Highlights
Critics want cops to take greater risks. The data states that they are already doing that.
Critics want American cops to be more like British officers. British officers reported being assaulted and injured at nearly four times the rate as their American counterparts.
But let’s be realistic and understanding of cops and what we ask them to do before we lose thousands more and growing violent crime gets worse.
Author
Leonard Adam Sipes, Jr.
Retired federal senior spokesperson. Thirty-five years of directing award-winning public relations for national and state criminal justice agencies. Interviewed multiple times by every national news outlet. Former Senior Specialist for Crime Prevention for the Department of Justice’s clearinghouse. Former Director of Information Services, National Crime Prevention Council. Former Adjunct Associate Professor of criminology and public affairs-University of Maryland, University College. Former advisor to presidential and gubernatorial campaigns. Former advisor to the “McGruff-Take a Bite Out of Crime” national media campaign. Certificate of Advanced Study-Johns Hopkins University. Former police officer. Aspiring drummer.
Editorial
One of my first revelations as a young cop was the startling realization that police officers take enormous risks.
Driving at high speed to be the first in at a horrific automobile accident was a risk. Searching a basement where a mother and child swears that someone is in the basement is a risk. Confronting a woman with a gun during a domestic violence incident where shots were fired is a risk. Telling dispatchers during a fight at a family reunion that I didn’t need backup was both a risk and a mistake (I was assaulted).
Realizing that you can’t/shouldent pull your firearm every time it’s justified is a risk.
Endless media reports encouraging de-escalation and risk-taking are a bit puzzling. All cops are taught that you start out with the lowest level of force by using your voice and then (and only then) do you use less than lethal tools if it’s justified and used with a minimal amount of force.
What The Data Says
The data is clear via surveys of citizens who interact with police officers; less than three percent of 40-60 million yearly encounters involve force “or” threat of force. Considering the nature of police encounters and the level of firearm ownership, that’s almost astounding.
Polls indicate widespread approval of law enforcement, regardless of demographics. If cops are out there engaging in massive illegal use of force, the data would be vastly different, Public Opinion and Cops.
Most people arrested are under the influence of drugs or alcohol or have mental or emotional health issues or have brain damage or PTSD or child histories of abuse and neglect, Mental Health And Crime. Add 300-400 million firearms in the US, police encounters and arrests involve enormous peril.
National Public Radio-Cops-Take More Risks
While activists for police reform often point to other developed countries where police rarely shoot people and ask why the U.S. can’t be more like the United Kingdom, where most officers are still unarmed and the number of people they kill every year is in single digits, policing experts say that these types of comparisons oversimplify the issue and ignore the dangers that American police face every day, reports NPR.
They point to the increased risk and threat of gun violence in the United States versus the UK, where gun crimes are significantly lower. Forty-eight American officers were shot and killed last year, a danger their British counterparts rarely face. However, even when considering situations where suspects are armed with knives or stabbing weapons, American police still shoot and kill far more often than their European counterparts.
European officers are often required to do repeated refresher training on how to use shields or nightsticks to subdue someone enough to wrest a blade from his hand, a kind of training that is rare in the U.S.
Brandon del Pozo, who spent 19 years as an NYPD officer, says police academies have convinced officers that “the closer you are to a person as a suspect, the more dangerous it is,” a mindset that leads to officers keeping their distance and using weapons more often.
If American police were to start “grappling” more, there would be a price to pay. Comparing 2019 statistics for the U.S. and the U.K., NPR found that British officers reported being assaulted and injured at nearly four times the rate as their American counterparts. In addition, American officers know that if they get close enough to wrestle with someone, they’re close enough to have the gun stolen and used against them.
The Crime Report, U.S. Police Face Pressure to Take on More Personal Risk
Conclusions
Every officer in the United States quickly learns that policing requires enormous risk. Every police officer understands that use of force should be used judiciously.
Research backs up both statements.
Cops are leaving the job in record numbers. Recruitment is down 63 percent. We are losing experienced officers who know that fair treatment, caution and discretion are part of the job, Cops Leaving.
Being told to do what they are already doing (per data) is defeating and indicates that some critics don’t have a clue as to what a cop does.
If we are going to improve policing without shedding thousands of officers, critics need to use prudence.
Telling cops to change what they do has to be based on data, not the latest incident that grabs the public’s attention. For example, although African Americans are mostly supportive of law enforcement and want police officers in their neighborhoods, they state that interactions with officers can be disrespectful. Based on the data, that needs to be addressed.
Cops tell their hierarchy about bad officers because it’s in their best interest (problem cops suck you into dangerous situations). It may not be a specific or written complaint, but officers make sure information gets passed on to supervisors if a problem officer is clearly exceeding the use of force (which is why force or threat of force remains under three percent per surveys).
Officers start low as to use of force; escalation depends on the actions of the suspect. They understand that their best weapon is their voice and the commands they give.
Yes, there are problems in policing in the same way that there are problems with ministers, priests, the medical profession, journalists, business people and many additional professions. The justice system is willing to address problem officers (who wants a multi-million-dollar lawsuit?).
But let’s be realistic and understanding of cops AND what we ask (demand?) them to do before we lose thousands more and the problem of growing violent crime gets worse.
See More
See more articles on crime and justice at Crime in America.
Most Dangerous Cities/States/Countries at Most Dangerous Cities.
US Crime Rates at Nationwide Crime Rates.
National Offender Recidivism Rates at Offender Recidivism.
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