Diamond Jordan

Nov. 14, 2016

Stacy and Erin M.

Draft: section 2

Poor Perception of the Group:

Even though there are individuals making a positive impact on community/police

relations, the overall public opinion of law enforcement officers is trending negative. Serious

violent incidents, including rape, attempted rape, robbery and physical attack, occurred in an

estimated 13 percent of U.S. schools in 2013-2014, according to federal data, with 26,000

serious violent incidents reported in those schools. Two percent of the nations schools reported

fights involving a weapon,(Brown). Having these statistics be so recent police officer may be on

the fence because there has been reported violence in schools, such as the fights with weapons.

However lately in the media, there have been multiple instances that show evidence of a lack of

positive relationships between police and teens. For instance, at William E. Tolman Senior High

School, there was a case where an officer at the school site felt threatened and slammed a

student onto the floor. Despite the officers feeling of being threatened, there was no real threat

and his actions were unsubstantiated. Two students, Ivander and Tyler Debergo, were arrested

after the incident but later released and not charged. Students and families are seeing students

being mistreated by police on the news across the country, not just in this one example. With this
saturation of negative interactions, why should anyone be expected to unquestioningly trust the

policing system?

Some police may believe that the people, of the United states, shouldnt be questioning

the trust of the system. However, Eddie Craig, a former Deputy Sheriff, tells Justin Gardner from

The Free Thought Project They have made this system convenient to allow your rights to be

violated in a way that you would much rather have that happen than stand up for them (1). Here,

a former law enforcement officer admits that the public can be, and is being, mistreated by the

police force. As a result of claims like these and situations like the one at Tolman, people feel

that the expected blind trust of law enforcement is not only unjust, but unsafe. In other words,

more community policing programs should be created with restoring the public and police

relations.