Police representation in media: Needs to be more positive

by Melinda Renteria

A job that was created to protect individuals, where men and women run to danger instead of away from it, has become synonymous with racists and murderers.

Not all police are trying to harm others and to say that they are would be stereotyping a majority.

A man or woman does not simply lose their morality by putting on a blue uniform and a badge. It seems as though many have been working diligently to dehumanize police officers for far too long.

That isn’t to say that police brutality is not a national issue that needs immediate attention; however, not all officers are committing these atrocities. Yet the ones who have, have altered the perception that civilians have of officers. Why? Because the media only portrays police men and women when an error has been made. Rarely does the media show when an officer saves lives, when an officer is plainly doing their job.

According to a recent NPR broadcast, six men in blue were asked to leave a Starbucks in Arizona because a customer felt “uncomfortable.” The officers did not say, nor do anything out of the ordinary. They waited in line, bought their coffee and sat down to talk amongst themselves.

If officers were represented in a more positive light in some media outlets, then civilians would not have to feel uncomfortable or scared when an officer is simply ordering coffee.

People need to understand that some police men and women are incredible and brave.

While others run away from danger, these people run to it without a second thought. Some people may say that officers are trained to combat violent and dangerous scenarios. While this may be true, no amount of training in the world can make a human invincible.

Officers make mistakes, just like any other human. There needs to be more balanced media coverage of how they save lives, dodge bullets and rescue lost children.