Police Officers aren't the bad guys
Author: Kayla Slavik
Slavik, Kayla. “Police Officers Aren't the Bad Guys.” Great Falls Tribune, 11 May 2015, www.greatfallstribune.com/story/life/2015/05/10/police-officers-bad-guys/27102953/.
A favorite theme we see in almost every plot ever made is good versus evil. We thrive off of the constant battle between what we think is right in opposition to the bad, evil or wrong.
So when was it that police officers became the bad guys? Did it all start with the Michael Brown incident in Missouri, or has this been a major issue hiding in the shadows waiting to emerge until recently?
Whatever the case, we are seeing more and more instances of the police becoming the bad guys in our society. But are there some things the media is hiding behind its constant coverage of rioting and police hate?
Well, of course there is.
Before I launch into the idea that not all police officers are evil, you may be wondering, “Kayla, aren’t you going to be biased since you are closely related to a police officer?” Yes, as a matter of fact, I am a bit biased.
I have been raised to respect the men and women who bravely go out day after day to keep their community safe. I also get the opportunity to see what police officers are like when they don’t have the uniform on, and they are normal members of our society. As the rule enforcers of the community, cops may seem intimidating, and the rebellious humans we are, we tend to see people who enforce the rules as oppressive.
However, police are just regular people who have lives outside of work, just like the rest of us. The reason cops usually get a bad rap is because of the nature of their work.
Let’s make one thing clear right away: there are bad police officers out there. Those who abuse their power or are underqualified can be the source of grief for hundreds of citizens. For example, the recent issue in Baltimore was an instance of a few individuals who simply messed up.
For those of you who haven’t heard, Freddie Gray of Baltimore recently died after being severely injured while being detained by a few Baltimore police officers. That certainly isn’t good, however rioting is not going to fix this.
The rioting is only hurting more people who have done nothing wrong. Let the justice system work its magic and let the officers suffer their fate, but don’t ruin the lives of countless others just to make a statement.
Now with all of that out of the way, here are some interesting statistics. The CDC reports that between 1999 and 2013, 2,151 white people were killed by cops and 1,130 blacks. The death-by-officer rates for blacks is down 75 percent since 1999. Another source shows that black officers count for as little as 10 percent of police shootings and of those they kill, 78 percent are black.
Finally, the Bureau of Justice Statistics reported that in 2004, state courts had more than 1 million felony convictions. Of those felonies, 59 percent were by whites and 38 percent blacks. However, when you factor in the population of whites versus blacks, the felony rates for whites are 330 per 100,000 whereas blacks are 1,178 per 100,000. This isn’t an issue as simple as black and white.
Police brutality is not OK, but the number of abusive officers is vastly outweighed by the majority of officers who do their jobs right and do it well. We should not have a negative view of all police officers just because of the actions of a few. For example, have you ever heard rumors about someone and assumed they were just like that, but when you actually met them they were completely different?
When you listen to all the news coverage and hear all the bad stories about cops and then assume all of them are like that, you might be surprised when you actually encounter some officers and realize that most of them are really nice people whose major concern is your safety and the safety of the people around you. Rioting won’t solve any of these problems.
If you still have an issue with the way the police enforce things in your area, hurting other people isn’t going to help. You need to take into account that these are men and women like you who are trying to do their jobs to the best of their ability but are constantly under the scrutiny of the public.
So maybe in the near future, police will no longer be the bad guys. Maybe, just maybe, we can see them as the good guys they are again.
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