Why Do People View Law Enforcement?

In America today, there are some very different views on the police and how effective they are in protecting and serving. Many citizens believe police officers do their best to protect and serve the public. Though, some segments of the population see law enforcement in a negative light. The major differences in how people view law enforcement have traditionally been most clearly seen along demographic lines. One statistic showed, “68% of Whites and only 18% of Blacks expressed confidence in law enforcement,” (Casandra & Ray, 2013). However, more people are starting to fear law enforcement for several reasons. One of the main reasons people view law enforcement negatively is because of the images and scenes of police brutality seen almost every day on the news and social media. In recent years, notable police brutality cases have resulted in city wide riots and protests. One significant example is the riots …show more content…
Although this is certainly not the first time that law enforcement has done something that would not be considered popular. Police departments will continue to use military like tactics when it comes to situations where it is deemed necessary. The most common use would be for things such as an active shooter, a dangerous felony crime scene, or a hostage situation. Protests have become the most common place where the general public sees this. Every time a major story about police brutality the news outlets these days, police are shown in a bad light and have to answer to a lot of critics. Sometimes, the residents of the city fight back in protest. When this happens, police have every right to protect themselves from violent protesters. They have to be fully armed as well because you never know what will happen next and you have to be ready for anything. If protests of this nature continue to happen, then we will see this type of police militarization to continue to as