BLUE LIGHT SPECIAL
What Goes On Behind the Badge
The good, the bad and the downright ugly
“When you have police officers who abuse citizens, you erode public confidence in law enforcement. That makes the job of good police officers unsafe.”
— Mary Frances Berry —
With the Black Lives Matter protests happening across America, I can’t help but wonder where it all went wrong.
The current wave of protests started with the murders of Black people at the hands of the police, for reasons that did not warrant arrest, let alone violence. These victims were unknowingly living their lives when caught in the wrong place at the wrong time and lives wrongfully taken from them.
As an older teen, I had a cousin in the City Police who occasionally told me about what went on in the police force. Back then, I was impressed by how brave my cousin was and how he made sure that society functioned well. After all, every child is awed by police officers’ work because they look essential and make sure the “bad guys” are off the streets to ensure everyone’s safety.
However, now that I’m older and my cousin has since passed, I can see American police’s reality with my own eyes. Today, pushed into the uncomfortable place where we have to accept that the stories we heard as children weren’t the stories every child heard.
The children of Black people didn’t hear stories about how brave police officers were. They were not encouraged to call 911 when they were in trouble. For them, the police have represented the opposite of safety. For them, the best protective measure they could take for themselves is to stay as far away and uninvolved with the police.
Which brings me back to my original question — where did it all go wrong? When did law enforcement become symbols of fear and brutality for a large portion of our population? The answer is there’s been a history of the police involved in the good, the bad, and the ugly.
While on the one hand, we may hear of a police officer who risked their life stopping a bank robbery, then there will be a police officer who shot down an unarmed victim because of their ethnicity.
It doesn’t just end here; there’s a reason why the mistrust of the police by an entire community of people is deep-rooted. It’s because the BIPOC community has been facing discrimination at the hands of police for generations, and they teach their children to be wary of them to protect their lives.
It’s because they have handed down stories upon stories of their relatives and loved ones being wrongfully convicted or harassed by the police. They have learned that the best way to keep themselves safe is to avoid law enforcement altogether.
Recalling the stories my cousin told me, I have realized that Americans have had a turbulent relationship with law enforcement. While there have been times where we genuinely needed the services of our police force, there have always been times where we have felt that a situation could have been handled better without police involvement.
Here’s, is my understanding of the dynamics of what goes on behind the badge.
The good
It’s common knowledge that a world without law enforcement would lead to an unsafe society — where anyone can take justice into their own hands and act in whatever manner they want because they would know that no one is watching. I also believe that we see wrong as “wrong” because we have been taught right from wrong at a young age.
We are engrained that stealing is immoral. That violence is not the answer. That you cannot take someone’s life because you’re trying to seek revenge. From the moment we’re able to understand language, told that lying is wrong. There are many rules in a community that ensure it functions in a way that’s safest and most just to the people that are a part of it.
Who plays a role in making sure we uphold these teachings as adults? Law enforcement plays a vital role in our society by bringing justice to those who have been wronged and taking action against those that committed the wrongful act. Our law enforcement handles almost 8.25 million criminal offenses in a year.
My cousin told me about how many of his colleagues had been injured on the job by people who refused to cooperate. They have had to deal with cruel words, and often spent days contemplating the decisions they had to make. Being told that you’re the one responsible for “ruining someone’s future” because you arrested them for criminal offenses isn’t easy, but it’s part of the job. Yes, there are good police that protect us from harm.
They also spent countless nights on duty looking out for suspicious drivers and prevented numerous potential accidents from happening. Drunk driving has been a cause for horrific road accidents, but police officers on duty play a crucial role in restricting the number of road accidents each year.
The bad
Like many jobs that come with responsibilities and involve life and death circumstances, law enforcement takes a toll on a police officer’s stress levels. I remember my cousin would often be extremely tense and easily irritable after a particularly eventful shift. He preferred spending most of his time with his colleagues, even off-duty, because they would continuously discuss what was going on at work.
Substance abuse becomes a significant concern when stress and trauma are a daily occurrence. It often becomes a coping strategy for police officers to “keep their sanity,” despite what they do on the job. However, this doesn’t come without repercussions, as many police officers slip up and act irresponsibly on the job.
It’s not only the substance abuse and access to drugs that contribute to the wrong side of the police. No matter who they interact with, police officers have a sense of authority over other people. What this means is that often, there’s an unequal power dynamic when it comes to relationships with police officers. The misuse of power comes in many forms. Be it special treatment for services that everyone should have access to or the ability to scare and intimidate workers to “respect” them and treat them differently than others. Yes, there are police that are bullies.
It gets worse when I think about the sexual abuse. Victims of domestic violence, who often show up at police stations searching for safety and protection, often mistakenly end up expressing how helpless and unsupported they are. While this should be a reason for police officers to offer victims a haven and protection from further abuse, they often use their badge to get away with shameful crimes against the very people who needed their help. Yes, there are police officers that use their badges for sexual favors.
“Police sexual misconduct is an issue that’s hidden in the shadows.”
Andrea Ritchie, author of “Invisible No More: Police Violence Against Black Women and Women of Color.”
The worst part about police misconduct is that it most often goes unreported. When the police assault young adults, they’re afraid, lost, and confused about who and how to report. When the people you need help from are the ones that are hurting you, where do you go? Hence, the majority of crimes carried out by the police get secretly swept under the rug.
People who do attempt to report these cases or complain against the treatment they received at the hands of law enforcement officials are often harassed and intimidated into remaining silent. Because police officers exert an aura of authority, most young women who consider taking action against the crimes committed against them are scared into silence.
Profiling, a severe concern for BIPOC, is another issue that was mainly in the dark until the public outcry and Black Lives Matter protests began. My cousin had narrated several incidences to me when police officers racially profiled and suspected innocent citizens based on specific characteristics.
As someone who is in close communication with Black people, I had always seen the injustice behind racial profiling. My cousin often told me that people would call him names as he carried out his duty or spat and abused his colleagues when out in public. The public’s trust in police authority has gone down significantly over the years. When people see cops out doing their work, they often associate them with the police who have committed heinous crimes against the people they swore to protect.
Similar to how profiling can wrongfully lead to the arrests and criminalization of people who merely fit a “mold,” the police officers who justly and honestly carry out their duties are labeled as “bad cops” based on their actions peers. Except that police officers grouped into the category of being corrupt cops don’t face a risk to their lives. On the contrary, citizens who are profiled by the police face that risk every day. Yes, there are cops that kill without reason.
The downright ugly
The downright ugly brings us to our final tier of what happens in law enforcement. Stemming from all the other leverages that police officers receive — there come the horrific incidences of people murdered by the hands of law enforcement officials.
When there are officers who have spent years not only observing, but also engaging in acts of misuse of power, police brutality, profiling, misconduct, and the like, then there will come a time when they will go a step further abusing the powers bestowed upon them.
My cousin always told me that we all have power over our way. We all have responsibilities that could change ours or someone else’s life. However, not all of us who are responsible for behaving and thinking a certain way will put anyone else’s life at risk if we fail. We won’t endanger our children’s lives if we, in a moment of anger, scold them instead of having a collected conversation.
A police officer who acts out in a moment of anger or unclarity can end someone’s life. Their years of being taught that they hold an absolute superiority over other citizens can lead them to believe that they are the highest in authority and can do no wrong. Even police officers who know that what they’re doing is unacceptable take assurance from the reality that nobody will ever report what they have done.
Why are the Black Lives Matter protests so revolutionary? Because they’re bringing out the facts, with visual evidence, of crimes committed by the police. They have done their research, and they’re demanding to know what became of their brothers, sisters, husbands, wives, daughters, and sons. It has shed light on the countless number of cases that were discretely left uninvestigated because no one was pressuring the authorities.
Final thoughts
In answering the question that I started with, there was never a beginning to when it all went wrong. Police misconduct was always a persistent issue that occurred behind the badge. The only difference in how we perceive the police now as opposed to how we saw them before is transparency.
We’re now aware of many occurrences that shouldn’t have happened at the hands of police. People are forced to question authorities and must protest generations of discrimination.
It has uncovered harsh and hard to swallow truths about what has always been happening in the country. But since the ones responsible are the ones we believed in trusting the most, it’s going to be a long and painful journey before we make the necessary changes.
“The world doesn’t need more bent police who pretend to uphold the law in front of an investigation; it needs more just police who practice justice even when nobody is looking.”
— Abhijit Naskar —