The State of Law Enforcement As I See It

Since the first grade, I wanted to be a superhero. As I got older, I set my sights on becoming a Chicago Police Officer which was more socially accepted than the cape and cowl. That dream became a reality in 1999. As a patrolman, I was assigned to the west side of Chicago and later assigned to the southeast side as a detective.

I learned on my first day just how violent and cruel people could be and how dangerous the streets were. Shootings, murders, and tragedies were happening every single day. At any given moment, any part of the city could turn into a war zone. However, brave men and women suited up every day, put their lives on the line, and tried to combat this. I learned that there would always be crime, but I thought there would always be police officers to fight it. Twenty-four years later, with mass exoduses across the country, that is no longer the case.

Walking into the police academy as a first generation Indian, I was so thrilled to see just how diverse our department was. Our diversity is one beautiful part of this job. The representation was comforting to see. Slowly but surely, as funding allowed, technological advances were being made. The training was getting better. We were moving forward.

This all started to change on August 9, 2014, in Ferguson, Missouri with the police involved shooting of Michael Brown. The city burned with anger over false narratives and inaccurate depictions of what transpired. A new martyr was born. Not to mention there was money and careers to be made from it.

After the unimaginable damage was done in Ferguson, the Department of Justice quietly released their findings on March 4, 2015. This 86-page report went against almost everything the media put out to the public. The reckless reporting stirred a pot of anger, opened old wounds, and demonized law enforcement. The groundwork was set on the reaction to any police-involved shooting no matter if the facts didn’t support the anti-police narrative.

In May of 2020, the scenario played itself out again with the death of George Floyd. Aesthetically it looked awful. Once again, not all the facts were available to the public and many were even withheld. In this case, leading up to press conferences it was obvious how political this was going to be. Tensions and anger continued to reach a boiling point and instead of releasing the whole story, carefully chosen bits and pieces were released that would naturally boil that pot over.

Minneapolis burned and because of the chosen imagery distributed, it angered the whole country causing many other cities including my own to burn right along with it. The police were evil and not just four officers demonized in Minneapolis but ALL police, myself included.

As a result of anti-police sentiment, lack of support, and constant attacks, many good police officers left the job. Many departments are severely short-staffed and criminals know this. Police officers cannot effectively do their jobs because of manpower as well as being handcuffed with crippling nonsensical policies which were pushed into legislation riding the anti-police movement. Much of said legislation was made without the input of experienced law enforcement. It seems that when legislation is passed regarded public safety, law enforcement does not get a seat at the table. Public safety suffers as the result.

Emboldened criminals are taking full advantage of well-known policies such as no-vehicle and no foot pursuit policies. The result of all this, as I see it, is skyrocketing violent crime that continues to terrorize law-abiding citizens every day.

Police officers are also hesitant in fear of facing “trial by media” and being judged by public opinion. This job is not always pretty and situations do not always go smooth. That being said, officers should not be judged if their actions are not aesthetically pleasing but if their actions are justified. This is part of the current state of affairs in law enforcement.

In 2023 alone, 378 officers were shot in the line of duty. 48 police officers were shot and killed in the line of duty in 2023. These numbers do not include officers who were shot at and narrowly escaped injury. The attacks on law enforcement are unprecedented. Police officers have become the enemy of the public and deadly targets for criminals. This is seen in the rise of ambush attacks against police officers. Society still tends to forget that we are human beings that take this calling to protect them.

The media and politicians alike will sell and push tragedies to the public in the absence of all the facts at warp speed just to have a "story" to tell. Even when facts emerge later, nobody seems to backtrack and right the wrongs. They would rather continue the narrative that got them notoriety and clicks even at the cost of keeping human beings angry and divided. The media takes full advantage of society's interest in a fallen hero as opposed to an actual hero. I feel that society is more likely to engage in a story in which someone fails as opposed to succeeds.

We must get back to telling the whole truth. We must start holding the individual accountable and not make excuses for their actions. We must choose our martyrs carefully and know all about them before we bow to them.

We must admit that we have come a long way in the last 60 years as opposed to denying it and eventually reverting back to it. We should support law enforcement because the vast majority of us are willing to die to protect you. We have to allow police officers to do their jobs in order to keep us safe. Once there is open support, men and women will return to do the job that is currently being done by skeleton crews across the board.

Allowing police officers to do their jobs and simply enforce the law is not as horrible as it is made out to be. Laws are on the books for a reason and are useless if they are allowed to be broken.

Public safety is suffering when we continue to go down this path. Law-abiding citizens are being terrorized or worse every single day. Nobody but the criminal wins when depleted and dejected forces have to fight more battles internally than what’s happening externally on the streets. Unfortunately, people make bad choices and innocent people suffer the consequences. Speaking of consequences, the criminal justice system needs to provide them. It seems that without consequences, criminals are not learning from their mistakes, but they are repeating them. The revolving doors of the criminal justice system are not producing rehabilitation or reform, but instead a more emboldened criminal. Law-abiding, tax-paying citizens are paying the price everyday by losing their personal property, sanity, and even their lives in the process. Unfortunately evil does exist and we need law and order to get back to good.