Security, Civics, and Community Engagement
How an engaging civics education can bridge the divide between those in uniform and the citizens they serve
I grew up in a military town and have been in the Air Force for three years, so for most of my life I’ve been comfortable when crossing paths with those in uniform. Sure, in school I would come across the history of a failed military operation, and at times I would see a story on the news where a police officer had overstepped their bounds, but on the whole, the actions of men and women in uniform seemed to me unbiased and grounded in the values of service and justice. As I’ve studied public policy and spent more time around different parts of the U.S, however, I’ve come to recognize that my experience isn’t shared by many Americans. The relationship between citizens and those in uniform isn’t always strong on the community level — where it’s arguably most important.
In recent years, the confidence of the American people in most public institutions has declined. Nearly half of people polled by Gallup say they have little confidence in the police, and over a quarter feel the same way about the military. Though separate, these institutions have largely overlapping missions of maintaining public safety and homeland defense, and intuitively the confidence individuals have in the competency and professionalism of their local law enforcement inevitably extends toward federal law enforcement, and military personnel. It makes sense to me that if state and local government can effectively train and direct police forces with the needs and concerns of citizens in mind, those citizens can have confidence that their congressional representatives can also maintain the right vision when it comes to federal law enforcement and the employment of our military. This means the decline in public confidence needs to be responded to, as a continued decline in this confidence only spells increased misunderstanding and mistrust.
The lack of trust that surveys reveal is manifested in real questions that people ask themselves in communities across the country: how can I voice a concern regarding my local law enforcement? How are the police actually held accountable for mistakes? Should I be afraid to record an encounter with the police? Who decides how police are trained and utilized, and can we as citizens have any influence on this?
There are recent examples of initiatives to get young citizens and local law enforcement engaged in healthy dialogue. These efforts are a great start, but I believe an action oriented civics education would create a unique and productive opportunity for young people from communities where relationships with, and perceptions of, law enforcement are fraught, to answer these questions. When students receive a quality, action oriented, hands-on civics education, they develop skills from the ground up: skills that will better enable them to engage in various levels of the policy making process. Open discussions, guest speakers, and student led projects tackling real problems in their community are all elements of civics ed that connect students with their local leaders, enabling them to grasp the complexity of issues beyond the abstract. When this happens, students develop the confidence necessary to make their voices heard to local decision makers. While often, these are city council people, school principals, and even members of congress, police chiefs should be considered key partners as well.
Having these interactions and building these relationships helps narrow the gap between students and their government and public officials, and when students share their voices and perspectives, it enables those in uniform to better hone their standards and practices to meet the needs of those they serve. Students countrywide have begun to demonstrate the possibilities for this engagement at the local level, and I am confident that as students learn more about their government via hands-on experiences and become more engaged with civic leaders, the confidence and understanding they have in these critical institutions will grow more than ever before.
