By: Lauryn James

Have you ever noticed the divide between citizens who like police officers and the citizens who hate police officers? Most children grow looking up to police as heroes and then they begin to develop their own opinions on police officers based on personal experiences, stories from peers and the media.  Let’s take a deeper look at both sides: People behind the badge and the people without one.

For decades, America has dealt with incidents where there is police brutality. Some could be considered justifiable and some incidents are considered to be cruel.

Aaron James, a sergeant for the DeKalb County Police Department, has been wearing his badge ever since 1994. He has dealt with several American citizens, good ones and bad ones.

“The most important thing that people need to remember is that there are millions of criminals in this world and that is why police have to protect their own lives and everyone else’s,” he said. Sergeant James explained how if someone is being aggressive the police must take action first to protect their personal and civilian safety.

 “Another important thing to remember is that not all police are good police but there is nothing we can do to control that,” Sergeant James said.  It is good to keep in mind that not all police are the same. Many police have different morals, motives and experiences. Some police may be more intimidated while others are more strong and can handle tough situations better. Also, some police may take advantage of their authority and use it in an inappropriate way. For example, a police provoking a citizen by calling them out of their name or being unnecessarily rough with people.

Deshon Burgess, a 23-year-old male, was in Baton Rouge and was abruptly approached by a police officer. In this incident, the police said he stopped Burgess at the gas station because he thought he was a suspect.

“The officer did not handle this situation well at all, the officer was misusing his power, patting me down as if I was a criminal and he didn’t even tell me why I was being stopped or searched,” Burgess said. This could be an example of a bad police that officer James was referring to. “What really bothered me was the tone in the officer’s voice, he sounded aggressive, loud and he belittled me with his choice of words,” Burgess explained.  It can be difficult to have a positive outlook on police officers when there are numerous encounters where innocent civilians were treated unfairly.

Opinions are also affected by the past and recent incidents that are accessible by social media. Philando Castile, a black man, was shot by a white police while he was sitting in his car in 2016. This shooting was actually caught on tape by his girlfriend, who witnessed the whole thing. Can you recall the Ferguson v. Brown case that happened in 2014? Many people were very upset when they heard Michael Brown lost his life to a police officer. Over 20 years ago, Rodney King was brutally beaten by an officer in 1991. Is this tension between police and citizens affected by racism? Throughout history, there are patterns of minorities being assaulted by white police. There are almost 100 white-on-black shootings by a police officer in each year.

Sergeant James made a point on how important it is for citizens to comply with any police even if the police officer is not being fair. “ I can not reiterate it enough. Some police are scared or were not trained properly, but they still can carry weapons on them. With that being said, do not talk back to them,” he said. Several people may not think it is fair to let the police disrespect one’s rights, but this is only for safety reasons. Once the police leave, you can address the issue and file a complaint on the police. Just make sure you can remember the officer’s badge number.

If you put yourself in the officer’s shoes, maybe you can imagine how frightening it may be to deal with a complete stranger. Someone who is upset and not listening to your instructions by yelling or turning away would make any way defensive. Some could argue that police should not be scared of their job because that is what they signed up for.  Others can argue that law abiding citizens should listen to the police because police have an authoritative role.

There are songs that were made in spite of police officers. One of the most popular songs was made by Tupac Shakur, titled “F*** the Police.” Tupac made this song because of his own bad experiences with the police. The police were upset with Tupac because he was not a law-abiding citizen. A police officer’s job is to protect the community and Tupac was an artist who wanted to spread meaningful messages across the nation. This has always been a controversial topic and it will continue to be one. Hatred towards police will continue because certain people will not forgive any police brutality from the past. It would be a dream come true to America if citizens could be compliant to the police and if the police could respect these citizen’s lives.