Summary Of Cops See It Differently

In This American Life’s series, Cops See it Differently: Act One, Ira Glass narrates particular circumstances outlining the existing tensions between the Milwaukee Police Department and the Black community. He began his first segment by telling Lisa Mahone’s story of an officer that displayed unwarranted aggressive tactics towards her and her family during a routine traffic stop. The story gained national attention, and opposing opinions to whether the officer’s actions or Lisa’s behavior were more justified. Lisa’s story begs the question: who holds the police accountable for mistreatment of the law and the citizens he or she serves? Why do the police have full discretion, despite national mistrust and empirical proof of racial bias existing

This can be applied to interactions within the department—i.e. loyalties, writing off bad behavior, etc—and interactions with residents on a case-by-case basis. It is important to prioritize justice and integrity over an individual officer. Though a historically complex issue, department loyalties can be paralleled with snitch culture within communities of color: both promote silence of victims and an us against them mentality. Writing off bad behavior goes hand-in-hand with the allowance of too much police discretion. Also, unrelated to changes in attitude, the police should always call for medical help when asked for by a suspect in custody or if a suspect appears to be injured/incapacitated. All these reasons point to a greater establishment of trust between the police and

Aggressive police culture will not change unless officers hold their colleagues accountable. It is important to check in with one another, to recognize the humanity within us. It is okay to become jaded sometimes, but there must be an awareness of how we treat one another, our motives, and particularly an officer’s duty to protect all American citizens. In addition to officers allowing other officers too much discretion, there needs to be a change in the amount of discretion given to police departments as a whole. The political climate of today’s tension has shifted public trust in the police. Ideally, the police are not corrupt and are fair, and if these qualities were more prevalent in police culture, then society would not have a mistrust. Discretion is a privilege that one earns through expression of the above listed