Hollywood Police Image is Wrong

While I was surfing the internet, I came across an article from the New York Times. It was in the Op-Ed section, so right away you realize a few things… this is from the most liberal paper in the country and in a section where they do not have to back anything up with sources. The article/post the author wrote upset me. It is propaganda and in keeping with the “Hollywood” image of police officers. Here is a link to the article.

There is so much put out to the public from the media about the bad police officer. This image, portrayed in movies, television, music, newspaper and now the internet, has become so pervasive it is believed this is the way officers really are. It has become the public’s perception that ALL police officers are bad, racist, out to circumvent the justice system, disgruntled and for lack of saying it any other way… criminal. Well, I have heard enough and wish to speak out against this.

The officers I know and work with are good, honest, hard working men and women. They know how and when to act within the law. They extend themselves and go out into their communities to serve the public risking life and limb for principles they feel are vital to the well being of society. I have lost a friend and co-worker fighting for these principles. This profession is a commitment to all things that are good. Officers enter this profession willing to lay down their life for the service of these principles. Justice, Law, Fairness, Opportunity and Freedom are the only powers they are armed with. Sure, we police the streets with guns and weapons, but the real police power is only granted to the officer from the community. This power is entrusted to the officer. It can be taken away. Police are only empowered when the community allows them to be. Over and over again, officers reach into their own pockets and take time away from their own families to make a community a safer place to live.

The frequency of the bad cop image in the media infuriates me. Officers work without a sense of thanks from the communities they protect. This is a thankless profession. It is a profession based on the principle that a person is “innocent until proven guilty” and thanks to this media image, every police officer accused of wrong doing is “guilty until proven innocent”.

I would be in error if I did not point out that there are officers who are in the wrong. This is true with any profession. How many times does it make the front page headline of your hometown paper when a mailman is arrested? An employee at the corner hamburger restaurant arrested? The mechanic at the tire shop arrested? Not very often I am sure. I guarantee you each time a police officer is arrested there is a headline. This goes back to the trust empowered to the police from the community. This trust is violated when an officer does wrong. There is no violation of trust from the public when the fry guy at the local hamburger shop is arrested.

This transition of Hollywood’s police image began transforming in the late 70’s. It came into full swing with the Rodney King incident. We need more media images where police are doing a great job, caring for the public and the trust the community has entrusted them with. Until more of these images are out there, our society will continue to decline and fail to trust those sworn to keep our society whole.

So, the next time you are stopped by a police officer, realize first they are just doing their job. Give them the benefit of the doubt that they are not the stereotypical Hollywood bad police officer. Remember when you need a police officer it is not that they are never around. It is that they are busy doing a thankless job helping probably an ungrateful citizen who is in crisis. In all my years of doing this job, I have never been called to a house because it was a birthday party and they needed help blowing out the candles on the cake… it is because someone has thrown the cake across the room in a drunken rampage.