Recent media coverage may have you thinking law enforcement has taken on the persona of a violent, bloodthirsty, racist, Schwarzenegger-type character instead of the kind, committed Barney Fife of Maberry kind of officer.
The media is buzzing all over the U.S. with stories on police brutality, racial profiling and the lack of trust by citizens toward law enforcement. This repeated coverage of one particular angle on police actions in our society reflects poorly on officers and indicates media bias. Therefore, Americans should conduct their own research to better understand the issue.
From the Rodney King riots in the ’90s to those in Ferguson recently, it really isn’t hard to find the latest story on some cop’s questionable conduct. However, coverage of only negative, isolated incidents should not make up the overall impression of those who protect and serve.
In recent weeks, there have been several examples of notable police conduct. After locating a missing man with medical conditions, a police officer in South Carolina purchased him a meal. An officer in Narragansett, R.I., bought a seven-year-old girl a new bicycle after he couldn’t locate the girl’s stolen bike. Also, in Michigan, an officer purchased a car seat for a child because the mother couldn’t afford one.
Reassuring and redeeming stories involving police are out there, and they outnumber the bad instances. With current inadequate reporting, it is partly the responsibility of the citizens to seek out more information. To be informed on several angles allows for an educated opinion.
If an individual is exposed to one particular view for long periods of time, it’s almost natural for them to believe only that. Trust in law enforcement is sure to dissipate if the public is continuously shown instances of police misconduct and no instances of them stretching beyond
their duties.
In short, use Google and find one or more source of information on the subjects of police brutality and racial profiling in the United States.
One consideration is because black poverty is high and poverty leads to crime which black neighborhoods are often associated with crime by officers.
In their 2003 research paper, “Neighborhood Context and Police Use of Force,” William Terrill of Northeastern University and Michael D. Reisig of Michigan State University suggest that, “Police are more likely to employ force in higher-crime neighborhoods generally, complicating any easy interpretation of race as the decisive factor in explaining police forcefulness.”
A high-crime neighborhood is likely to be a poverty stricken one and also likely to be primarily black.
For instance, the poverty rate for all African-Americans in 2012 was 28.1 percent, which is an increase from 25.5 percent in 2005, according to the 2012 U.S. Census Bureau of American Community Survey.
Poverty creates desperation. As the saying goes, desperate times call for desperate measures. Sometimes, those desperate measures involve crime.
According to Poverties.org, “what reveals the unmistakable connection between poverty and crime is that they’re both geographically concentrated — in a strikingly consistent way. In other words, where you find poverty is also where you find crime.”
This is one example of the many factors that must be considered prior to creating a steadfast opinion of law enforcement in America as gun-toting barbarians.
The issue of police brutality, racial profiling and neglect is important to discuss in our society. However, the negative projection of law enforcement in the United States by the media is deceptive and seemingly ill-willed to police. This creates a responsibility for the public to self-educate.
Police officers often are put in life-threatening situations and regularly endure high stress levels. As with many other professions, there are those who abuse power and break the law, and those people deserve proper consequences.
Despite the continuous airing of these stories and the fantastic framing that some media outlets are doing to drill this negative outlook on police into the public’s mind, there is still a heart behind the badge of many on the beat.
Justin Stafford is a 21-year-old mass communication senior from Walker, Louisiana. You can reach him on Twitter @j_w_stafford.