HOW ABOUT A FREE HUG FROM A COP? I was raised to respect police and told by my parents if I ever became frightened or needed help just go find a friendly, neighborhood cop on the beat. As a youngster, seeing the local cops walking up and down the streets with their Billy Clubs swinging and saying Hello to everyone was comforting. Of course, when I was growing up things in our country were a lot different than today.
Sure, even back in the “old days” most of the cops were truly there to protect and serve yet there were a few bad apples that weren’t in it to serve the community but somehow ended up as less than stellar individuals. Thankfully they were not the norm.
Who knows why there are more and more police seen on the news after someone
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Let’s face reality. They ARE in danger with more and more violent people out there.
Bad things happen when a routine traffic stop escalates as neighbors gather around the officers and yell, throw objects and threaten the cops. We all know the recent cases that have gotten national attention.
So here we are, the men and women who everyone once respected have now been demonized by the press, some of our politicians and those who have chosen to use any means possible to make the police look bad.
Now for some really good news about a few Delaware cops who started a movement to change the hearts and minds of a country, one hug at a time.
In Newark, DE there’s a young police corporal by the name of James Spadola. Corporal Spadola graduated in 2001 from Newton High School and later joined the Army Reserve and was deployed to Iraq from 2003-2004. He had planned to pursue a career in Law Enforcement yet after graduating from the University of Delaware with a BA in Political Science he decided to accept a job in the Financial Industry in
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Cpl. Spadola approached his commanders and at first they thought it was a lame idea. To everyone’s amazement it has gone viral after the first FREE HUGS even in May of this year with his fellow officer, Aaron Olicker.
When I say “gone viral” that’s exactly what happened. Their first video had over 13,000,000 views! Spadola’s idea has even gone 4,000 miles away to Brazil. Agencies both national and international are offering a loving hug to anyone who wants or needs one.
Departments that have joined in and given free hugs to their neighborhood residents and have posted photos to social media to prove it using the hashtag #HugACop include; Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Toronto, Canada, Olive Branch, MS, Adams County, WI, Omaha, NE and Algood, TN.
Spadola says; “It’s been awesome to see other departments do it.” He also said; “Good deeds occur in law enforcement every day and 99.9 percent of them go unnoticed and unreported. I think what has changed recently though is the need for law enforcement to be creative in getting our message out and to the market
Police officers are like guardian angels watching over the good people of the land, protecting them from danger.
Law enforcement officers recently haven’t gotten the best reputation in the media and among citizens.
It is easy for police to get caught up in the idea that it is them against the rest of society (Barkan, 2012). Many citizens in today’s democratic society have a negative or fearful view of our law enforcement. Think back to grade school, who was that one kid in class that everyone was annoyed by or despised? Most people would answer the teacher’s pet or the tattletale. We have grown up from a young age to have a negative view towards those that get us into trouble when we think we can get away with something we know is wrong. In the adult world, the police force can equate to those tattletales.
The word culture means a group of people sharing the same beliefs, values, knowledge and behavior. The culture of policemen evolved as with the development of policing. Policeman is individuals empowered by the state to enforce law, serve and protect. The word police have a history from a Greek word called politeia. The word politeia in Greek was used to refer to dealings that affected the stability and safety of the Greek State. In the 18 century the word “police” were taken from the French and brought into the English language. King Louis XlV organized the first central police force in 1667 to police Paris, because back then Paris was the largest city in Europe. August “Gus” Vollmer was known as the father of policing because he started the first school, where officers could learn the law of evidence. In 1905 August became the first chief in Berkeley, California. He also was the first chief to tell his department to use the lie detector. August Vollmer was the first American officer to incorporate the use of blood, fiber, and analysis in a criminal investigation. Technology in policing began to advance in the 1800’s. DNA was discovered 1868, and in 1882 Alphonse Bertillon used anthropometrics as a mean of identification. As years past they continue advancing in policing. How policing is run now and how it was ran in the early years are totally different. Strict laws and consequences are put into place, and by then there was any. All these things affect police culture, and that’s what makes culture of policing different then the culture of policing in the early years.
These changes have manifested both positive and negative reverberations in the way we perform our job. Police officials have contemplated for years over the key to maintaining a positive image for their organization. Unfortunately, several incidents in the past years have altered society's perception of police in some communities. Police in America are no longer strangers to innovation born of scandal.
I believe officers in law enforcement are here to serve and protect the citizens of this country. Although as I stated before I also believe that there are still a few that are bad. The majority of them are good. For any kind of change to begin a number of factors need to be involved. The citizens need to use fairness.
"A policeman’s first obligation is to be responsible to the needs of the community he serves…The problem is that the atmosphere does not yet exist in which an honest police officer can act without fear of ridicule or reprisal from fellow officers. We create an atmosphere in which the honest officer fears the dishonest officer, and not the other way around.", -Frank Serpico.
Bibliography Why Good Cops Go Bad. Newsweek, p.18. Carter, David L. (1986). Deviance & Police. Ohio: Anderson Publishing Co. Castaneda, Ruben (1993, Jan. 18). Bearing the Badge of Mistrust. The Washington Post, p.11. Dantzer, Mark L. (1995). Understanding Today's Police. New Jersey: Prentice Hall, Inc. James, George (1993, Mar. 29). Confessions of Corruption. The New York Times, P.8, James, George (1993, Nov. 17). Officials Say Police Corruption is Hard To Stop. The New York times, p.3. Sherman, Lawrence W(1978). Commission Findings. New York Post, P. 28 Walker, J.T. (1992). The police in America, p.243-263, chp. 10, Walker, Samuel (1999).
There has always been a love-hate relationship between the public and the police. When called upon to help, they can be something sent from God, but when they are writing tickets, or taking a friend to jail, the view changes from a savior to a presence that is unwanted and often hated. An effort to improve the public view of law enforcement is being attempted by many departments. Using different styles of policing techniques, mainly community based policing, has proved to be the best way to improve the image of law enforcement.
In my opinion, the many different views of police culture can vary in many different situations. I say this because of the many different views this can be misleading at times. I think what's needed is reform of a police culture that has often infected relations between police and blacks, destabilized respect for cops and the law, and set the basis for the many deaths. The overall image of the police offers is an overview of the public’s perception of the police in reality. Without the public’s view of this police culture wouldn’t have the look it has now. Specific characteristics of the publics, association, or foundation remain interchangeable. Actions of the overall image are valuable because they
Background 2.1 Problems: The way the police officers are portrayed in the media has reflected of how the community views them. The community views the police officers both in a positive and negative image. In our community we find some police officers finding themselves in a negative situation or getting shot at. The negative images that we often see is that police officers brutally hurting suspects that are harmless.
I have respect for the police, and the job they do. Policemen are a selected few who do a dangerous job. Police have done many great things to help improve communities, help people during their off duty hours and stand strong in face of many fears. The police trying to enforce the law are on the streets in all types of weather. Instead of being at home with their families on holidays they are working to keep peace. Everyday, they step out in a world where violence is considered appropriate.
news and internet makes it look as if police are the bad guys which in some situations they are,
All my life growing up I’ve heard police stories from my grandfather and uncle about good guys catching bad guys. Police work isn’t always so black and white like I thought when I was a kid, Sometimes you have to work with the bad guys to catch the “badder” guys.
In the past eight years as a police officer for the City of South Salt Lake, I have found that personal growth and achievement in my career have been based on certain past experiences. Such experiences have molded what my personality is today. I have found that in order to be triumphant in my personal and professional goals, it has been necessary for me to reflect not only on my strides, but also my mistakes.