The Media Of Police Officers

In the journal, Media Influence on Citizen Attitudes Toward Police Effectiveness, Kenneth Dowler researched the effects media has on community attitudes towards how effective police are. Research shows that race, gender, age, education, geographical location, political views, and socioeconomic status plays a role in attitudes towards police (Dowler, 2002). There allegedly is a discrepancy whether police are portrayed positively or negatively by the media (Dowler, 2002). Dowler measured using three different types of questions, seven total. The first three questions were about confidence in police protect, solve, and prevent crime (Dowler, 2002). Dowler’s next three questions were about related to police promptness, fairness, and friendliness.

The subcultures of law enforcement officers exist within the ranks and will always pose a serious risk for misconduct. According to Leadership, Ethics, and Policing: Challenges for the 21st Century, the police subculture is one of the most important aspects of police officer’s attitude and behavior. It is defines the beliefs, values, views and understanding of the officers to the environment they are in. Ortmeier & Meese explain that subcultures describe the community of support and unity of officers through violence and hostility encountered on duty (2009). Often time’s police officers have the mentality of “us versus them” which creates a solid communal belief that every officer has each other’s back and when things get tough for officers they know they can rely on fellow officers for support. Within this “subculture” is also the cover up of misconduct by fellow officers. This is referred to as the “thin blue line” or “code of silence”. In a nationwide survey conducted in 1998, over half of the respondents

Some police officers would think that enacting a law which demands the use of non-deadly force before using deadly force in a dangerous situation would be a way to endanger their lives. But they should know that choosing to be a police officer is already a danger, and if they are committed with the institution, they will see this solution as a benefit for the country because it will heal the image of the police department that nowadays is damaged due to the acts that they performed. On the other hand, Richard Beary, president of the International Association of Chiefs of Police, warned that there isn’t much money to give officers better training in community relations. Although, this can be a disadvantage for the solution, it can be solved by the government, which is able to provide more funds to the Police Department if they take this problem seriously as it is right now. Ms. Rawlings-Blake said: “If there is any place where the federal government and the Justice Department can produce a tangible difference for our officers, it would be to provide more resources in fiscal belt-tightening area.” In this area, police officers learn the broader significance of their role on society. Though not a perfect solution, analysts said, more comprehensive training for police officers is, in the words of Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake,

Police are the front-line agents of formal social control.” Meaning that the job description of an officer is to be legit by conforming to all rules, to be efficient by achieving maximum productivity with minimum wasted effort or expense and to be fair by just treatment or behavior without favoritism or discrimination. This cannot truly happen without the communication with citizens, but as the introduction section points out “neighborhoods with high levels of disadvantage have poorer attitudes towards the criminal justice system, with race being a strong predictor of attitudes towards police.” For example, in a district with a higher workload and higher crime rate (and high incivilities) police may treat citizens differently, ignoring minor offenses, and focusing more on serious offending in an effort to direct limited departmental resources more efficiently. Having that negative response from officers then present why people have that negative feeling towards

An article published in the International Journal of Police Science and Management authors Bain, Robinson, and Conser (2014) describe the police as reactive, meaning they respond to a call for help. This limits police interaction with the community to either being the victim, offender or witness of a crime. This relationship is then connected to a negative memory no matter which role the individual plays. “The ability of the police to function as an effective service is often predicated on the positive image they maintain with the general public” (Bain, Robinson, and Conser, 2014). This type of relationship along with the one experienced in Cincinnati, Ohio in the late 1990’s to mid-2000’s where there were an alarming number of fatalities due to police

On TV, police officers’ lives are often portrayed as glamorous and filled with excitement,but this is not the case in real life. Police officers’ lives are not filled with heroic acts everyday, nor are they filled with hardcore criminals everyday. The media has glorified police work for many years and there is no sign of it stopping. Police officers’ jobs are to maintain order, prevent crime, and investigate crime and witnesses. There are several different types of policing like: community, zero-tolerance, and problem oriented policing.

Readers can expect to learn information to enhance their understanding of the oppressive challenges affecting our inner city communities as a result of Chicago police corruption and who is ultimately at fault. This research has several practical implications. First, police departments and training units need to focus on the development and sustainment of attitudes consistent with being fair and just. Departments need to recognize that attitudes are shaped by the salient subculture, and that training needs to ‘‘override’’ these definitions in order to prevent misconduct. Second, the analysis uncovered important linkages between officer attitudes and officer behavior, a finding not too often found in the policing literature (Worden, 1989). Thus,

A cop on the street endures continual contact with drunks, druggies, the mentally disturbed, and violent criminals. On a daily basis, they deal with life-and-death situations, and know quite well that any situation - without notice - can turn very bad where the only immediate option is to use deadly force necessary for their own personal safety and survival. Those who are family-members and close friends of a law enforcement officer are also fully aware of the public dangers and human risk that are actually involved with the job. On the other hand, a lot of the general public typically has an ill-conceived and unrealistic notion that a cop has full control in any situation in

Understanding the distinctive values and perceptions that are shared by the police subculture is central to understanding police violence, its breadth, and its persistence (Brandl et al., 2001, Herzog, 2000 and Skolnick & Fyfe, 1993, p. 7). The police possess a “working personality” (Skolnick, 1994) as a result of their socialization into the police subculture. Police develop shared values that influence their view of human behavior and their role in society. The police subculture is characterized by suspiciousness, cynicism, clannishness, secrecy, and isolation from others in society (Brown, 1981, p. 82; Crank, 1998, Niederhoffer, 1967, Regoli et al., 1990, Rubinstein, 1973 and Sherman, 1974, p. 196; Sparrow et al., 1992 and Waddington,

The media does not help the matter either because Police Officers mostly make the news when they are being represented in a negative way. Police subculture believes that if they can not count on anyone else in the world to have their backs, but each other, regardless of the situation. Feeling secure is another one of the main ingredients that are part of the Police Subculture theory (Norwood,

The table in chapter 5 figure 5.1 on pages 115 and 116, gives a brief contrast of how cops are portrayed in the media as opposed to what they are in reality. For instance, tv shows, movies or any other source of entertainment, often portray cops as having an easygoing job, but in reality, police officers rarely have it that simple. The media fabricates the reality of time as well as effort of what it means to save lives and deter crime. Moreover, the table points out that when it comes to solving crimes on television, the time duration are between thirty minutes to an hour; actually, cases are not solved quickly. The time consumption usually takes days, weeks, months or even years to solve cases in which they eventually become cold cases.

Many law abiding citizens such as police officers risk their lives every day. Police officers are hired to protect the citizens from cries of violence striking the citizens. The streets are a pen of rampant criminals out of control. These people are inhumane bottles of vile that cannot be trusted. These ‘vials’ will stop at nothing to kill someone no matter who they are. Police misconduct is seen as abusive behavior. A question should pop in everyone’s head, what can I do to help society? Citizens have widely spread that corruption or abuse is associated with all officers. I am here to address that police officers, the majority, are not the issue. Respect goes a long way in today’s society, but is rarely tried. Police officers see misconduct and abusive behavior daily. This mentally affects them and gives them another reason not to trust the citizens. With more jumpy officers and rampant criminals, this gives officers a bigger responsibility to decide whether what is right and wrong. We can agree that officers do gain the right to have higher authority over citizens. This is what their job entails and is a must to enforce what is right. This also gives them the right to use deadly force under the right circumstances. Statistically speaking over 9,000,000 crimes were committed in the United States in 2012. This makes police officers more likely to applicate force knowing how dangerous people can be.

"A policeman’s first obligation is to be responsible to the needs of the community he serves…The problem is that the atmosphere does not yet exist in which an honest police officer can act without fear of ridicule or reprisal from fellow officers. We create an atmosphere in which the honest officer fears the dishonest officer, and not the other way around.", -Frank Serpico.

Crime shows definitely portrays police work a lot different than what it is in real life. The goals may be the same as any other media source which is to catch the viewer’s attention. Some differences from officers in the media and real officers are as following: In TV shows it may seem that there is never a boring moment for an officer and that they are always doing something vs. real life, where there could be dull moments and at times be very busy as well. In addition, one of the things that is often seen on TV shows is that officers are always violent, fighting, shooting, and may use physical force against a suspect to get information that they need, when in reality that is not the case (Surette, 2015). Officers do not use any physical

In the past the media portrayed police officers as beacon for justice. Based on personal experiences, until about the 1990’s every little boy growing up wanted to be the good guy. However in today’s new popular culture, young boys are no longer arguing over who gets to be the good guy. The villain is now seen as a viable option. The difference in views comes from the mass media; police officers are now being represented in a more negative characteristic. Some police portrayals show the police as being just as corrupted or evil as the criminals they are supposed to be apprehending. This illustrate the mass media have an influence that goes far beyond their role in the entertainment industry.