Cop Interview

Final Project

For my final project I went to the maple lake police department and sat down with a few of their officers. I asked them a few questions about their experiences as a cop. How times are chaining and what kind of toll racial tensions play on their job. For privacy purposes all officers requested that their names remained excluded from this document.

Objectives-

·        Get to know the cop

·        Learn how being a cop has affected their life

·        Learn how cop related racial events have affected their experience as a cop

 

1.   Tell us about yourself?

·        “I consider myself quite on energetic well rounded person. I enjoy spending time with my family, Hunting, Fishing and going up to my cabin.”

 

2.   Has being a cop changed your opinion on life?

·        “Well of course it has! I used to walk down the street and only notice the obvious things. No bad ideas crossed my mind about what could happen or be happening. I’m not paranoid but I am more observant and understanding of what I see which means I’m usually on alert.”

3.   As demanding as your job is do you enjoy being a cop?

·        Yes, I like police work. Patrol is neat. I also enjoyed running swat but I’m getting to old for that now. I'd like to be an SRO and an investigator. Those are two roles I would enjoy more. I like getting stuff in patrol that I can play out and investigate rather than forwarding, and I like dealing with juvenile and school related stuff.

4.   How have the racial tensions regarding cops changed your time as an officer?

·        First off I’d like to say that my opinion will obviously be biased due to the fact that I have been a cop from many years and worked for man police departments. With that being said I think that the madness about white cops all being racist is utter bull sh*t. I don’t get it. Of course there are racist cops both black and white. That’s a reality of life. But not every whit cop is a racist just as not every Muslim is a terrorist. America seems to have the problem of grouping everyone together based on the actions of a few. Because I am a white cop you may think that I am biased. But every single one of my fellow black officers think in the same way. We are all just trying to do our best to protect you, your homes, and your way of life and this is what we get in return? Cops are people to. We have families just like you. But the difference between you and me, is that we risk never seeing our family again just to protect yours. People don’t seem to understand that.

 

5.   Would you recommend being a cop to people today?

·        Absolutely not. I used to tell be all the time about how fantastic my job is. I used to tell them about how it makes me a better person every day. About how it helps make others safe and will bring out your inner potential showing you who you really are! Now, it’s quite a different story. Now we stick our next out every day. But we don’t get any support from the people we are protecting. There Is no support from the media, the common man, or the court system. Because of the events over the last few years we have no besides our fellow officers and sometimes, sometimes our families. So when people ask me if I would recommend my job to another, the answer over these last few years has been no. Again you may say that I’m alone in this opinion. But your wrong. Every year when we start offering positions to the public we usually struggle to sort through all the applicants. In the year 2015 we had over 480+ people apply for our openings. This year we had under 150 applicants. Being a cop used to be regarded as a position to strive for, a position that people were proud to hold. But that time is long gone, and so we start a new one.

 

Conclusion-

Although being a cop used to be a fun interesting profession. It seems like that is no more. The tensions that arose over the last year have changed the job for the worse. They are scared to do their jobs. They are persecuted by us, crucified by the media, and dismissed by the courts. As brutal and strenuous as this job is. The officer was proud he served in the force of over 20 and said. “I’m glad I got to do my time for the force. I hope that the next generation of cops is able to keep us all safe and lord keep them safe as well.

 

 

The last White Election?

The presidential campaign has always been an extremely important thing to all the citizens of the United States. This election process is a staple to making our nation what it is today. However, there is a topic that many don't talk about, the way this is changing. Over the course of history almost all of our presidents have been determined almost entirely by the white vote. Some presidents would do nothing to support our minority groups. They were more of a side note to the election and if they received their votes it was more a perk or a bonus than the main focus of a campaign. They were able to be kicked aside and left wanting instead of being a national priority for presidents. However, this is changing.

Slowly over time the Black vote has become more and more influential in the presidential campaign. Demographic poles have been stating that this in fact may be the last election not dictated by the white vote. Opinions that were considered as opinions from only a minority group will no longer be treated as such. They will have to be addressed as majority opinions.  As horrible as it sounds to say it is true when I say that. Presidential nominees are going to have to start treating the election differently even though they should have been thinking of all races equally throughout all elections. A new time has come and we need the right leaders to step up and become the future of America leading us to be a more prosperous nation and actually truly care about all our citizens equally and value each of them for who they are.

Cruel Cops vs. Crime Rates

People often accuse law enforcement agencies specifically cops of being overly brutal in their “enforcement” of the law. That the way they are enforcing the law is more of a threat than the people they are imposing it on. Is this true? It’s hard to tell. Individual cases such as the case of Freddie Gray prove that cop brutality is something that needs to be addressed. However, the excessive amount of publicity cases such as this one has received has placed all cops under the Microscope of the world. Keeping law enforcement agencies in check is a very necessary thing. But is this extreme scrutiny put officers in a sticky position? Has it scared them away of taking the necessary measures, and using the necessary force needed to protect our people?

          Many Cops including the Director of the FBI have stated that “Cops are afraid to do their jobs because of the ‘Ferguson Affect’.” What could the possibly be afraid that I am talking about? Well one officer stated that he is now afraid of making a street arrest because of the repercussions that this may entail. “We get no support from the media, from the public or from the court system. So we are always the person at fault.” He Said. “I can be patrolling in my squad car, and see a drug deal go down right in front of my eyes. But now I hesitate to get out of my vehicle and stop the crime being committed. I think to myself is this crime risking my life to stop? Because that's what the sad reality is for me now. I can be incriminated for or shot for doing my job exactly how I am supposed to.”

Another side effect of this negative media attention is that cops been disconnected from the community. It has made them more alienated because we all want to distance ourselves from this kind of bad attention. This has severed the public connections with the police force. In an unofficial statement a Minneapolis Police Sergeant stated that they have ‘Less than ⅓’ of the contacts they had just last year. Criminals have also been taking a notice in the fact that officers are more timid in their approach to stopping crime. Because of this they feel somewhat empowered to do brazen acts of violence and commit crimes they otherwise wouldn’t.

 Crime rates dramatic increases over the past 2 years, are reflecting this burst of confidence that criminals have been displaying. For example, in Chicago there was 359 shootings, and 82 murders in the first 3 months of the year 2015!  As shocking as that may sound this year during the first 3 months there were already 677 shootings and 141 murders! That means that the shooting rate is up a staggering 88% and the murder rates is up 72%!!! This is even more concerning when you consider the fact that the 2015 murder rate was up 12.5% or 486 murders from the year prior!  It’s not only Chicago though! Baltimore’s murder rate is up 63%! Dallas’s murder rate has gone up 71% This is happening all over the country! So now we must think is this “excessive” scrutiny that we have put our officers under helping our nation or is it making a more dangerous place every day?

 

Syrian Refugees where do you stand?

As of late the United States of America Have been receiving a lot of flak regarding the Syrian Refugee "Issue." With the next presidential election just around the corner and this being one of the cornerstone topics of the election, you need to figure out where you stand!

          So let’s look at the first opinion which is regarded as the more conservative opinion. Not allowing any Syrian refugees into the United States. What would this do for us? It is believed that if we don't accept any Syrian refugees, then it's harder for ISIS to infiltrate America. Since they are the most imminent terrorist threat. The possibility of preventing them from entering the country would make our home a safer place. It is also said that taking in Syrian refugees could be harming the country. That we are just beating around the bush instead of going straight to the problem.  They state that if we are taking away the people who are trying to stop the war who will be to stop and rebuild the country with a brighter future in mind!

The other opinion is that America isn't doing enough to help the Syrian refugees. We are only accepting 10,000 Syrian refugees out of their population of 22.8 Million. Of that 22.8 Million 6.5 Million are considered refugees and are requesting to leave Syria. That means that we are only allowing 1.5% of Syrians the opportunity to leave with the chance of a better life! Isn't that what the American dream is all about? Accepting all so that we can make a better future for ourselves? But you may also say that we need to focus on fixing Syria instead of sheltering people from the reality of it. Are we saying that we are giving up on Syria by taking their refugees in?

Donald Trump-

Asserted Monday that as president he could face Syrian refugee children and tell them they cannot come to the United States.

Hillary Clinton -

"We're facing the worst refugee crisis since the end of World War II and I think the United States has to do more," the former secretary of state said Sunday on CBS. "I would like to see us move from what is a good start with 10,000 to 65,000 and begin immediately to put into place the mechanisms for vetting the people that we would take in."

 

Most people probably would choose a middle ground if they had the option to. But we don't. These are the only two options we have left so you need to think long and hard this election. How important is this to you. Your decision will impact the rest of the world and will change it, for better or worse.