Police Officer Interview Report

In the interview with Officer Richard Bucklin, I asked him questions regarding his experiences as a police officer, the highs and lows of being a police officer, his opinions about recent controversial police topics and the challenges he faces everyday. All of his answers were very interesting and informational. I learned a lot when interviewing Officer Bucklin. I started off by asking Officer Bucklin how he got started in his field of work? Officer Bucklin responded saying that he needed a steady job that had a weekly pay. He started off as dispatch in 1996 and then in 1998 applied to become a patrol officer. He has since moved further on in his career and a higher rank. Last year he was promoted to detective. Do you plan on retiring as

should change that would help you in your work? He quickly answered saying that he would like to see stricter dispositions at court, he felt like the court keeps just letting people go and then they just end up back at the court a short while later. He believes that if criminals are sentenced the first time they commit then they are less likely to be repeat offenders. What is the biggest misconception you think the public has about your job? He thinks that the public believes that police officers think they are above the law, that they can do whatever they want. He continued by saying that as a police officer when he is off duty he still needs to consider what he is doing. He can’t get belligerently drunk at a bar like a normal person can, he has to watch himself. His response to this question ties a lot into my next question. How did the recent media coverage of Ferguson and the Black Lives Matter impact law enforcement? He says that the media is always going to show the negative side of things, never the positive. There is a misunderstanding with how police deal with intense situations. The public don’t understand that we only have a split second to make a decision in an intense situation like this. The media uses negative news to attract more attention. People don’t get all the facts, they only know one side of the story. He gives the example of the incident

Officer Bucklin’s answers were interesting and they weren’t surprising by any means. I agree a hundred percent when he said that he thinks the amount of force the officer used on the young lady in South Carolina was unacceptable. I also agree when he said that people only look at one side of a story. There has been many recent incidents where people have only looked at one side of the story. This makes a police officers job much harder, due to the fact that no one is looking to see what happened to them in the situation. I also think Officer Bucklin’s recommendation for people of the public to go for a ride along is a great idea. I have been interested in the police force for awhile but I think it will always be just an interest, never a career option for me. Officer Bucklin did say that his job does effect his family time and that is something I don’t want. I want to have a big family and I want to spend as much time with them as possible. I have a huge appreciation for what Officer Bucklin does, he is protecting me and everyone I love. He risks his life everyday for people he doesn’t know. He has so many stressors in his field of work, that I wouldn’t be able to deal. I have much respect for what he