Modern media often portrays the relationship between police and juveniles as unfavorable. Currently, police brutality cases make big headlines, and it is often difficult to find examples of positive relationships on the news. However, my experience is different from what is portrayed in the media. My son goes to a public school, where there is a police officer assigned to the school. The police officer is a properly trained person with genuine love and care for children. My son and most of his friends often talk to him and ask questions about what it is like to work in the police force. I believe that the boys in the school see the police officer as a source of protection on which they can rely. I think that the central cause of problematic relationships between the youth and the police is the media’s influence.
Today, when police brutality is the most frequent topic after COVID-19, it is difficult to find a story that pictures positive relationships between juveniles and police. A recent article in Pittsburgh Post-Gazette by Pesarchik (2020) argues for avoiding removing police officers from schools. As protests against police brutality continue across the country, some organizations began to call for removing officers from schools to avoid conflict (Pesarchik, 2020). The article, however, describes several cases of how exposure to positive police behavior forms a partnership between the youth and the police officers (Pesarchik, 2020). The article argues that working with juveniles is a very nuanced job; however, positive communication between police and the youth is invaluable for crime prevention and lowering the long-term risk of violent behavior.
Reference
Pesarchik, M. (2020). Removing police presence from schools would cause more harm than good, officers say. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Web.