Civilians are the nation. Police are the order. Together they are Democracy.

Today was a rather unusual day. I felt gloomy and to cheer myself up I decided to take a walk to the grocery. The bright sunlight hit my temple and I felt the breeze of refreshment but my soothing poetic walk was interrupted by the sudden siren hailing down the street. It was the police patrolling vehicle doing their duty. I sensed safety and smiled at the car as it passed by me. But the man walking beside me had a twitch on his face as if he saw something scary and turned a bit more conscious with his behaviour.

This made me realize that people find police to be an imposing authority and the great force of justice is now perceived as the goons, who they were assigned to catch. After this I decided to research a bit about the myths and the rumours about the police that prevail in the mind of a civilian. My research was quite amusing and I found various myths prevailing against the Police. Let’s take a look at them and try to debunk them for a socially healthy population.

Myth 1: Police Force is fully equipped to face all the criminals.

A police officer engages with criminals on a daily basis, criminals who pickpockets to criminals who try to plant a bomb in the Parliament. Police are the first body to engage with them and be the point of contact. A police officer has the expertise to solve a crime but to deal with a criminal and break his code is the difficult task. The psychology of a criminal is far more complex than the actions that they perform.

I interviewed S.I.P. Waghmare and he informed me about the deprivation of skillset the police force has when it comes to dealing with the psychology of the criminal. He even stressed about the issue of the officers facing PTSD and heavy trauma while solving certain cases. The ratio of registered cases to number of officers is negligible and it has added on the pressure of wrapping cases as soon as possible by the authorities. This in-turn has created the bubble of inefficiency and delay in process. Equipping officers with ammunition is not the solution. Violence is not the solution, empathy is.

Myth 2: Police spend most of their day battling crime.

Existence of crime is increasing year-on-year and if they were a stock, I can’t see them not being the top gainers with the trajectory they’re increasing at. Nowadays, newspapers have turned to have only news about crime reporting and the police force solving the same. This has led to pop culture using their “creative liberty” to showcase the Police officers as the elite detectives and crime investigators who do nothing but fight crime. Job of a police officer is frustratingly complex and has various other duties than fighting criminals too. police mostly spend their time on noncriminal matters, including patrol, paperwork, noise complaints, traffic infractions and people in distress.

An observational study in Criminal Justice Review shows that patrol officers, who make up most of police forces, spend about one-third of their time on random patrol, one-fifth responding to non-crime calls and about 17 percent responding to crime-related calls — the vast majority of which are misdemeanors. About 13 percent of their workday is devoted to administrative tasks and 9 percent to personal activities (such as eating). The remaining 7 percent of the time, officers are dealing with the public, providing assistance or information, problem solving and attending community meetings.

Myth 3: Police officers have License to Kill.

As much as I love the James Bond series and but not everyone’s Special Agent 007. Police officers have to be more responsible and have to keep the track of every bullet they use. It’s rightly said that “With great power comes great responsibility” and the police officers understand the liability and understanding of such power at their disposal. The record is kept at every police station for every individual officer and they have to be accountable because the force is answerable to the citizens and this is because the force is funded by the tax payer’s money.

Myth 4: Collection of crime scene data is easy and simple process.

The chances of a police investigator solving a crime are the highest within the first two to three days of an incident. Officers quickly accumulate as much facts as possible to work out the places, people and activities that could have been a part of the crime. In movies, this looks like a law enforcement officer talking over the phone and making their way into a national database that reveals the contact details of the suspect. Although it can be quite intriguing to collect crucial data, TV shows like CSI make it seem like an easy and fun process. In reality, there is a lot more involved to navigate a patchwork system of information and data that is unapproachable across state lines.

Myth 5: Burnout in the profession of law enforcement is inevitable.

The never-ending portrayal of burned-out and cynical police officers who are shown hating their job gives off a negative message to the masses. Again, research data and facts reveal a more positive picture. Studies have actually reported more than 50% of police officials are ‘satisfied’ and ‘happy’ with their job. There is no concrete evidence to support the notion that police work is responsible for more burnout than other occupations. Past researches that were aimed at establishing a connection showed that most police officers generally feel less fatigued and are more proud of what they achieve as compared to other professionals.

Now that we’ve gone through all these myths and have debunked them successfully. Let’s make sure that every time we see a law enforcement officer, we give them a smile. It’s a small gesture which not only motivates them by recognition but it’s the reward they seek for their service.

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