Joe Bricker
Mrs. Culver
3-17-12
I Search paper
Are They Really Donut Eaters?
Police, the donut-eating kings and queens, are often stereotyped because of the actions of actors in T.V. shows and movies. They are also often judged because of other police officers’ actions. The public view is somewhat corrupt because some people believe that police officers just sit in their cars and eat donuts all day, but the truth is that without them, our lives would be significantly different. Significantly worse. Police officers have been stereotyped throughout history, but these various stigmas are not ever accurate. The stereotypes either oversimplify or sensationalize law enforcement and are harmful to the force.
I began to research the stereotyping of law enforcement officers because I thought that it would be interesting to explore the range of police stereotypes and how they began. First, I looked for the most common stereotypes of police men and women. Then, I wanted to know how the police feel about how they are being stereotyped. Since I plan to join the force someday myself, gaining an understanding of these stereotypes and how they have evolved over time is important.
First we will look at how the police have evolved over the years. The first police came into effect in the 1900’s. The town’s people were the main enforcers in a community (Shanlaub 1). Next the officers came into effect but the public view was tainted because they believed that the officers were helping criminals with smuggling alcohol during the prohibition in the 1930’s (Shanlaub 1). In the 1950’s the police began to get to the emergency calls faster because they began to use cars (Shanlaub 1). As the 1970’s came around the people began to think that the police were still corrupt because of the “Watergate” scandal which caused many people to not trust the security the police provided (Shanlaub 1). Into the 1990’s, people began to think that there was some racial tension growing in the police departments (Shanlaub 1). In the 2000’s the people began to get a positive outlook on the police (Shanlaub 1). To this day most officers are judged by what their departments do (Shanlaub 1). So if someone in the department does something bad, the whole department looks bad (Shanlaub 1).
For police to even be able to help the public they have to go through severe training and cruel task to finally be able to be called police officers. Why would someone go through so much and then not do anything for the community? Many people may ask this, but the truth is that they do more than you know. They help to create a safer place for you to live. They go up and down the streets making sure that the criminals that could threaten or steal from you will be arrested, so that they won’t be able to harm anyone else. They prevent terrorists from being able to harm anyone, like what happened on 9/11 or the attack on the Pentagon. Police are a needed necessity for our safety.
There are many different people who view police in different ways. Most people though think that all police do is eat donuts ( Roufa 1). The truth is that even though many people claim that police like donuts it doesn’t mean that every police officer like them. Not every officer is the same so therefor the stereotype doesn’t apply to all officers.The public perception affects how the officers will work (Olson 1).
As many officers are also thought to have to write a certain amount of tickets before they can end the day (Roufa 1). People might believe this, but why would police write tickets if the person doesn’t deserve it? I understand that people might be mad after they get a ticket for driving fast or for going through a stop sign, but that doesn’t mean that the police shouldn’t have given it to you. You deserved to get that ticket because you broke the law and potentially could have harmed someone. As Timothy Roufa wrote in his article, Common Police Officer Stereotype, he said “These stereotypes are often fun to laugh at and joke about, but they don’t convey the reality of the job of a police officer or the dangers associated with the job.” (Roufa 1). So you might think these stereotypes are funny, but their job is a lot harder than what people portray it as.
I am fortunate to have two brothers who are police officers. I asked them a series of questions on how stereotypes effect their jobs. I first asked them what was the most common stereotype they heard while on duty. Mike replied, “the most common stereotype would definitely be that people believe that the police are just there to arrest someone but the truth is that we are there to solve the case and are occasionally there to arrest the person if they did commit a crime.” My next question was, “How do these stereotypes make you feel?” Mike responded, “ It can get very irritating when working.” My final question was “ Does the stereotype affect your work?” Mike responded, “ Yes because many people fear being arrested for something they might say, so they try to tell a little lie, but this ends up making the job harder because then we have to see if they are really telling the truth on the important facts.” My brother, Detective Josh Bricker concurs with Mike’s statements.
I was lucky enough to grow up in a house with six brothers, so there were a lot of action movies laying around the house. My favorite movies though were the Die Hard series. John McClane was played by Bruce Willis. John mcClane is a cop that is not afraid of anything. He jumps from buildings, launches cars at helicopters, and fights anyone. He is a main stereotype for police officers.People believe that cops are supposed to be just like him, fearless and never back down, his character was made way too fearless because even though police are supposed to help everyone they can that doesn’t mean that they can all jump out of helicopters and dodge a jet missle. Everyone gets the idea that all the police are like that ,but they can not be because most of the stunts Bruce Willis does would be just pure luck if it were to happen in real life. So next time you watch a movie where a police officer jumps from buildings and blows up cars, just do not get the idea that all police officers do that.
Now that I have had the chance to research the stereotypes that affect police officers I am now able to be prepared for what I can look forward to when I plan to join the force. I think that all the stereotypes on police officers are just never truly accurate to their job.The people make out a police officer’s job as nothing but easy, Even though they are the ones who keep the criminals off the street for your protection. So next time you a see a police officer do not automatically think they should be holding a donut in their hand!
Works Cited
Bricker, Joe. Personal Interview with Josh Bricker. 3 Mar. 2012.
Bricker, Joe. Personal Interview with Mike Bricker. 3 Mar. 2012.
Olson, K, Kathleen.. "Policing the Media: Street Cops and Public Perceptions of Law
Enforcement." Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly 2 (2001):399. eLibrary.
Web. 12 Mar. 2012.
Schanlaub, Russell. "Public Perception of Police." Law & Order. 01 Jul. 2004: 140. eLibrary.
Web. 12 Mar. 2012.
"The police: Excessive Force." Economist. 11 Jul. 1998. eLibrary. Web. 12 Mar. 2012.
“Factors that Influence Public Opinion of the Police.” National Institute of Justice. June 2003.
Web 1 Mar. 2012.
http://elibrary.bigchalk.com/elibweb/curriculum/do/document?set=search&dictionaryClick=&secondaryNav=&groupid=1&requestid=lib_standard&resultid=24&edition=&ts=C364A09C5015F3CD78E71A2265AF4B3D_1330954414192&&publicationId=&urn=urn%3Abigchalk%3AUS%3BBCLib%3Bdocument%3B47151351
http://elibrary.bigchalk.com/elibweb/curriculum/do/document?set=search&dictionaryClick=&secondaryNav=&groupid=1&requestid=lib_standard&resultid=31&edition=&ts=C364A09C5015F3CD78E71A2265AF4B3D_1330954554825&&publicationId=&urn=urn%3Abigchalk%3AUS%3BBCLib%3Bdocument%3B29082605
http://elibrary.bigchalk.com/elibweb/curriculum/do/document?set=search&dictionaryClick=&secondaryNav=&groupid=1&requestid=lib_standard&resultid=6&edition=&ts=C364A09C5015F3CD78E71A2265AF4B3D_1330953810673&&publicationId=&urn=urn%3Abigchalk%3AUS%3BBCLib%3Bdocument%3B97374662
http://www.nij.gov/pubs-sum/197925.htm
Mrs. Culver
3-17-12
I Search paper
Are They Really Donut Eaters?
Police, the donut-eating kings and queens, are often stereotyped because of the actions of actors in T.V. shows and movies. They are also often judged because of other police officers’ actions. The public view is somewhat corrupt because some people believe that police officers just sit in their cars and eat donuts all day, but the truth is that without them, our lives would be significantly different. Significantly worse. Police officers have been stereotyped throughout history, but these various stigmas are not ever accurate. The stereotypes either oversimplify or sensationalize law enforcement and are harmful to the force.
I began to research the stereotyping of law enforcement officers because I thought that it would be interesting to explore the range of police stereotypes and how they began. First, I looked for the most common stereotypes of police men and women. Then, I wanted to know how the police feel about how they are being stereotyped. Since I plan to join the force someday myself, gaining an understanding of these stereotypes and how they have evolved over time is important.
First we will look at how the police have evolved over the years. The first police came into effect in the 1900’s. The town’s people were the main enforcers in a community (Shanlaub 1). Next the officers came into effect but the public view was tainted because they believed that the officers were helping criminals with smuggling alcohol during the prohibition in the 1930’s (Shanlaub 1). In the 1950’s the police began to get to the emergency calls faster because they began to use cars (Shanlaub 1). As the 1970’s came around the people began to think that the police were still corrupt because of the “Watergate” scandal which caused many people to not trust the security the police provided (Shanlaub 1). Into the 1990’s, people began to think that there was some racial tension growing in the police departments (Shanlaub 1). In the 2000’s the people began to get a positive outlook on the police (Shanlaub 1). To this day most officers are judged by what their departments do (Shanlaub 1). So if someone in the department does something bad, the whole department looks bad (Shanlaub 1).
For police to even be able to help the public they have to go through severe training and cruel task to finally be able to be called police officers. Why would someone go through so much and then not do anything for the community? Many people may ask this, but the truth is that they do more than you know. They help to create a safer place for you to live. They go up and down the streets making sure that the criminals that could threaten or steal from you will be arrested, so that they won’t be able to harm anyone else. They prevent terrorists from being able to harm anyone, like what happened on 9/11 or the attack on the Pentagon. Police are a needed necessity for our safety.
There are many different people who view police in different ways. Most people though think that all police do is eat donuts ( Roufa 1). The truth is that even though many people claim that police like donuts it doesn’t mean that every police officer like them. Not every officer is the same so therefor the stereotype doesn’t apply to all officers.The public perception affects how the officers will work (Olson 1).
As many officers are also thought to have to write a certain amount of tickets before they can end the day (Roufa 1). People might believe this, but why would police write tickets if the person doesn’t deserve it? I understand that people might be mad after they get a ticket for driving fast or for going through a stop sign, but that doesn’t mean that the police shouldn’t have given it to you. You deserved to get that ticket because you broke the law and potentially could have harmed someone. As Timothy Roufa wrote in his article, Common Police Officer Stereotype, he said “These stereotypes are often fun to laugh at and joke about, but they don’t convey the reality of the job of a police officer or the dangers associated with the job.” (Roufa 1). So you might think these stereotypes are funny, but their job is a lot harder than what people portray it as.
I am fortunate to have two brothers who are police officers. I asked them a series of questions on how stereotypes effect their jobs. I first asked them what was the most common stereotype they heard while on duty. Mike replied, “the most common stereotype would definitely be that people believe that the police are just there to arrest someone but the truth is that we are there to solve the case and are occasionally there to arrest the person if they did commit a crime.” My next question was, “How do these stereotypes make you feel?” Mike responded, “ It can get very irritating when working.” My final question was “ Does the stereotype affect your work?” Mike responded, “ Yes because many people fear being arrested for something they might say, so they try to tell a little lie, but this ends up making the job harder because then we have to see if they are really telling the truth on the important facts.” My brother, Detective Josh Bricker concurs with Mike’s statements.
I was lucky enough to grow up in a house with six brothers, so there were a lot of action movies laying around the house. My favorite movies though were the Die Hard series. John McClane was played by Bruce Willis. John mcClane is a cop that is not afraid of anything. He jumps from buildings, launches cars at helicopters, and fights anyone. He is a main stereotype for police officers.People believe that cops are supposed to be just like him, fearless and never back down, his character was made way too fearless because even though police are supposed to help everyone they can that doesn’t mean that they can all jump out of helicopters and dodge a jet missle. Everyone gets the idea that all the police are like that ,but they can not be because most of the stunts Bruce Willis does would be just pure luck if it were to happen in real life. So next time you watch a movie where a police officer jumps from buildings and blows up cars, just do not get the idea that all police officers do that.
Now that I have had the chance to research the stereotypes that affect police officers I am now able to be prepared for what I can look forward to when I plan to join the force. I think that all the stereotypes on police officers are just never truly accurate to their job.The people make out a police officer’s job as nothing but easy, Even though they are the ones who keep the criminals off the street for your protection. So next time you a see a police officer do not automatically think they should be holding a donut in their hand!
Works Cited
Bricker, Joe. Personal Interview with Josh Bricker. 3 Mar. 2012.
Bricker, Joe. Personal Interview with Mike Bricker. 3 Mar. 2012.
Olson, K, Kathleen.. "Policing the Media: Street Cops and Public Perceptions of Law
Enforcement." Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly 2 (2001):399. eLibrary.
Web. 12 Mar. 2012.
Schanlaub, Russell. "Public Perception of Police." Law & Order. 01 Jul. 2004: 140. eLibrary.
Web. 12 Mar. 2012.
"The police: Excessive Force." Economist. 11 Jul. 1998. eLibrary. Web. 12 Mar. 2012.
“Factors that Influence Public Opinion of the Police.” National Institute of Justice. June 2003.
Web 1 Mar. 2012.
http://elibrary.bigchalk.com/elibweb/curriculum/do/document?set=search&dictionaryClick=&secondaryNav=&groupid=1&requestid=lib_standard&resultid=24&edition=&ts=C364A09C5015F3CD78E71A2265AF4B3D_1330954414192&&publicationId=&urn=urn%3Abigchalk%3AUS%3BBCLib%3Bdocument%3B47151351
http://elibrary.bigchalk.com/elibweb/curriculum/do/document?set=search&dictionaryClick=&secondaryNav=&groupid=1&requestid=lib_standard&resultid=31&edition=&ts=C364A09C5015F3CD78E71A2265AF4B3D_1330954554825&&publicationId=&urn=urn%3Abigchalk%3AUS%3BBCLib%3Bdocument%3B29082605
http://elibrary.bigchalk.com/elibweb/curriculum/do/document?set=search&dictionaryClick=&secondaryNav=&groupid=1&requestid=lib_standard&resultid=6&edition=&ts=C364A09C5015F3CD78E71A2265AF4B3D_1330953810673&&publicationId=&urn=urn%3Abigchalk%3AUS%3BBCLib%3Bdocument%3B97374662
http://www.nij.gov/pubs-sum/197925.htm
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