Prejudice and police work

Prejudice and police work. Lately these two words are being used more and more together then ever before. As a police officer myself, I can not count the number of times I have been accused of arresting someone or enforcing a law based on “racial” reasons. We have all heard the term “racial profiling” and other terms related to this issue. I think it is important for all of us to keep an open mind and not let our own prejudices affect our judgment.

According to the Encarta Dictionary (accessed via msn.com) the word prejudice means to form an opinion (beforehand), usually an unfavorable one, based on insufficient knowledge, irrational feelings, or inaccurate stereotypes. I would like to take this moment to emphasize that this definition applies to everyone police or not. The reason I say that is because I believe, based on my own experiences, that the majority of the time racial motivations or blame come more from the person being arrested then the officer. But please keep in mind that I am a police officer and see things from a point of view that you (the reader) may not.

So how did all these thoughts regarding prejudice and police work get mixed up? According to the text book chapter five, “the functions of the police are order maintenance, law enforcement, and service.” It is my personal belief that certain people developed their prejudicial theories based of the feelings that they were not being treated the same as others because of their race, religion, or background. In a way it is understandable why these opinions develop. The largest problem I see, and again this is a police officer point of view, is that instead of working to correct the problem these people (who consider themselves victims) choose to create their own prejudices about the police. I can not express to you how frustrating it is to be “branded.” And by branded I mean some people point their fingers at me and call me a bad cop because of the actions of another officer who I have never met.

Although the main function of police is universal, people need to realize that we are all not the same, nor do we handle situations the same. The perfect example is the television show COP’s. Most people that watch that television program automatically assume that the officers are conducting themselves in the same manner that their local law enforcement agency is. This is far from the truth. Every department has there own policies, and each state has their own laws. I have expressed to my friends and family (non-police) the differences between the way officers on the television act compared to the way I due business.

This brings me to my next focus of discussion which is the “police subculture.” I found chapter six of the text book very informative on how much the subculture of police work affects an officer’s outlook on society. The reason I find this so true and important to talk about is because I’ve seen and experienced this phenomena myself. I constantly advise people to participate in a “ride-a-long” with their local agency if they really want to get a glimpse into how things work. Most people who have ridden with me have told me similar things after they’ve completed the ride-a-long. Basically most people before the ride-a-long think police officers do little more then drive around all day and write tickets. They are very surprised when they learn just how much crime is out there and just how busy I am. In fact most of my ride-a-longs have apologized to me for making premature judgments about the police after seeing just how hard it can be to deal with emotional people, while enforcing the law, and trying to keep everyone safe (including the suspect) at the same time.

I could go on and on but I do not want to drift away from the main topic to much. Earlier I mention racial profiling which I would like to also discuss since is directly related to the subject. I, as a police officer, have been taught that racially profiling someone is simply contacting, focusing attention on, or avoiding (while on duty) based on their appearance. Now this is an issue that I think will never be resolved. And that is because how can you prove what someone was thinking? Our assumptions are based on our own opinions. Believe me one thing I’ve learned as a police officer is that you can’t make everyone happy so you might as well focus on the job. This was a recent issue in the city where I work.

Concerns were expressed by the community regarding what appeared to be increasing “gang” activity. Basically people (civilians not police) believed, based on appearances, that groups of teenagers were “gang members” loitering and harassing others at the local mall. So we (as the police) increased our patrols and started contacting and identifying groups of teens who had been at the mall for extended periods of time. At first things seemed to be going well, crimes at the mall were almost non-existent. The problem came from the parents, the same type of citizens that brought this issue to our attention in the first place. Parents weren’t happy that we were contacting their children and “racially profiling” them, or another words contacting them based on their appearances. So as the complaints mounted we backed off. Less then a week later a gang shooting took place inside the mall. The shooter was a fifteen year old boy. And to make matters worse, many of the same parents complaining about police presents at the mall now were on the news saying the police should have been their and should have done more. But that is just the way things go sometimes. There are always politics associated with police work.

When I get the opportunity to speak to students at some of the local schools I try to help them understand this issue. I want them to know that the police officer is not contacting them because he or she wants to harass them. It is just that it is so difficult to know based on appearances who are the “bad guys” and who are not. As the old saying goes if it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, and talks like a duck, your first guess is going to be it’s a duck even though it may not be. The reason I tell them this is to help them understand that the police officer is not looking at them directly. What attracted the officer’s attention was the young kid, dressed in gang colors, speeding around town blaring loud music from their car radio, and trying to start trouble to impress their friends.

This is obviously a topic that is not going to go away or be resolved anytime soon. The things discussed throughout this paper are only the tip of the ice burgee so to speak of issues creating distrust between the police and community. Personal prejudices and stereotyping are things that both police officers and members of society need to learn to overcome in order to work together to achieve our mutual goal which is a peaceful and safe community.