The Pros And Cons Of Peace Officers

As of lately, the relationships Peace Officers have had with those living in the communities they serve has been hit or miss at best. With thousands of smart phones active at all times, hundreds of interactions that citizens have with Peace Officers have resulted in the death or injury of the Peace Officer, but more commonly the death of an unarmed individual with a mental illness. In fact, incidents such as this have sparked riots and mass civil protest in cities such as Ferguson Missouri, Los Angeles California, and in smaller cities such as San Jose California. However, even with all of the negative media the trends of unarmed individuals who are mostly minorities seem to be reoccurring and many feel that nothing is changing. From the Peace Officers standpoint, they are the first responders often interacting with people who are a danger to themselves and others, but facts presented from some of these incidents have citizens outraged arguing that many times this is not the case, and in a split second the lives of the officer and a family living in the United States is changed forever. The obligation to protect the citizens of the …show more content…
Professionals such as social workers (LCSW) or even a psychologist would ensure that the information provided to trainees is accurate as they work with individuals suffering from mental illnesses. As mentioned previously in the text, the skills acquired by working with this population is a perishable skill and those receiving the training would benefit much greater if it were taught from someone that has much more experience with serving those with mental illness. A 40-hour block of instruction is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to identifying all of the issues our officers may see in the field, and having a professional teach it would ensure that any questions posed would be answered