Videos of officers in controversial situations – situations that require authority figures to make decisions within seconds – are going viral. The few legitimate videos that expose an officer truly at fault are not to what I am referring. I am referring to the thousands of videos that show an irritating person disrespecting and harassing an officer simply to get a reaction out of him/her. 

I am not saying police brutality is not an issue, it definitely is, but the extent to which it is being portrayed is way beyond what is truly occurring. It is true, however, that a police officer who ends up getting violent, if violence was not necessary, should be retrained or considered for dismissal.

The problem with our generation is that we are extremely naive and uneducated in what is going on around us. Recently it seems as if as soon as an officer starts doing his or her job and protecting society, the culprit acts as if they are the victim and the officer appears in the wrong. If someone encourages and agitates an officer to the point where he or she must take action, then that police officer is not at fault. 

As a society we have popularized the idea that treating all police officers terribly is acceptable through phrases like “we are better off without police”, “f*** the police”, and “never trust the police”. Instead of cursing off the police, we should be thanking them for putting their lives on the line to defend ours.

Consider a society without authority. Chaos would be on such a large scale that there would be no structure. Human rights would not be protected and instead of police “abusing their power,” the most physically strong would be abusing their freedom. Those who cannot protect themselves would not survive or would be taken advantage of. Editor-in-Chief of PoliceOne Doug Wyllie explained this perfectly by saying, “You can’t ‘coexist’ with people who are trying to kill you, rape you, maim you, and take from you all that you hold dear — that’s why we have police officers to protect us.”

Authority is necessary in all aspects of life. Without it, disaster would occur. This is something that most people disregard. 

The purpose of a police officer is to monitor and control criminal activity, a high-risk responsibility that should be acknowledged by those who are being protected. Although there may be some negligent officers who abuse their power, the majority of cops are putting their lives on the lines to keep other humans safe. Police officers have an unpleasant, but necessary, job as it is and should not have their career and identities criticized. It is disgusting and immoral how much hate police officers are getting for doing their jobs and protecting human rights.