Due to the very nature of the world we live in, the media has predominately been one-sided, rather than "fair and balanced," in numerous hot topics. But, when it comes to the use of force by law enforcement, the media is always there to cast doubts on the easily swayed minds of the general public. This topic hits home for me because I have assisted in investigating three officer-involved shootings (OIS), watched my Corporal (also my first FTO) go through the turmoil associated with an OIS, and have been on the Use of Force Review Board for my department. In all of these very different occurrences, I was lucky enough to see all of the facts at hand. The majority of media, whether it is law enforcement or United States military, does not care about capturing the entire story. They are only pursuing headlines, "viral videos," and/or something to keep this great country divided. Therefore, this paper discusses the detrimental effects of media on modern law enforcement.
Notably, most citizens depend on the mass media to inform and shape their views regarding law enforcement. In both local and international news, the media presents captivating headlines that tell only part of the story. The media tends to focus on the negative aspects of most law enforcement activities while at the same time painting them in a bad light. Most of the headlines focus on misconducts of law enforcers such as abuse of power, excessive use of force, officer misconduct and corruption among law enforcers (Waters, 2012). Although some part of the story may be true, the impact of the media report does not augur well with the society. In fact, the society tends to lose faith and trust in the law enforcers while killing the morale at the law enforcement departments.
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As soon as the media reports cases of police misconduct, the impact on the rank of the affected individuals is enormous. In cases where the media makes grave allegations against an officer, the effect may be traumatic on the affected department. The chief of the concerned department has to try and disseminate information during media inquiries and try to repair the damage. More often than not, the public tends to believe the initial media report regardless of whether the allegations have been proven or not. The media fails in reassuring the public on the capabilities of law enforcers in investigating the allegations unless an all-inclusive interview is held. Although it is the nature of police to defend their own, the media fails to give priority to the chief's report but instead, releases their unproven allegations first (Godfredson et al., 2010). As a matter of professional courtesy, these media reports should not be released before the involved department is well informed of the allegations.
When the media reports cases of officer involved in a shooting, more often than not, only part of the story is told. Most of the facts are omitted with the entire focus being laid on condemning the officer. A study conducted by the US Department of Justice in the year 2012 showed that the victims of most shootings displayed considerable levels of aggression and resistance. Moreover, twenty-five percent of the suspects engaged the law enforcers which prompted them to fight back. It was also found that officer involved in shooting incidents had a strong relationship with suspect’s possession of weapons. In fact, forty percent of the suspects were armed and displayed violent behavior. Also, the majority of the suspects had conspicuous signs of mental instability during the time of the incident. Before most of the shootings occurred in fatal incidents, the majority of the suspects acted aggressively and prompted the police to shoot (Kesic et al., 2012). However, the media reports only the captivating part showing that a law enforcer engaged in shooting without reporting the rest of the story. In return, the public reaction seems to suggest that it was better for the offender to shoot before the police could take action.
Nevertheless, research by Fishel et al., 2007 showed that in wrongful death lawsuits against the police, the majority, that is, sixty percent were innocent bystanders. This fact implicates the officer involved as reckless or harboring evil intents. More often than not, the officer responds before the suspect could harm him/her and thus crossfire may affect innocent civilians. However, citizens from minority races seem to prefer the opposite, also referred to as the "fair shot." The fair shot mentality which entails the suspect shooting first before the officer reacts appears to be in favor with citizens, especially among minority races. This mentality gets heated whenever an officer shoots a suspect who is later proven to have been unarmed (Blair et al., 2011). However, studies show that the use of force by an officer largely depends on the suspect’s behavior and actions. Kesic et al., 2012, emphasizes that most of the incidents involving the use of firearms by the police took place during unplanned police operations. The researchers also point out that the police tried to engage the suspects in verbal communication as a way of deescalating the situation. Based on this and other findings, it is evident that suspect compliance is the main goal of law enforcers and most of the unfortunate incidents justify the use of force.
As Kesic et al., 2012, reports, racial factors are important determinants of the level of attention paid to the incident by the media. In their research, a majority of the incidents involving police mistreatment occur among African American citizens. Moreover, these citizens also reported the issue of police mistreatment to be rampant in their community. Also, members of minority groups reported to be highly critical of the police and hence displayed hostility towards them. On the other hand, research by Blair et al., 2011, showed that discrepancies exist in the way police treat members of racial minorities. In fact, the survey reported that some of the law enforcers habitually stopped individuals from particular races or ethnic groups more than others. This behavior was associated with the perception that certain groups of races are more likely to commit crimes than other races. Out of these minority races, seventy percent were African American who were on the receiving end of racial profiling. As a result, the media has fueled the debate on racial discrimination with more and more headlines on the numbers of African American males getting shot by law enforcers.
A huge percentage, that is, forty-four percent of individuals who experienced the use of force against them had previous encounters with the police. On the other hand, only twenty-eight percent of those that did not experience force had previous contact with law enforcers. Regarding the demographic characteristics of individuals who experience the force, the United States Department of Justice, 2012 reported that most of the individuals had an average age of twenty-eight years. Furthermore, the majority of the suspects who experienced force were male. Significant discrepancies manifested in racial distribution among all races represented in the United States. Data from the Police-Public-Contact-Survey (PPCS) shows varying percentages in the prevalence of force experiences among races. Notably, four percent of African American suspects had a likelihood of experiencing the non-fatal force. On the contrary, two percent and one point four percent were reported for Hispanics and Whites respectively. Similarly, traffic stops relating to a driver and an officer of different races had a high likelihood of involving force. During a personal search, blacks had twice the probability of experiencing force as compared to whites.
As reported by the Office of Justice Programs, 2012, seventy-four percent of individuals who had contact with law enforcers reported an excessive use of force against them. They also reported that the behavior of the officer was extremely brutal. Moreover, nineteen percent of them reported having been injured by the law enforcers. It was only twelve percent that reported to have disobeyed or defied orders from the officers. Although more than eighty percent of the affected individuals felt that the use of force was excessive, only fourteen percent of them filed complaints. In most cases, the police act in agreement with police agencies' guidelines which help them to determine when to use force. Although some circumstances present with difficulties of interpretation, most of the guidelines are clearly cut out. However, when the media reports these incidents, it sometimes overlooks the guidelines and outrightly condemns police actions.
The depiction of police actions by the media deters them from enforcing the law as vigorously as they would with fear of misconduct accusations. The lack of balance in media reports results in public criticism of police actions while overlooking the challenges faced by the police. The situation worsens with public discussions by the media on cases that are still under investigation. More often than not, the heat generated by these discussions result in the resignation of officers who were dutifully carrying out their mandate. In fact, officers lose their jobs and careers due to media reports. As a result, most officers are currently fearing to take action, weighing the impact of how it might be depicted in the media. In their research, Godfredson et al., 2010 revealed that most law enforcers feel uncomfortable and unsupported while handling mentally ill suspects. Therefore, other than reporting the one side of the story, the media should also focus on advocating for community support to the police in carrying out their duties.
With the coming of social media, law enforcers continuously struggle in maintaining a positive public image (Waters, 2012). There are a plethora of social media sites such as MySpace, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, and Instagram among others. Notably, these sites have made it tremendously easy for everyone with an account on their sites to share comments, pictures, and videos with an unlimited crowd world over. The situation is amplified by the widespread use of tablets, smartphones, and laptops with immediate access to a camera. These gadgets allow individuals to post content of their choice which art times, troubles law enforcement. In fact, law enforcement has become a hot topic on social media with numerous videos of police encounters shared widely. The detriment manifests in that individuals can not only post videos of police encounters but also, enables them to edit and present only the parts they want to be seen. When these videos go viral, they wreak havoc on the portrayed department as well as the officer implicated. Worse off, the public rarely pays attention to detail but only focuses on the officer’s action, judging him/her harshly and destroying their credibility.
Some of the videos circulated through the social media depict situations that present a potential danger to the law enforcer while the perpetrator thinks that they are doing the right thing. Other videos portray individuals approaching officers with an intent of putting their reactions to the test. For instance, some individuals approach officers while carrying firearms as a way of testing the officer's knowledge of firearm rights. While the officer tries to reasonably discuss with the individual, it becomes apparent that the individual just intends to argue with the officer. The recording takes place with the officer trying his best to keep calm and solve the matter amicably. However, these individuals have the motivation of causing drama and therefore, they continually pester the officer to trigger a negative reaction from them. As a result, distractions occur which put the life of the officer in danger.
Waters, 2012, holds that social media makes sharing of information to the extent of exposing police officers and their families which raise the threat level. Furthermore, social media fuels wide scale reactions that could be triggered by just a small stimulus. As a result, incidents seem to unveil and spread more rapidly than wildfire. Mild incidents get distributed in seconds, and negative comments start flooding to the implicated police department. Social media has played a significant role in wreaking havoc to the law enforcement with officers finding themselves in tough circumstances with their branches, courts, and the public simply through the use of social networking sites. Other officers have faced disciplinary action, have lost promotions, lost credibility in court, and have even lost their careers from the usage of social media. These facts point out the detrimental effects of media on law enforcement.
Implications of possible solutions for the debate under investigation
Possible solutions to the issues elicited by the debate entail deliberate action by the media and by the law enforcement. As Blair et al., 2011 suggests, the law enforcement agencies require to implement "realistic, incident based training to increase officer safety in use of force incidents." This entails practical drills mimicking actual scenarios to elicit the desired response in a real life situation. With proper training, the officers will be well aware of when and how to avoid confrontations and thus perform their duties more effectively. Moreover, the law enforcers could opt for measures of solving the outcomes rather than engaging the suspects directly.
On the part of mass media, Waters et al., 2012, recommends that the media presents investigative reports on the use of force encounters to the law enforcement before presenting to the public. This way, the information will be constructive rather than destructive to the law enforcement. Also, officers will no longer feel under threat in carrying out their mandate. Jointly, the media and law enforcers could carry out programs to enlighten the public on the use of force by law enforcers as thus improve public understanding of the subject matter.
In conclusion, the use of force by most law enforcers comes as a last resort. Nevertheless, the media depicts the incidents as deliberate and intentional. They also present only one side of the story to the public thus negatively implicating the law enforcers. On its part, social media has fueled the controversies with easy distribution of edited videos of officers during encounters with citizens. As discussed above, the media reflection on law enforcement has not been healthy but inclined at painting the officers in a bad light. As a result, officers find themselves in tough circumstances with their branches, courts, and the public. Other officers have faced disciplinary action, have lost promotions, lost credibility in court, and have even lost their careers due to the incidents portrayed in the media. Several high-profile cases in the past have prompted the law enforcement agencies to change policies and provide more training to their officers.
References
Blair, J.P., Pollock, J., Montague, D., Nichols, T., Curnutt, J., & Burns, D. (2011).Reasonableness and reaction time. Police Quarterly , 14(4), 323-343.
Godfredson, J. W., Ogloff, J. R. P., Thomas, S. D. M., & Luebbers, S. (2010). Police discretion and encounters with people experiencing mental illness: The significant factors. Criminal Justice and Behavior , 37(12), 1392-1405.
Kesic, D., Thomas, S. D. M., & Ogloff, J. R. P. (2012). Analysis of fatal police shootings: Time, space and suicide by police. Criminal Justice and Behavior , 39(8), 1107-1125.
U.S. Department of Justice, National Institute of Justice. (2012). Analysis of police use-of-force data.
Waters, G. (2012). Social media and law enforcement. FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin , 81(11), 15.
