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The Public Opinion of Police and Their Activities

            The primary duties of police officers and law enforcement agents are to serve and protect the citizens of the United States. And for the most part law enforcement agencies do this effectively. However, many people come to view the police forces as the enemy. An enemy that has the sole purpose of oppressing and harming the very people they are tasked to protect. The people need to be better informed about the police and why an officer will take certain actions in a given situation.
             The majority of the populace has many misconceptions pertaining to the conduct of law enforcement agencies. One prevailing misconception is that Law enforcement authorities are all too willing to use emotion and instincts in a situation rather than clear thinking to direct their actions. In a variety of ways this is true, but only with a very strict set of parameters are they trained to do so. One such scenario includes when the officer deems that his life or the life of bystanders are in risk of losing their lives. In this scenario the officer is trained to rely on his training and respond to the situation at hand with the utmost speed. For example a member of the San Jose Police Department is under investigation for shooting a suspect that " Brandished an eight inch cooking knife and waved it at the police officer in a threatening manner."(Gathright1). The officer in question than shot the suspect the left thigh because the officer felt that his life had been threatened and that he had to defend himself. However, standard police operating procedure is that an assailant armed with a bladed weapon is a hazard if they are within eight feet of the officer. The assailant in this case was within six feet when the officer .
             took action. However the news media made this situation out the to be a case of a police officer overreacting. This fact brings up the second problem of how the public views police, heresy.


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