Why did they constantly suggest that the entire law enforcement community was racist without researching and sharing the facts?
Their incomplete research might have caused some police buildings across all states and in Canada to be set on fire because police were unilaterally judged as incompetent and violent enemies of us all.
Are all police monsters because this happened? Is that the truth?
In this story, there seemed to be a lot of compassion and sympathy for the victim’s situation, his family and how he died. That’s understandable. It’s good that that side of the story was shared.
But I didn’t hear about the other side. Again, why?
Years back I worked on a story about hospital errors and how an experienced and hardworking nurse was suspended because a patient died when she accidentally injected potassium chloride into a patient’s IV bag instead of saline.
I later discovered that a series of errors/problems in the hospital resulted in her mistake. It wasn’t all her fault: Not at all.
To research that story, I consulted with the Institute for Safe Medical Practices in Canada: It consists of a longstanding team of experts who analyze reports of medication errors from across the country and provide resources, education, and consulting services to improve medication safety. They’re experts on catastrophic events and why they happen. Time and time again, after thorough analysis over many years, they learned that often, tragic outcomes are the result of a series of problems, not just one mistake.
So, when the mainstream news outlets implied that police were always responsible without exploring all of the information, I didn’t want to follow the crowd. I wanted to learn about the experiences and challenges of the other side as well. What I learned changed my perception.
Being a police officer is unlike anything most of us could ever imagine. According to Officer 401 in “How PTSD affects cops”, a Youtube video series that’s a personal account from a police officer with over a decade of experience, on to cope with the horrific trauma they witness on a regular basis, they often become numb and it changes their personalities forever.
“Babies dipped in boiling water, rotten bodies, kids shot in the face, murder-suicide scenes. These are all actual scenes that I have been on, that I have seen, smelt, felt. You can’t expect stuff like that not to affect a person over time,” said Officer 401.
They’re on the scene of mass shootings, terrorism attacks, fatal car accidents, suicides and mental health breakdowns.
To make matters worse, after they see these horrifying images, they’re expected to get right back into the ring: Not in a day or a week, but in a few minutes, to maybe witness another bloody death or violent person. Also, in their off time, gruesome and violent scenes can replay in their minds.
In addition, police officers can be filmed at any time while they’re working. Can you imagine that in your job? Really imagine that. A camera on you all of the time, while you’re working an 8- or 12-hour shift. We all slip up in our jobs. It’s human. But if you’re a police officer and you slip up in the smallest way, that video footage can cause you to be publicly judged. Can you imagine if your employer posted a video of you making a mistake for the world to see? And as a result, you can and likely will lose your livelihood and never work in that field again?
