Modern Policing

As Chase Madar writes, “[i]f all you 've got is a hammer, then everything starts to look like a nail. (The Over Policing of America)” This statement has never been more true as it relates to modern policing. The movie Peace Officer directed by Scott Christopherson and Brad Barber details many individuals and their personal accounts regarding negative experiences with police officers. Throughout the documentary, person after person describes a time when they or someone they love fell victim to extreme police tactics. The film focuses on the story of Dub Lawrence, a former Utah sheriff, and the tragic death of his son in law at the hands of a police officer (Peace Officer). As evidenced in the documentary Peace Officer, modern policing tactics …show more content…
In the case of the drug raid on the soldier, the documentary showcased the incompetence of the crime scene investigators, who left a good portion of evidence at the crime scene and the inconsistency with the scene the police officers described and the forensic evidence of the bullet hole entry points. Matthew Stewart, the soldier that was targeted in the drug raid, ended up shooting one of the officers, as he did not realize that the officers were not home invaders. In the case of the family, the police arrived late at night, handcuffed the father and mother without explaining the situation and took almost twenty minutes to free them after realizing they had raided the wrong address (Peace Officer). Both circumstances showed the intensity and even brutality of the police officers in those …show more content…
In The Future of Our Freedom, the point is made that most police officers have immunity in cases of death at the hands of police, which leads to them having less mindful reaction when faced with a potentially dangerous situation (Petrova). This is exhibited in the Stanford Prison experiment, which had to be halted due to violence from the “guards” who were given free rein to discipline the “prisoners” however they pleased (Petrova). The lack of true consequence leads to officers losing a sense of prudence when performing a task. In Peace Officer, the Davis County Sheriff Todd Richardson He discussed the justified killing of innocent civilians during raids, and concluded that “a reasonable person” in the officer’s shoes would respond in the same way. This narrative was countered, however, by a reporter from the Huffington Post, who gave the same leeway to the civilian whose house is raided. “You’re woken up in the middle of the night” he said “to armed men in your house…and you’re supposed to wake up…and immediately conclude that the armed men in your house are police officers (Peace Officer).” This further supports the double standard of police immunity. Using Richardson’s logic, it was completely reasonable for Matthew Stewart to kill the officer breaking into his home. It is even more reasonable, since