The police force in today 's society is the main topic of discussion in this essay. In recent news, the media have emphasized police brutality. Mainly attacking blacks, the videos of the beatings have cause riots and protests nationwide. Police are under fire from citizens who believe that their actions against suspects are brutal and not needed, usually happening at traffic stops, burglaries, or disturbances. With the increase in the use of media, come more videos of police abusing or beating suspects while bystanders watch in awe. Whether or not the media is at fault for portraying police as the bad guys is not ultimately clear as several other aspects could be in place. Body cameras are also on the rise in the police force in order to get
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James Pasco, the executive director of the Fraternal Order of Police, explains how hard it is to be a policeman in today 's society: “Police officers literally have millions of contacts with citizens every day, and in the vast majority of those interactions, there is no claim of wrongdoing, but that’s not news” (Perez-Pena & Williams, 2015). Along with the scrutiny of the media, in high-risk scenarios the police need to make instantaneous decisions in order to keep situations under control. The use of video surveillance sometimes creates a misleading view towards officers “and it cannot really put the viewer in the shoes of an officer having to make split-second decisions under pressure” (2015). In a time where the relationship between officers and citizens is growing apart, each side needs to be as understanding as possible. An example of opposing the police force was seen in the article Uproar over Student Art on Use of Force by Police, where multiple students from Oxon Hill High School portrayed an officer treating citizens with violence. According to the president of the local chapter of the Fraternal Order of Police, Dean Jones, “this display does nothing to repair relationships” (Balingit, 2015). Policemen may have to struggle in order to keep the order of communities in line, but with this struggle comes unnecessary abuse that achieves nothing to help solve the issue between the force and the …show more content…
Officers have to be able to identify if the suspect is a threat or not, but recently they seem to be taking the easy way out. Kris Jackson for example, was shot while trying to flee the scene of his girlfriend 's home. He and his girlfriend were arguing and the neighbors called to file a noise complaint. The chief assistant of the police department stated that they weren’t sure if “fleeing out [of] a window” was an actual threat and it is the officer 's decision on how the situation “works out when [they] get there”. But afterwards, the truth came out that Jackson was infact shoeless, shirtless, and unarmed (Somashekhar, 2015). Questionable decisions seem to be made quite frequently among cops, such as in the case regarding Nicholas Thomas. When asked about the shooting of the unarmed man, the officer, Sergeant Kenneth Owens, responded that the situation was “kind of like a fog… I think I shot three times” (2015). Clearly the decision to shoot was not well thought out along with the hundreds of other cases that occur yearly. Had the officer been properly trained, this confrontation could have been handled in a more civilized
James Pasco, the executive director of the Fraternal Order of Police, explains how hard it is to be a policeman in today 's society: “Police officers literally have millions of contacts with citizens every day, and in the vast majority of those interactions, there is no claim of wrongdoing, but that’s not news” (Perez-Pena & Williams, 2015). Along with the scrutiny of the media, in high-risk scenarios the police need to make instantaneous decisions in order to keep situations under control. The use of video surveillance sometimes creates a misleading view towards officers “and it cannot really put the viewer in the shoes of an officer having to make split-second decisions under pressure” (2015). In a time where the relationship between officers and citizens is growing apart, each side needs to be as understanding as possible. An example of opposing the police force was seen in the article Uproar over Student Art on Use of Force by Police, where multiple students from Oxon Hill High School portrayed an officer treating citizens with violence. According to the president of the local chapter of the Fraternal Order of Police, Dean Jones, “this display does nothing to repair relationships” (Balingit, 2015). Policemen may have to struggle in order to keep the order of communities in line, but with this struggle comes unnecessary abuse that achieves nothing to help solve the issue between the force and the …show more content…
Officers have to be able to identify if the suspect is a threat or not, but recently they seem to be taking the easy way out. Kris Jackson for example, was shot while trying to flee the scene of his girlfriend 's home. He and his girlfriend were arguing and the neighbors called to file a noise complaint. The chief assistant of the police department stated that they weren’t sure if “fleeing out [of] a window” was an actual threat and it is the officer 's decision on how the situation “works out when [they] get there”. But afterwards, the truth came out that Jackson was infact shoeless, shirtless, and unarmed (Somashekhar, 2015). Questionable decisions seem to be made quite frequently among cops, such as in the case regarding Nicholas Thomas. When asked about the shooting of the unarmed man, the officer, Sergeant Kenneth Owens, responded that the situation was “kind of like a fog… I think I shot three times” (2015). Clearly the decision to shoot was not well thought out along with the hundreds of other cases that occur yearly. Had the officer been properly trained, this confrontation could have been handled in a more civilized