People, generally, don’t have a clue about what cops do! And, while that is not their fault, failing to give cops the benefit of the doubt is dangerous for society.
Many well-meaning people say they support the police, but until people truly understand the unique nature of police work, they cannot properly assess it. Unfortunately, non-law enforcement people aren’t capable of fully understanding police work; it’s just not possible. Unless they’ve been to a police academy and have spent years and decades on the streets actually committing law enforcement, they can never understand. This is why it is so important to understand that they can only work to understand the nature of the job and then give cops the benefit of the doubt they deserve.
Fox News Channel’s Brian Kilmeade demonstrated this the other night on an evening news commentary program. When asked to comment on a particular high profile police action, Kilmeade answered that he had not attended the police academy, is not a cop, and could not fathom what decisions the cop was facing at the time of the incident. He gave the officer the respect of an initial benefit of the doubt. To the contrary, the political left too often give cops the detriment of certainty, without the nuisance of waiting for an investigation. If, after a thorough investigation is completed, an officer is found to have acted intentionally improperly or illegally, then gloves off. Until then, cops deserve the benefit of the doubt. Once people accept they can never fully understand police work, society will be on its way to a better relationship with their police.
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