Men and women in law enforcement have always had it rough. Even as far back as 100 years ago, long before N.W.A. released the notorious song, F*** The Police, not everyone respected a man in uniform. This post is going to be more appreciative of the men and women who dedicated their lives to upholding the law while also addressing the egregious abuse of power over the years.
It is important to note that a police officer's job is to enforce the law. This ranges from stopping a speeder on the highway, haulting trespassers from entering a restricted area, making sure people don't jay walk and so on. The police also apprehend criminals who rob a bank, invade someone's home, shoplifting, and break public property among other egregious crimes. If it weren't for the police maintaining order in our society, we'd be no better off than our Neanderthal ancestors.
Often a police officer is of male gender, but law enforcement has been enlisting women to be police since Marie Owens joined the ChicagoPolice Departmentin 1891. Women in law enforcement make up at least 12% of all police officers in America yet are just as vital as their male co-workers. Female police officers are smart, tough, intimidating, and take their jobs very seriously. Despite this though, they are often discriminated and harassed by people with higher authority than them.
A common (and valid) complaint about law enforcement is how they abuse their power to harass innocent bystanders. Contrary to popular belief, this is not a recent phenomenon; in fact it was even commen place by the time N.W.A. spoke up about it. The first use of the term "police brutality" dates all the way back to 1872 when it was reported that a civilian under arrest was beaten at the Harrison Street Police Station. People of minority are often harassed by racism police officers, even when their as innocent as an obedient child. Women, meanwhile are belittled, harassed, and even raped whether they're in uniform or not. The unfortunate reality is there are always going to be people who use their power of authority to oppress others. But it's not all doom and gloom though.
Because we live in a democracy, we have the right to speak up against these atrocities and demand justice for the oppressed. Instances of police brutality is caught on camera and posted on social media, making their abuse of power known to the entire world and thus costing them their job. We're also still living in the #MeToo era of history, thus giving women more confidence to speak up about harassment on the force. Most importantly though, police departments everywhere are more willing to double down on charging those who abuse their power thanks to prominent victims such as Rodney King, Trayvon Martin and most recently George Floyd.
Do not mistake my respect for law enforcement for ignorance or police brutality. At the end of the day, the average police officer is not a racist, sexist, bigoted monster who abuses their power for their own personal gain. The average police is a person who just wants to make sure people are say and obeying the law. In closing, I would like to say thank you to all the men and women in law enforcement for your services. Without you, this country would've fallen apart over a century ago. Keep up the great work; I salute you 🙋♂️
No comments:
Post a Comment