Pessimism in Policing

By Joseph Vicente

Stonehill News Blog Staff

Police officers are proud to serve but also find their jobs more difficult, more dangerous, and more frustrating as the negative perception of police has grown, according to a recent Pew Research Center survey.

            The survey, “Behind the Badge,” was published in 2017 and the center surveyed 7,917 police officers nationwide in departments with at least 100 officers. The survey focused on topics including how officers view their jobs and how negative encounters with the public affect their job performance and safety.

             Police officers reported they encounter a range of reactions from the public. Even though about 80% of officers said they have been thanked by a community member, two-thirds have also said they have been verbally abused by a community member during that time.

The survey found that most police officers have become more concerned about their job safety. About 90% of officers said their colleagues worry more about their personal safety than job execution.

While most Americans said they understand the difficulties police encounter, officers disagree. About 80% of U.S. adults said they understand the risks officers face, but about 85% of officers said the public does not understand the risks according to the survey.

The survey found more than 90% of officers said it is important to understand the people and culture of the area where they work in order to be more efficient.

            The survey showed the increase in tense relations between police officers and minorities, primarily in the black community. About 85% of police officers said their jobs are harder due to high-profile incidents with minorities.

Officers said they believe fatal encounters between police and the black community as just isolated incidents and are not signs of broader problems. About 60% of U.S. adults disagree and said these incidents are symptoms of a deeper problem between police and minorities according to the survey.

Other key findings included police and the public favor the use of body cameras by police. Also, most police departments said they do not have enough officers to adequately police the community.

            An expert on both problems and solutions in policing is Pamela Kelley, Chair of the Sociology and Criminology Department at Stonehill College.

            She linked the low morale of police officers to the negative connotations they have in the public and the media.

            She said media focuses more on negative stories involving police.

            “One of the projects I have my students work on is finding a positive community policing story and every year it gets harder for them to find them,” said Kelley.

            The media influences the public and increases the negative view on policing which leads to more difficulty in policing and adds to the decreasing morale of officers.

            One of the solutions that Kelley recommended is improving relations between police and the community through social media.

            “Social media is now a way to connect with the community because young people are the community and police officers could display a positive opinion of themselves to improve relations,” said Kelley.

            She said police should focus on empathy and communication over arresting. She thinks it will help police and the public.

            “If people gain more respect and trust in the policing in their communities, morale of officers will go up,” said Kelley

            She also said new technologies such as body cameras can improve communication between police officers and the public and can help with problems officers face with minorities.

            “Police officers think if they are responding to an incident where there is a minority involved, everything they do will be scrutinized and make it difficult to deal with people when a police officer is not confident in doing their job,” said Kelley.

            New Bedford Police Chief Joseph Cordeiro said his department faces many of the issues raised in the Pew Research Center survey.

            He said the morale in his department is low because of the anti-police sentiment that is growing in the country and that the public nationwide does not respect the work of officers.

            Chief Cordeiro is trying to improve this morale by changing the way his officers view their jobs and perform more community policing.

            “Increasing morale is something we have been trying to do here in New Bedford, but it takes time to change a culture and a mindset,” said Cordeiro.

            Cordeiro said New Bedford has a diverse population and because of that, police have developed a better relationship with the community than some other cities and regions. He said the police department reflects the cultures of the city.

            “New Bedford being a diverse community, our police department mirrors the diversity of the community,” said Cordeiro.

            He said the improvement of morale for police officers and changing the culture to have better policing starts with recruitment and training.

            One of the methods that Chief Cordeiro supports to add into recruitment and training is teaching police officers to have more empathy in order to communicate better with people.

            “I talk to the community every day, from minorities to criminals to politicians, and they see the difference in the community and that police officers want to help instead of arrest,” said Cordeiro.

            Like most of the country, the New Bedford Police Department is finding it difficult to recruit officers who are proud of the work according to Cordeiro.

            Chief Cordeiro said the media and Hollywood are the main agents in adding to the negative police sentiment in the country and why people do not want to become police officers.

            “The power of the media and Hollywood and how they portray police officers is having a direct impact on the perception of the people and it becomes magnified with people who have had a few bad experiences with police officers,” said Cordeiro.

            Cordeiro said relations between police and the community can improve if both law enforcement and the public understand each other better.

He said police need to be more empathetic and understanding of the communities they serve, and people need to understand better the challenges officers face.