Some Criminal Justice students are upset by the evolving public perception of police officers.
After a summer filled with demonstrators protesting police actions and calling for the reform and defunding of police, some criminal justice students feel discouraged by what they see online.
CJ student Brennen Strasser has wanted to be a police officer since he was a kid.
Strasser says online hate won’t stop him from pursuing a career in policing, but it is discouraging to see how the public sometimes views the police.
“It sucks that people don’t see police how they should, but at the end of the day you’re still doing what you want to do. You’re still doing your job, it’s still the same field, it’s just little bit harder now.”
Criminology instructor Seth Adema says it’s important for students going into policing to educate themselves on different cultures and how experiences differ between cultural groups. Adema says having good intentions as a police officer is important, but sometimes, actions speak louder than words.
“It’s one thing to say, ‘Oh yes, I have the best of intentions and I’m going to be doing all these things.’ But are you spending time learning from other cultures? That’s one of the really important things you can do.”
Adema says you can never fully understand what someone has gone through in their life, so developing relationships with people from all walks of life lets you understand the community better.
“I can’t tell you what it’s like to be black and how the relationship between black people and police has impacted people on a personal level, because that’s not my experience. So, developing relationships with people who can help you to better understand those kinds of issues and realities that people are confronting, that’s a really good way to kind of keep yourself on track.”
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Adema adds people tend to grow up in isolated social communities, but if you take the necessary time to grow and learn from other cultural groups, you’ll be better off in your career.
“As people tend to grow up in an insular community, wherever that community is and as you gain more experiences in the world, your understanding of the world also gets bigger.”
Strasser says people shouldn’t generalize the police and that there are bad police officers, but it’s unfair to target police in general.
“Not all of them are bad; it’s the same with any other career. There are bad people who wear the uniform, that doesn’t mean that everyone that wears the uniform is bad.”
Strasser says no matter how you feel about police officers, people need to know they are there to help you and serve the community. “Who do you call? You call the police. They are always going to be there for you no matter whether you hate them or not. I think it’s just time to put aside all the hate.”
