Wednesday, September 17, 2008

REALITY VS. REALITY T.V.


Today, the media has introduced a vision of law enforcement that is tainted. For example, the reality television series, COPS, presents a dramatic view of law enforcement. This television series, amongst others, presents the elements of law enforcement that many enjoy, those situations that get the adrenaline pumping. The most dramatic event that an officer may be involved in is an officer involved shooting. Reality television series show situations in which an officer has been shot at and must rely on his ore her weapon for protection of self and community. However, not shown are the implications that arise from these situations. One must consider the emotional, mental, psychological, and physical effects from such a situation. There is a direct impact associated with the parties involved, but there are also implications for families, police administration, and criminal liability.

When considering law enforcement, one’s perception must not become skewed by what is seen on television. In reality, officer involved shootings are the most dramatic events and officer may encounter in their career. Additionally, it may be the situation that has the most dramatic impact on the officer personally, and on their career.

3 comments:

paperjustice said...

Too true. When one's worst fear is realized, what happens? I'll be excited to read more about this traumatic event that no officer should dream about. Also, I'm happy to see something combating the "reality" of COPS. I believe the only way to really see a glimpse of cop life is through a ride-along program or through an internship like yours.

Tiffany said...

You make a very important observation in your post. That observation is in the often lost or misunderstood implication of effects surrounding officer involved shootings. I think it would be interesting to learn more if you decide to further research any of these implications in depth. One in specific that I would be interested in is the impact on families and maybe even PTSD and emotional effect of being involved in such incidents.

Espinoza Jr. said...

I actually will look further into the implications of officer invovled shootings on families. I have breifly gone over PTSD, but will look further into it in the future. I feel that the general public does not know much about the reality of shootings, or policing in general. Hopefully this will help them better understand.