Behind The Bridge – An Insight To Cops Career

Police work has always been hard. Today police say it is even harder. In a new Pew Research Center national survey conducted by the National Police Research Platform, majorities of police officers say that recent high-profile fatal encounters between black citizens and police officers have made their jobs riskier, aggravated tensions between police and blacks, and left many officers reluctant to fully carry out some of their duties.

Pew Research Survey - Figures

About as many (72%) say officers in their department are now less willing to stop and question suspicious persons. Overall, more than eight-in-ten (86%) say police work is harder today as a result of these high-profile incidents.

About nine-in-ten officers (93%) say their colleagues worry more about their personal safety – a level of concern recorded even before a total of eight officers died in separate ambush-style attacks in Dallas and Baton Rouge last July.

Two-thirds of officers (68%) say the demonstrations are motivated to a great extent by anti-police bias; only 10% in a separate question say protesters are similarly motivated by a genuine desire to hold police accountable for their actions.

Still, about half (53%) question whether their department’s disciplinary procedures are fair, and seven-in-ten (72%) say that poorly performing officers are not held accountable.

Large majorities of officers (92%) and the public (79%) say anti-police bias is at least somewhat of a motivation for those protesting the deaths of blacks at the hands of police. Majorities of police and the public favor the use of body cameras by officers, though a significantly larger share of the public, supports their use (93% vs. 66%) and sees more benefits from body cams than the police do.

While they disagree about an assault weapons ban, large majorities of the police (88%) and the public (86%) favor making private gun sales and sales at gun show subject to background checks. Majorities also favor creating a federal database to track all gun sales (61% for police and 71% of the public).

On a range of issues and attitudes, police and the public often see the world in very different ways. For example, when both groups are asked whether the public understands the risks and rewards of police work, fully eight-in-ten (83%) of the public say they do, while 86% of police say they don’t.

For a detailed review, I request each officer to go through these surveys and share their insights –http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2017/01/11/behind-the-badge/.