The police officer occupies a distinctive position in American life.
Today, the police officer is an object of derision and scorn, viewed not as a remedy to crime and disorder but as a cause of it-at least to an uninformed but influential minority, which includes members of the government and media.
As the police officer endures this reaction, he knows crime and disorder haven't abated.
How else to explain the speed with which Atlanta police officer Garrett Rolfe was fired and charged with murder after he shot and killed Rayshard Brooks on June 12? How else to explain why Rolfe's partner, Devin Brosnan, has been charged with aggravated assault and violation of his oath? After the tumult in Minneapolis and elsewhere, Atlanta's authorities clearly sacrificed both officers in the hope that their city wouldn't be looted and burned.
Take over an entire neighborhood in downtown Seattle, including a police station? No problem, says the city's mayor-it will be a summer of love! That didn't turn out to be the case.
Too many still believe that the police are at the root of what troubles America's cities, but reality has a way of reasserting itself-often cruelly.
America's police have gotten the message: they're the problem.
Today, the police officer is an object of derision and scorn, viewed not as a remedy to crime and disorder but as a cause of it-at least to an uninformed but influential minority, which includes members of the government and media.
As the police officer endures this reaction, he knows crime and disorder haven't abated.
How else to explain the speed with which Atlanta police officer Garrett Rolfe was fired and charged with murder after he shot and killed Rayshard Brooks on June 12? How else to explain why Rolfe's partner, Devin Brosnan, has been charged with aggravated assault and violation of his oath? After the tumult in Minneapolis and elsewhere, Atlanta's authorities clearly sacrificed both officers in the hope that their city wouldn't be looted and burned.
Take over an entire neighborhood in downtown Seattle, including a police station? No problem, says the city's mayor-it will be a summer of love! That didn't turn out to be the case.
Too many still believe that the police are at the root of what troubles America's cities, but reality has a way of reasserting itself-often cruelly.
America's police have gotten the message: they're the problem.
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