Bad apples
Dear editor:
Every barrel of apples is going to have a few bad ones. The past few weeks, we’ve seen video of plenty of deplorable behavior on the part of police. What we don’t see is the millions of nonsensational footage of them doing their jobs and helping in the community. The media has sensationalized this behavior and, in my opinion, irresponsibly increased and escalated tension.
Everyone should put themselves in the shoes of law enforcement officers, although that’s really impossible. They are paid decently, but probably not what
the actual risk versus reward the profession calls for. If you are a cop patrolling the bad part of a city, on a 10- or 12-hour shift, seeing people who don’t work for a living, walking in the middle of the street with their pants sagging, talking to you with no respect, constantly having to go to the same addresses to handle disputes, etc. over time, you are going to build up a simmering resentment. Either toward the color of a person’s skin or just the general manner in which they live and conduct themselves. Because it’s a pattern you see every day of your job, while you are knowingly putting your own life on the line for an income that affords you and your family the same basic things you see those people getting for free. It’s bound to affect the mentality of a law enforcement officer.
That said, as we move past this, some fundamental changes need to be made in both hiring, training and continued education in police departments around the country. Growing up, I noticed a large number of policemen in my hometown were not the brightest (I had gone to school with many of them), and some of them did adopt a totally different mentality. It seemed the badge and gun gave them a sense of entitlement and attitude. Many were lazy before they joined the force, and it continued. So the aptitude tests need to be raised, and a comprehensive psychological evaluation needs to accompany any law enforcement hiring. A lot of the cops who do bad things weren’t good people before they were cops. It gives the 95% who are outstanding a bad reputation and makes their jobs all the harder.
I may be skewered in this section for saying this, but Blue Lives Do Matter, and always will. We can’t live without law enforcement, and we need to put law enforcement personnel in place who are capable of living with us. Kate Jones Hot Springs