“A widely recognized bane of the job among good cops is other cops’ inability or unwillingness to do their jobs.” – Dean Scoville –
Lazy. Power hungry. Corrupt. Overweight. These are the words most people think of when asked to describe a police officer. But who really are these people behind the uniform? First of all, that is exactly what they are; people. Police officers are people. They have families, friends, and lives. They get up every morning, drink some coffee, read the newspaper, and go to work, just the same as any other person.
What I do not understand is why people attach a negative stereotype with police officers. People verbally attack these men and women on a daily basis, when all they are trying to do is their job. I, for one, know from personal experience what it is like to have a father as a law enforcement official. On a weekly basis, I would go to school to have my friends or acquaintances inform me that "Sadie, your dad is an asshole. He busted up our party last night." Eventually, I became tired of hearing people degrade my father and his job. I would ask them, "So you are saying my father is an asshole because he is doing his job?" Quickly the smart remarks ended.
The point I am trying to make is this, people do not understand that these men and women put their life on the line everyday for the good of humanity. Police officers stand up for those who cannot stand up for themselves. But who stands up for police officers? I will. I'm sure this paper will not stop anyone considering robbing a bank, nor make a wanted murderer hand himself in. However, I do hope to open reader's minds, and give them a change of heart.
To help counteract these common stereotypes I listed above. I interviewed two local police officers who have over fifteen years of experience in the field. The first officer I interviewed was Ben Rand. Officer Rand has a total of twenty five years of experience. He first served at Johnson Police department for a total of two years, and then he was at the Trumbull County Sheriff's Office for a year. The next thirteen years he served at Bazetta Police Department, and he now currently works at Howland Police Department. The second officer I interviewed was Jeff Lane. Sergeant Lane has served almost sixteen years at our local Bazetta Police Department where he held the position of detective, and is now the Sergeant.
I asked Mr. Cayette to tell me what he feel are the positive factors related to being a criminal justice person. He said, “The positives about being in the criminal justice system is that there is a thin line between order and chaos. As of the last few years, criminal justice professionals have been under a lot of scrutiny. The majority of guys that are "called to do the job" have been profiled by the few guys that feel they can do the job by being a law enforcement officer. A cop provides a feeling of security to most people. When most people see a law enforcement officer, they feel safe no matter what the situation may be. Even with the negative publicity the police has been receiving, some cops are still seen as the good guys and keep order in the community. Being a police officer is still at the...
The article continues to interview friends of the officer saying that support is being poured out, this validates that valiance is in all police and everyday
They are influenced by the same things that we are, and they see things the same as we do. How these law enforcement officials are raised is how they are going to carry out their duties. If they are raised without morals or with racial influence they will most likely use that influence and bad judgment during work. Additionally, terrorism and hate crimes instills great fear in today 's society. With all the recent violence against law enforcement, I can understand why they profile or may come off defensive to the general public. At the same time, I can also understand why the public may fear police officials. Also I can see why they may not trust the police with all the recent police involved shootings that have
It is both a result and a cause of police isolation from the larger society and of police solidarity. Its influence begins early in the new officer’s career when he is told by more experienced officers that the “training given in police academies is irrelevant to ‘real’ police work”. What is relevant, recruits are told, is the experience of senior officers who know the ropes or know how to get around things. Recruits are often told by officers with considerable experience to forget what they learned in the academy and in college and to start learning real police work as soon as they get to their Field Training Officers. Among the first lessons learned are that police officers share secrets among themselves and that those secrets especially when they deal with activities that are questionable in terms of ethics, legality, and departmental policy, are not to be told to others. They also are told that administrators and Internal Affairs officers cannot often be trusted. This emphasis on the police occupational subculture results in many officers regarding themselves as members of a “blue
Police are sometimes stereotyped to be rugged, single minded enforcers who are insensitive to families in their most vulnerable state (Cross, Finkelhor, Ormrod, 2005). This would be an ideal approach to implement; however there seem to be difficult relationships between the two systems as they both hold different values and beliefs.
Born and raised on the Big Island of Hawaii, Captain Sameul Jelsma of Pahoa Police Station has served as a police officer for more than two decades. He is the commander of the station and he oversees the lower Puna district. Before he joined the Hawaii Police Department, he served in the US military. When he was in the army, he decided to come back and serve his own community. He was initially enlisted as a patrol officer but his commitment and hard work rewarded him with promotions as the result of which he became a captain.
The negative views of everyday people often make work hard for officers, adding more stress to their careers. The general public regularly criticizes officers for using excessive force and brutality, especially when a police officer ends up killing a suspect or criminal. Oftentimes, especially when a white police officer shoots a citizen of a minority race, the general public is quick to find faults in the officer, blaming the officer for being racist. However, cold, hard statistics show that the majority of police officers are, in fact, white, and the neighborhoods in which these officers are placed in tend to be high-crime areas with many minority citizens living there (Miller “When Cops Kill”). In addition, people might say that a citizen who was shot was not armed; however, almost anything close to the shot individual could have been turned into a deadly weapon that he or she could have used to wound or kill the officer involved. Whenever officers are in this position, the natural reaction is to defend themselves. Everyday, police officers confront the most aggressive, immoral, and sick-minded individuals of society. Officers jeopardize their own lives every time they report for work. Officers witness things that no person should ever have to encounter. They see the most horrific and gruesome scenes that the general public turns away from and
Myths are defined as stories that are made up by society that symbolizes values, ideologies and beliefs (Phillips, 2016). Myths are used by all cultures; myths are stories that are told to support social customs in societies. Crime myths are also created by telling stories (Victor Kappeler & Gary Potter, 2005). Myths about police officers have created false imageries of officers and their day-to-day jobs. Myths about the police have played an important role for decades now (Phillips, 2016). Majority of police myths are created by both the media and the police themselves. This paper will review Victor Kappeler and Gary Potters summary of police myths and outside sources will be used to support the myths listed by the authors.
"Proper use of discretion is probably the most important measure of a police officer or department." -- Rich Kinsey (retired police detective)
I believe officers in law enforcement are here to serve and protect the citizens of this country. Although as I stated before I also believe that there are still a few that are bad. The majority of them are good. For any kind of change to begin a number of factors need to be involved. The citizens need to use fairness.
In today’s society, there are many ways that people perceive law enforcement officers. It is believed that all police officers like donuts. Some people picture all officers as being masculine or sporting a flattop haircut. Many believe that all cops must meet a ticket quota each month. And lately, police officers are perceived to violently arrest based on racial profiling and discrimination. All of these views are stereotypes of a law enforcement officer. The Merriam Webster Dictionary defines stereotype as “to believe unfairly that all people or things with a particular characteristic are the same”. A stereotype is a broad generalization that many times is only true for a small minority. Stereotypes can be hurtful and incorrect. They
Bibliography Why Good Cops Go Bad. Newsweek, p.18. Carter, David L. (1986). Deviance & Police. Ohio: Anderson Publishing Co. Castaneda, Ruben (1993, Jan. 18). Bearing the Badge of Mistrust. The Washington Post, p.11. Dantzer, Mark L. (1995). Understanding Today's Police. New Jersey: Prentice Hall, Inc. James, George (1993, Mar. 29). Confessions of Corruption. The New York Times, P.8, James, George (1993, Nov. 17). Officials Say Police Corruption is Hard To Stop. The New York times, p.3. Sherman, Lawrence W(1978). Commission Findings. New York Post, P. 28 Walker, J.T. (1992). The police in America, p.243-263, chp. 10, Walker, Samuel (1999).
The first step is to weed out the ones who just are not right to be a officer. The next step is to find the ones who fit the needs of the department. Medical and psychiatric testing, personal interview, and background information is used when identifying if a person is a good fit. There is research that has identified five personality characteristics that allows a police officer to excel in his or her job: extrovert, emotional stability, agreeable, conscientious, and open to experience. People also need to be aware of working in a high crime area. Even if the person has all five traits, but can’t handle the stress they may need to find another profession. There may be times new hires come from another department, but before hiring they need to talk to the previous employer. There may be certain reasons that the officer for hire is wanting to move to a different department. They could have been disciplined or terminated if they had not agreed to resign. This is not okay for the officers are not taking the consequences for their behavior.
Many of the citizens never had a one on one altercation with the law they only base their opinions on experiences with the police influence from other citizens, and that where they get their general image of the police. Many study indicates that police courteousness/friendliness in the direction of the citizen in a recent contact with police exerts the most powerful influence on the citizen’s general assessment of the police. However more studies have indicated that people’s previous overall views of police have sturdier influence on their evaluation of a succeeding specific contact than their evaluation of a specific contact has on subsequent overall views of police. The majority of the American public has not had face-to-face contact with a police officer. Most people respect the mass media as their primary source of information about the many crimes that go on around them, and crime news is the background for most mass media interpretations of police work. The implied message of much crime news is the lack of ability to catch offenders. A trend that is rising in a major way is in the news media. They are using it to focus their attention on a few
The majority of peace officers are committed to the profession they chose. They view the career as a calling, a dedication to perform a public service to their community. Being a police officer requires one to continually strive for perfection, but there is no such thing as a perfect cop. What makes a good cop turn bad? Many factors can attribute to police corruption, but the question that should be asked is if it can be stopped. Although police agencies have progressed greatly from its beginning, police corruption is the black mark that will forever leave a stain of embarrassment within an organization.