Paper Example on Increasing Violence towards Police Officers in the US

Introduction

Over the past few years, research shows the incidences involving police officers being attacked in the US has increased at such an alarming rate making the profession ranked as the most dangerous profession in the country. Law enforcement officers have always had attacks even before, but currently, the cases involving them being attacked by the public have increased. There are different assumptions as to why these cases have been happening, but small research has been carried out to try and analyze the cases. For the analysis, an interview was prepared, and a few police officers from different branches were called in for the interview. The picked police included

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John Crewfiled, +144 2874 499 711, [email protected] DAE

Briston Javin, +144 2879 213 900, [email protected] SWAT

Below is a brief overview of the interview with some of the asked questions and the responses from both the interviewee.

Interview Question

What Are the Possible Causes of the Rise in Attack Towards the Police?

After the first question, both policemen had a similar report towards the issue. They both claimed that the police officers of late had been viewed as the enemy of the people due to the false information from the media. Officer John claimed that the viral videos of police brutally where some of these cases have close to no evidence have really tarnished the name of the police. This has angered the community and the minute they see the police officer they end up judging them based on these videos. Briston also claimed that, after the 2017 incident of police brutality, the police officers have received major backlash from the public although he felt most of the cases were not well presented to the media. Also, the lack of coverage of police officers doing their jobs has led to the current situation. The police officer put their lives on the line on daily bases, but very few incidences are captured of them doing these acts. Both officers felt this would change the course of events currently facing the police officers.

How Insure Are You in Relation to Such Attacks?

The officers apparently answered that the insurance cover offered to the departments vary although they felt much would be done. The risk levels in the line of work keep increasing, but the officers claimed that the insurance cover offered to them does not evolve alongside the risks the officers' face. Different risks involved in the line of work have over time evolved such as gun ownership right where private gun owners have guns with them, and there have been reported cases where these individuals have used these guns and endangered the lives of police officers. Officer John claimed that such cases take time before the risk insurance covers the police officer and in most cases these filed cases may take longer than expected to get resolved. The risk insurance sector has failed miserably in relation to protecting the lives of the policemen who risk their lives to save the public. Briston also felt that different measures needed to be taken as well so as to avoid the risk rather than cure the risk.

After the interview, relevant information for the study was gathered to help the majority understand the lives of the police officers and the nature of insurance coverage that covers them in relation to their line of duty. The Article ", Violence against Police Officers Statistics, Are Trending in a Bad Way" by Alexander VA covered the impact of social media on the line of work for the police officer. The article claimed that lack of exonerating evidence in multiple cases involving police officers has crippled the department. Different communities see the police department as the danger to security rather than the source of security. The community lacks any evidence to prove them wrong, has led to the death of many police officers in the line of duty. Cases of police officers being ambushed in the line of duty, police death by criminal gunfire has also increased and in 2016 statistics show over 135 police officers were killed. In the year 2015, eight police officers were killed in ambush-style attacks which accounted for the 21 percent of the killed police officers that year. In 2016 the number rose to 21 officers which were a 61 percent rise in the cases (Desmond et al., 866). The increase was at such an alarming rate.

The police departments offer insurances and covers legal costs, but we have had multiple cases where these have failed to cover the police officers. This shows a weakness within the police insurance sector and a need to address the issue. Different covers such as individual liability cover has been one of the most advocated for covers within the workforce. This is due to the multiple functions it offers the individual. The cover includes some extra advantages which really help the police officers in the line of duty. Such covers include bodily injuries which are currently the main worry among the workforce. Personal injuries and property damage that may be caused by wrongful acts while conducting law enforcement activities. This is a gap within the insurance cover that has not yet evolved with the changes within the line of work of the officers. From the analyzed information, police officers encounter more danger now than before and require more protection as compared to before (Desmond et al., 859). The insurance covers offered by the department fail to cover some of these arms since the formulation of these insurance policies did not predict the current situations faced by the police officers. Despite all this, it is important to recognize the efforts made to revise most of these insurance covers within the department.

Conclusion

Addressing the most effective solution for the violence directed towards the police officers entails going to the community and recreating the lost connection between the community and the security department. The lost trust in the police force needs to be rebuilt so as to reduce the increasing attacks. The growing generation is the most affected generation in the community since they have grown seeing the negative portrayal of the police force which will lead to more violence towards the police officers. As part of insurance for the police officer in their line of duty, the department needs to come up with strategies to bring back the relationship between the community and the police department. This will help reduce the violence directed towards the police officers (Desmond et al., 874). This will also help the police officers work more effectively since the community will start aiding them where possible. So as the insurance covers for the police officers are revised so are other productive measure taken to help protect the lives of our police officers.

Work Cited

Desmond, Matthew, Andrew V. Papachristos, and David S. Kirk. "Police violence and citizen crime reporting in United State." American Sociological Review 81.5 (2017): 857-876.