There are many people in this world who view men and women with
badges as lazy, donut eating, coffee drinking, arrogant, untrustworthy and
uncompassionate people. Littles argues that police officers live their lives
walking the thin blue line to protect and “they spend countless hours away from their family to help protect yours. They will face those [who do wrong] with nothing to gain when they themselves have everything to lose” (Littles). The ironic thing is society stereotypes this subculture, may see them as enemies, and call them awful names, but still dial their number when they need help. They expect police officers to quickly arrive during an emergency and still they do not hesitate to disrespect them by calling them names like “Po Po” or “pigs”. This line of work just simply does not get enough thank yous for all that they deal with on a daily basis.
Individuals in society tend to skip over the little details and
immediately draw conclusions about these men and women. When a police officer has a man on the ground in handcuffs, society instantly sympathizes with the perpetrator. But in reality, the officer has a reasoning for taking that action; whether it be because the criminal was armed and lives were in danger or the man was not cooperating and resisting arrest (Bouza). Police always have
justification for their actions, that’s how they were trained. According to
Terry Constant, “[One] cannot keep his defenses up and view a person as a friend
at the same time. [Police officers] are always on guard and ready for the worse
to happen.” Constant goes on to say, “If an officer approaches a car with a
friendly attitude, his guard is down.” It is not that they want to be seen as
rude or uncaring, but also they have to protect themselves from the unknown. The
unrealistic expectations that society creates for the symbols of authority are
mentally stressful. They are stigmatized and ridiculed for what the job entails
(Heibutzki). Katherine W. Ellison’s research shows the need to prove oneself is
ranked number three on the top ten stressors in the law enforcement profession.
This is because police officers take a proactive approach to deal with
communities’ disapprovals and false views. They are trying to overcome a name
that was placed on this subculture because of a few bad guys who made wrong
decisions while in uniform. Sadly, people’s opinions and misperceptions have
become a dominating factor in the lives of these deputies.
badges as lazy, donut eating, coffee drinking, arrogant, untrustworthy and
uncompassionate people. Littles argues that police officers live their lives
walking the thin blue line to protect and “they spend countless hours away from their family to help protect yours. They will face those [who do wrong] with nothing to gain when they themselves have everything to lose” (Littles). The ironic thing is society stereotypes this subculture, may see them as enemies, and call them awful names, but still dial their number when they need help. They expect police officers to quickly arrive during an emergency and still they do not hesitate to disrespect them by calling them names like “Po Po” or “pigs”. This line of work just simply does not get enough thank yous for all that they deal with on a daily basis.
Individuals in society tend to skip over the little details and
immediately draw conclusions about these men and women. When a police officer has a man on the ground in handcuffs, society instantly sympathizes with the perpetrator. But in reality, the officer has a reasoning for taking that action; whether it be because the criminal was armed and lives were in danger or the man was not cooperating and resisting arrest (Bouza). Police always have
justification for their actions, that’s how they were trained. According to
Terry Constant, “[One] cannot keep his defenses up and view a person as a friend
at the same time. [Police officers] are always on guard and ready for the worse
to happen.” Constant goes on to say, “If an officer approaches a car with a
friendly attitude, his guard is down.” It is not that they want to be seen as
rude or uncaring, but also they have to protect themselves from the unknown. The
unrealistic expectations that society creates for the symbols of authority are
mentally stressful. They are stigmatized and ridiculed for what the job entails
(Heibutzki). Katherine W. Ellison’s research shows the need to prove oneself is
ranked number three on the top ten stressors in the law enforcement profession.
This is because police officers take a proactive approach to deal with
communities’ disapprovals and false views. They are trying to overcome a name
that was placed on this subculture because of a few bad guys who made wrong
decisions while in uniform. Sadly, people’s opinions and misperceptions have
become a dominating factor in the lives of these deputies.