Last week I talked about how the policing system in the United States has evolved through the decades. I also mentioned briefly about how society views law enforcement in the United States and how it can be viewed positively or negatively by society.

This week I will talk about how the relationship between law enforcement and its community is very VERY important. In an article from the Charles Koch Institute Jeremiah Mosteller says that “Proper policing practices require that law enforcement build positive relationships with their community, respect civil liberties, and avoid tactics that encourage the use of excessive force against citizens.” If a community has the need to WANT to call the police when appropriate then they will build a positive relationship with their community. In order for a positive relationship to occur there needs to be trust…

Trust, law enforcement, and the community all used in the same sentence…I know. If you aren’t living under a rock then you would know that right now there is a lot of tension between the police and the U.S. population as a whole, especially people of color. There have been innocent black people killed by the police like George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Alton Sterling that the public has made it a point that they are upset about. We put our trust into these organizations and agencies and they stab our back and kill innocent people apart of our community. We know that these individuals in uniform are humans and that they make mistakes too but we seem to still act surprised and be even more angry whenever they act out of character. We also seem to fear the police rather than see them as the protectors and peacekeepers of our community. We fear the power that the police have over us. In the recent years we have seen people become fearful of the police because of the abusive power that these police agencies are using on their community.

On the other side of law enforcement being seen as negative to the community, it is seen as positive. It is actually seen as a positive agency by most people we just don’t think about it consciously. What I mean by this is that if you go to a concert you most likely will feel safe because you know there is security there to protect you. Or when you go to school you might feel safe knowing that there is a resource officer there during school hours. From a young age we know that there are these people in uniform that are “good guys” that protect us from bad people and as we matured we started to realize who the police actually were and what they actually do. We also rely on the cops a lot more than we think. Say for example, you are home alone and you see someone pull into your driveway. They get out of their car and approach your door and begin to break in. You call 911 because you are scared and need help. The person that called 911 could also be the same person that believes cops are bad. Sometimes it depends on the circumstance that you are in that you decide whether cops are bad or not. This is NOT a very good way to look at it.

Don’t get me wrong, I believe that there are good cops and there are bad cops but I don’t think it is fair to say they are all bad. When police serve, they serve the community they put their life on the line. I don’t think it is a personal problem among officers, I believe it is because the system we have is skewed.