Peace Officers at War

3/17/2012

Something that has been bothering me for a while is the attitude that a lot of people seem to have towards...

our law enforcement officers. Somehow the generation growing up today has lost their respect for the people who are protecting them from the bad guys. I think I could go on to say that most of this generation actually resents police officers. Gone are the days when cops were our role models, their position garnered respect, and the general public could be counted on to back them up.

Many attitudes I have encountered lately seem to be accusatory towards our peace officers, people think that they are corrupt, enjoy giving punishments, or even that they go out of their way to give undeserving people a good beating. Look online, youtube sensations bear titles such as; “police brutally beats civilian”, or “cop gets what he has coming”, even kids’ entertainment games and videos call cops derogatory names. I myself have been a witness to each of these; from people berating a cop for doing what she had to in order to protect her partner from someone combative, to a kids show calling a cop a pig, to video games and tv commercials who make cops out to be dumb and/or the bad guys.

Mainstream media paints a worse picture. Often cops are called out, challenged for decisions they made by a public who has never had to stand in their shoes of kill or be killed, or stand by and watch someone they’ve sworn to protect get killed. The very public they are trying to protect is being stirred against them, tying their hands with legal jargon, making it harder to punish criminals intent on breaking the law, harder to do the job that is in their heart to do. One has only to look at most recent movies to see Hollywood’s portrayal of today’s cops and bad guys. The cops are corrupt and the bad guys always have good intentions. I fear for those brave enough to put their lives on the line as police for this public who cares not for law enforcement officers or the laws that are protecting them.

Courtney Bertin
(Just a quick note, I did not say that there are never cases of corruption or bad cops, I did not say there are never cases of police brutality. I am just saying that 99.9% of our police force is NOT corrupt, does NOT go looking to brutally beat people up, and DOES deserve our support. I for one want to say thank you to all these men and women laying their personal wishes, and often their personal safety aside to protect me. Feel free to comment and tell me what you think.)

6 Comments

rick marlar

3/18/2012 12:53:58 pm

I support the officer of the peace model not the law enforcement model and there is a big difference between the two I do not and never will agree with swat teams because they are para military groups which under our laws are not allowed. no one has to be a cop it is a choice I do not ask for you to protect me I can do this for myself, in my opinion it is immoral to ask someone to do for me what I can do for myself

Courtney link

3/21/2012 04:09:19 am

Well fist of all, I disagree with you on the idea that SWAT teams are paramilitary groups. They are simply better trained/equipped police officers whose job is to respond to the calls which a regular officer is not prepared for. It's true no one is forced to be a cop, but no one is forced to be a banker either. Do you go out of your way to make them miserable?
And finally, even though you may be able to protect yourself from violence, what is your contingency plan for a drunk driver? Or a drug dealer who is targeting children and young teens? Are you out there trying to stop statutory rape? When was the last time you stopped someone from speeding through as school zone and endangering the next generation? When was the last time you had an entire night to patrol the streets as a deterrent to crime? The fact is, your response, and others we've had like it, perfectly illustrate what we are talking about in this article and that attitude is the problem we were trying to address.

Kayla

6/9/2012 10:16:12 am

Well said ma'am! My sister is only three years younger than me, and her generation-the 90s babies-is entirely different animal from the 80s and beyond. I have always held a high regard for police officers, like you said- I saw them as role models, some one to be respected when I was a child. When my sister learned of my new career, the first thing she said out of her mouth was "so you're going to be those douche bags that pull people over?".

Courtney

6/9/2012 03:07:54 pm

Kayla, I'd like to say thank you for your service and also the comment. It's good to know that my opinion isn't just falling on deaf ears.

John

8/18/2012 02:41:07 pm

The reason why the 90's generation has a negative view on police is because the term police brutality came up during this time. When a man was brutally beaten by cops while he was intoxicated. The man's name was Rodney King. It will forever be engraved into children's minds that cops are bad, due to the mainstream media. But I for one enjoyed this article and was well thought out and said. People do not see the other side of the law. The men and women in uniform that have to deal with threats from criminals, thugs, etc. If people only saw what these people do in a positive light they would not react so harshly at them.

Kendall

10/23/2014 11:44:12 am

Thank you for writting this article. I also want to thank most for thier comments. I come from a long family history of military/law enforcement service. I see where society is heading with regards to respect for a uniform and it infuriates me to my core. All the videos on youtube never show you the full story. These citizens are putting their life on the line day in n day out in order for the rest of us to live our lives in relative safety and yet they are not even shown respect as a human being let alone as a police officer, medical professional, or firefighter.

Peace Officers at War

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