and hired to “protect and serve” their neighborhoods and they are regularly in the open public eye. Anything that they do is usually criticized by the people who are observing them. Like in every other career, there are some whom should really not be carrying out that task, and those people give a bad name towards the really good and dedicated representatives that work so hard to take care of people.
Among the problems that cause the public to have a lower level of good will toward police is definitely the rising offense rate. People believe that if perhaps there are even more crimes becoming committed, law enforcement are not doing a proper work of halting it. This tends to make people doubt the abilities that law enforcement have. (Koenig)Some of the bad feedback in regards to policing originates from allegations of alleged cover-ups mostly applied to racial claims, ethnicity and also to some degree, financial class.
(Connolly, 2001) These issues are on a daily basis and over everything gives the open public a negative look at of the police in general. The media provides a big component in the bad viewpoint individuals have of the law enforcement officials. They tend to focus on the bad issues that happen and although police are merely human beings and do make mistakes, which can be the only thing the media provides attention to so they obtain viewers and readers to produce a negative frame of mind towards police force. (Connolly, 2001) Another concern that is big in the news regarding law enforcement officials is that law enforcement officials are violent.
There have been situations when authorities have used violence and perhaps it was unjustified. But those incidents will be isolated and don’t happen as frequently as the mass media tends to make people believe. Law enforcement will only employ force when in danger and not only that, they give the criminal every possible chance to surrender ahead of force is used. If the multimedia focused more on the positive things that law enforcement truly does for people, more people would likely include a more great viewpoint to them. (Connolly, 2001)The public seems to be split on the point of view of police. Some are in agreement which has a certain amount of force being utilized while the other half tends to think that it is risky for the authorities to use any sort of force especially when it is linked to racial, moral or socio-economical issues. (Connolly, 2001) It truly is believed that media prejudice started back when there were problems regarding the Vietnam War and Civil Rights struggles.
Law enforcement officials are doing the best job they are able to do and it would certainly make all their jobs much easier if they had even more support and backing through the people they are really trying to protect. (Connolly, 2001)There are many times that the law enforcement have to get charge of a person or of individuals and this can prove to be very difficult literally and also incredibly dangerous to the police and to the person or perhaps people they are trying to control. Nobody really wants to admit that that is the truth but sadly it is. Many people may think that because of what they see on television either in a movie or perhaps from the reports, if they do something to irritate virtually any cop, they will be beaten because of it and then made out to look like these are the ones who also brought that on, whether or not they deserve it or not really. And in most cases, no one should get to be crushed. (Connolly, 2001)According to Stamper (2009), police do not decide on bad officers, those poor officers are produced. Even the most dedicated officer who gets out of the law enforcement officials academy and is all fired up to acquire out that help people, can easily see his or her respected superior beating on somebody who really is certainly not deserving of it and eventually convert and do a similar thing.
That is not legal of course , but since that expert is not really caught then no one will know any better. Stamper had been an expert at one time and saw a great officer this individual worked with to whom he admired beating others. Basically, the strength of being a police officer got to Stamper’s head and he required advantage of that power right up until a prosecutor gave him a reality check. Stamper is convinced that the police that have a conscience need to be the ones who take control of the bad seeds and assist with stopping authorities brutality. (Stamper, 2009)In Feb 2009, a Washington State Sheriff brought a “slender 15 year old girl” in to custody, brought her to a holding cellular and informed her to remove her shoes.
As she was removing her shoes, the girl allegedly started one off and this hit the officer, Paul Schene, inside the shin. This did not include done purposely, but the officer became angered and began to beat the woman. He started her, pulled her hair and put his knees into her back again, as well as “slugging” her. All of this was captured on camera. (Stamper, 2009) Throughout the incident, the girl provided no level of resistance and after industry, she was handcuffed and brought out of view with the camera. Afterwards the girl explained she was having trouble inhaling and exhaling and paramedics were referred to as. Officer Schene said simply that the girl had a panic and anxiety attack.
Incidents such as that one happen to be what the public are afraid of and what gives good cops a bad name. It is reported which the incident get back girl is usually ranked just like bad because the Rodney King conquering and the attack of Abner Louima. (Stamper, 2009) When those occurrences become open public knowledge, law enforcement needs to scramble to find a reason behind what they did. In many cases that is not likely and it makes the public’s already tainted point of view even darker.
It is really essential for police to communicate with the general public and make sure they are aware of items that they would not already know. Probably if the public was even more aware of points that the authorities did concealed from the public view, they would become more apt to trust in law enforcement and never be so judgmental or critical of them. In some ways, certainly citizens perform have valid reasons for staying so worried about certain items they hear on the news or read in the papers. Nevertheless a lot of times, stories may be exaggerated and that will get people to worry without a reason.
In regards to policing and racism, there are some situations where competition does enter into play when ever police will work on fixing a certain criminal offense. An example will be a crime family members under research for any quantity of crimes. Commonly, that particular criminal offense family only will allow selected people to their group and people people are every from the same type of cultural backgrounds. One other example can be someone just like a rapist or perhaps serial killer. If they have an vision witness to the crime, they shall be able to perform their investigations based on the witness’s description. The think may be of 1 race or ethnic group and therefore, the authorities must keep an eye out for people who in shape that explanation. That can not be considered racial, although people can still declare it is. (Connolly, 2001)While not really everyone will agree the police are certainly not shady and are also giving persons breaks which often not deserve them, everyone should agree that regarding an emergency, it truly is nice to learn that they have someone around who will be able to support them.
It is crucial for the general public to know that they have help if they need it. Sometimes, police will offer you a professional politeness to a other officer then when the public gets wind of that, chaos fails. Most people will not agree that police officers must not be punished to get a crime which a civilian commits and gets punished pertaining to. This makes the general public very angry and they think they are not able to rely on the police after they really need to. Law enforcement officials also needs to keep in mind that if they are gonna allow a part of their own pressure to get away with someone and then they find a resident who does the same criminal offense, such as driving under the influence, if that individual knows that the cop got away with it, they will expect the same treatment. That is a valid debate for them to have.
In closing, law enforcement officials really is there to protect and serve. That is their work and 99. 9 percent of those people love what they do. Civilians have to understand and accept that.
References
Koenig, D. L. (n. deb. ) Police perceptions of public value and extra-legal use of push: a reconsideration of folk knowledge and pluralistic ignorance. Canadian Journal of Sociology, 1(3), 313-324. Gathered April dua puluh enam, 2009, via http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=sih&AN=13959331&site=ehost-livedatabaseConnolly, C. P. (2001). In Protection of Police. The Nationwide Executive Start Associates (NEIA). Retrieved Apr 27, 2009, from http://www.neiassociates.org/defense.htmStamper, N. (2009, March 11). Former Police Chief in Cop Violence: “Law Observance Doesn’t Decide on Bad Apples; This Makes Them”. Huffington Content retrieved about April 27, 2009 via http://www.alternet.org/rights/131014/former_police_chief_on_cop_brutality:_%22law_enforcement_doesn’t_pick_bad_apples%3B_it_makes_them%22/
1
