Things are not always what they seem. This quote might not mean much at first glance, but the message lasts a lifetime. This quote demonstrates the meaning that an individual may have if you reach far enough instead of lingering at the surface level, otherwise known as physical appearance. Society has changed our perception of others based on physical appearance, stereotypes, and cultural identity. Particularly in the law enforcement field, this issue has been more prominent in recent years. Officers are often perceived as intimidating and judgemental, causing people to question their ability to complete simple duties, such as proper communication skills. Law enforcement uses a variety of essential communication skills on the job. You might …show more content…
Some perceptual errors could exhibit the same impact. Let's take the halo and horn effects as examples. These errors can cause challenges in law enforcement because they focus more on personal biases than on remaining objective. Instead, law enforcement should organize the information they receive and use proximity, similarity, and difference only when sufficient enough information is available. I say this because it would not be honorable of their title for law enforcement to assume and jump to farfetched conclusions based on surface-level information. For example, if a locked-up criminal looked like a seemingly innocent citizen, it would not be ethical for the officer to assume the citizen has malintent as well. The example uses similarity. Now imagine someone were to move to a different country that predominantly had people of another race. If a crime were to happen there with no description of the suspect, it would not be ethical for a police officer to immediately point fingers at the new person by using race as justification. The example demonstrates difference. Finally, if an innocent person was next to a suspect committing a crime, that does not enable the officer to label the person as an accomplice. That example represents proximity. All three of these examples represent how the principles relate to the real world, establishing that while they may benefit in some cases, they may turn negative if not used properly under the right circumstances. The only way these would even remotely be deemed acceptable is if more information about the person proves the