The Importance Of Police Reputation

Police Reputation Recently, the reputations of police officers and departments in America have dropped to an all-time low. Locally, people are still more concerned by police presence than they are reassured. I really decided to take another look at police reputation about a week before this draft when I remembered stories some of my classmates would tell about “Big-Booty Judy”. The stories were mostly complaints about him doing his job and pulling them over when they acted like hooligans, however I am more concerned by the nickname. Police respect is in some hard times; even schoolyard name-calling has been deemed acceptable. Obviously, some cops are crooked, but the vast majority are just hard working people. For anybody that has the …show more content…
In addition to testing officers to make sure they have stayed fit for service, there is a need to keep unfit officers from joining the force. “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure,” is a saying from yesteryear, and it has rarely rang so true. There need to be changes to what constitutes a viable officer. The old cliché of fat cops going for donuts needs to become a relic of the past. Psychological requirements need to be stricter as well. Any person who cannot handle life-or-death pressure should probably not try to become a police officer. A recent incident of a university police officer discharging his weapon at a suspect fleeing by car comes to mind. That was the first time he ever used the weapon, according to his superiors.
Research into body cameras, or bodycams for short, was funded by the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services and executed by the Police Executive Research Forum (PERF) in 2013 and found mostly positive …show more content…
It states an increase in accountability, something needed for police reputation to rise. The primary drawback is cost. However, if the first two options are considered, then this third would integrate better into the force. Regardless of the first two options is the feasibility of increased budget. If, for example, moneys were pulled from the gargantuan military spending budget, then domestic dangers could be better fought as well. Bodycams will also allow better accounting and documentation of various statistics of both the officers and alleged offenders. This data collection of crime statistics can greatly help analysts properly predict crime zones, and help officer placement. Form fits function after all is said and