Some may remember the days of when your local Police Officer lived in the neighborhood and knew everyone’s name. Or when Police Officers aided broken down vehicles with a canister of gasoline to get them to the next gas station.
Today Law Enforcement Officers are prohibited from aiding broken down vehicles, excluding calling for a tow truck, due to risk of being sued by the very individuals they would help. But it goes way beyond these little gestures.
Modern Law Enforcement Officers are not trained to “Serve and Protect” as the old saying goes. Today they are trained to “uphold the law” at all cost.
Even before the Rodney King incident that grabbed the Nation a divide had formed between Society and Law Enforcement. This divide was not from a place of dis-trust but one of lack of service and training.
As with most things the training of kindness and helpfulness fell to the side being replaced by directedness and the Law. Officers no longer “walked the beat” and got to know the people they served, instead they were separated from their own communities. This allowed mistrust and conspiracy theories to arise on the side of society.
Today, one can find all kinds of videos on the internet showing the lack of knowledge Police Officers are given. Millions of “First Amendment Auditors” provoke officers into confrontations for a few second of what they hope will be a viral video. While many of these Auditors have stated their purpose is to educate Officers and society on the actual laws, these videos do not get the viewership.
Mainstream media, sadly lives by the golden rule of “IF IT BLEEDS IT LEADS”, and portrays confrontational incidents between society and law enforcement as either a race issue or a mental health issue. It is said that mainstream media has aided dividing law enforcement from society.
Many Law Enforcement Officers have stated that their training lacks more information and that department policies keep them separated from their communities.
We now live in a society where fear on both sides prevail to deadly outcomes.
As many citizens have noticed the removal of “To Serve and Protect” and “In God We Trust” logos on Law Enforcement Vehicles, along side it was the connection to the community.
Law Enforcement Officers wear many hats in todays world ranging from protector to psychologist. But due to the lack of training for community communication and a felt need to protect officers from lawsuits the divide has increased to a level of untrust. This is despite several Law Enforcement Departments creation of community outreach programs. The simple truth is that in todays world Law Enforcement Officers are painted as the bad guys.
It is true that some officers should not wear the uniform, but these are fewer than what is believed. Corruption rumors and a few bad apples have created this mistrust. But in many instances it was also created by the lack of training for the officers to engage with their local community.
Police are now looked upon by many as a militant organization enforcing laws that violate individual freedoms and Constitutional Protections. The irony to this rising believe is these same individual who create this divide seek each others assistance when needed.
So, how to Law Enforcement regain the trust of the communities they serve and how do the communities begin trusting Law Enforcement? The truth is there is no easy answer to these questions. It can be said that a leap of faith can be started on both sides to rebuild the once existing trust that has faded into nothingness.
But the key is to maintain this trust on both sides with full cooperation and transparency.