To Protect And To Serve

by capper

I have known and have worked with many police officers through the years. Most of the officers were committed and honorable men and women. They took pride in their jobs and did them well.

That said, 2007 has not been a good year for public relations and the police around the state and the country. We have seen the trials regarding the Jude beating, the generally poor perception of recently retired Milwaukee Police Chief Nan Hegarty, and the shootings in Crandon, just to name a few.

Now we see that Green Bay police have started a new policy of finger printing everyone they pull over for a traffic violation. (H/t to Owen for the story.) They claim it is to protect people from identity theft, but it smacks of something more sinister.

And from today's news we see this story:

A state police academy leader has disavowed the slogan of the most recent graduating class urging one another to "go out and cause" post-traumatic stress disorder.

Each class at the Idaho Police Officer Standards and Training Academy is allowed to choose a slogan that is printed on its graduation programs, and the class of 43 graduates came up with "Don't suffer from PTSD, go out and cause it."

According to the Veterans Association, tens of thousands of U.S. soldiers suffer from PTSD, which causes nightmares, flashbacks and physical symptoms that make sufferers feel as if they are reliving trauma, even many years later. Crime, accidents and other trauma can cause it in civilians.

And they wonder why people have an inherent distrust of the police. Where is Officer Friendly when you need him?