Dear part-time Facebook journalist who reports about police activities

By Mike the Cop

I’m tired of what I call Facebook reporters questioning the split second, life or death decisions cops have to make when their daily difficult choice is whether to get a non-fat, no whip mocha latte or a caramel macchiato on their way to the office.

Some people may immediately take offense to my oversimplification of the types of decisions our non-law enforcement citizens have to make, but that’s exactly my point. Individuals with no law enforcement (or combat) experience who watch video clips of incidents that provide little to no context and make a determination on charges (e.g. innocence or guilt) are oversimplifying. The shoe isn’t comfortable on the other foot my friends.

This social media driven phenomenon is irritating for three key reasons (according to yours truly):

1. People rarely read the full story.
   Consider the South Carolina shooting involving Officer Slager and an unarmed felon fleeing the scene. What we can observe is part of a dash cam video and then the actual shooting itself. However, what we’re missing is well over a minute of time and events that occurred beforehand.

   I was shocked to see police officers immediately forming an opinion based on such information. Why? Because most of the same officers were demanding patience for all the evidence to be presented in the Michael Brown shooting before people rushed to make up their mind regarding Officer Wilson’s use of force.

   If videos tell the entire story, we have no need for jury selection anymore. I have been involved in cases – in which I’ve been accused of everything from police brutality to civil rights violations – and the video appears to tell a story, but when all of the facts are put together, I was relieved of any wrongdoing.

   I’m in no way trying to defend a decision that may have very well needlessly cost the life of another human being, but I do think fair is fair and to fall into the trap of making a decision about such a tremendously weighty case based on nothing but a quick link in Facebook or Twitter is irresponsible at best and outright deceptive at worst. How many of the news stories lead with the lines “Felon fights with cop and runs, gets shot” as opposed to “White cop kills unarmed black man”? This is some food for thought.
   

2. People lack the experience and knowledge for such judgment.
   This, for me, gets to the heart of the matter. I’ve never done a lot of things, but I have been a cop. I have been in difficult circumstances needing to make split second decisions that involved life or death. I am very thankful that I’ve never had to take another human life. I think this is true of most law enforcement officers.

   You see, cops are not simply deciding what to do in any variety of situations based solely on the outcome they would prefer. Instead, they must take into consideration past experiences, current scenario and factors, knowledge of local, state and federal laws including any number of case laws and their own training and abilities.

   The unwitting critic may find it easy to point and click on an event that happened across the country, long after it had unfolded, and form their opinion. But unless you were there and unless you possess the same knowledge necessary to make an appropriate decision, then you’re passing judgment on someone based on nothing more than an opinion of your desired outcome. This hypocrisy should be called out as no one would want such a tremendous weight burdening their own shoulders.

   3) Viral social news tends to portray the rare as all too common.
   There are bad cops who do bad things. There are good cops who make poor decisions. There are excellent cops who make mistakes. Cops are held to a higher standard of conduct in both private and public realms, but how quickly they are expected to be virtually non-human.

   For the remarkable amount of authority law enforcement is given and for the high level of pressure they must face on a daily basis, very few critical mistakes are made. Perfection is unattainable. Any honest critique of cops must recognize that behind each badge is a man or woman and every thought and emotion that comes with it.

I’m calling for a humanization of those who are sworn to serve and protect. I’m calling for a recognition that the decisions they must make are not easy. I’m calling for objectivity and respect in the judicial process. I’m calling for every reader to turn the volume down on social media stories and tune into common sense, because it is becoming a forgotten concept.