Police
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Police
officers today are working in one of the toughest times in our profession’s
history. We are facing more scrutiny than in decades past despite the fact
officers at the Duluth Police Department and many others are better trained,
more educated, and working harder to create positive relationships than ever
before. There’s been a clear disconnect created by the narrative driven by
national and social media that has created a negative climate for our police
officers. This narrative has overshadowed the countless times every day when
our officers are helping people and solving crimes.
Police
officers are standard-issue human beings but are expected to act beyond human
and handle every situation with perfection as defined by many. Police officers
take an oath to protect and serve: They will search for your lost children,
protect you when a relationship isn’t safe or come to your house when there is
a bump in the night. They also will break up a fight, chase down a robber, or
search a business knowing the bad guy is hiding. We get asked, “How do you do
it? Aren’t you scared?” Police are not immune from fears but will always come
to your aid despite them.
When
asked by the News Tribune Opinion page if we were interested in writing a
commentary on this topic, we had just been briefed and were following a
priority call in eastern Duluth where a despondent male had overdosed on
medication and was threatening to shoot at police officers. Thanks to the great
work by our officers, that incident was resolved in a couple of hours without
anyone being hurt, and the suicidal male was taken to the hospital without any
injuries. Situations like this happen here daily.
Unfortunately,
the narrative we are hearing and seeing on the national news is far from this.
In some cases all police officers are being painted with a broad brush as the
out-of-control racists of our cities. National stories have skewed public
perceptions of police, and it is being felt by our officers. We’re not offering
an excuse, nor are we defending the national incidents. Instead, we just want
to bring balance and reality back into the discussion. There is no other
profession that can be brought down as quickly as police can by the actions of
a relative few.
There are
almost 900,000 police officers working in our country, and, according to the
FBI, there are an average of 58,930 assaults on police and 149 police officer
deaths per year. Additionally, police work can shorten your lifespan. A 2013
study published in the International Journal of Emergency Mental Health found
that the potential loss of life for police officers is 21 times greater than
for the general population.
We in the
Duluth department have a staff of dedicated officers who leave their homes and
families every day fully aware of the inherent risks of policing with a primary
focus of helping people and improving the community’s quality of life. These
officers are good people with good character, motives, and intentions who
sometimes deal with dynamic and instantly evolving violent encounters. These
encounters happen in a split second but will be etched in their memories for a
lifetime.
Error in
judgment is inevitable despite the best training, policies, and supervision.
The results of these errors can be incredibly tragic and can create great angst
among the community. Unfortunately, many times, conversation shifts from human
error to the allegedly willful intent to harm or oppress. The narrative often
is shaped on sound bites that don’t tell the whole story.
Given the
current national climate surrounding law enforcement, police officers are
feeling down, and they need your support. As we move forward, remember the good
work that is done every minute of every day by our police officers, and don’t
judge all by the actions of a relative few.
Gordon
Ramsay is chief of the Duluth Police Department and Mike Tusken is a deputy
chief. They wrote this exclusively for the News Tribune.
