A September 2023 report by NBC News had the stark headline: “The U.S. is experiencing a police hiring crisis. Why?” Well, one reason can be found in the most recent survey by the prestigious University of Chicago affiliate, the National Opinion Research Center. (NORC)
NORC periodically asks Americans about their attitudes toward the use of force by police. Two of the survey questions are very telling. One question asks: Are there any situations you can imagine in which you would approve of a policeman striking an adult male citizen?
The results are astounding. When asked in 1973, 26.63 percent of respondents said they could not think of any reason a police officer should strike a person. This amount decreased to a low of 18.4 percent in 1983. But 35 years later, in 2018, it peaked at 35.76 percent.
But another question reveals even more the degree of illogical, senseless antipathy for police officers in America. This question is: “Would you approve of a policeman striking a citizen who was attacking the policeman with his fists?”
The percentage of respondents in the 2022 survey who said they cannot imagine a police officer striking a citizen who is attacking the officer can only be described as bizarre. One of every five Americans surveyed in 2022 (20.62 percent) said police officers cannot strike people who are striking the officers. Imagine one-fifth of Americans do not believe police officers should defend themselves. This figure has increased nearly seven times from 1973, when only 3.38 percent of Americans said so. The peak was 24.13 percent in 2021.
This is indicative of a sick society. It is the result of two generations of invective directed against police by the media, by academia, by the entertainment industry, by the courts, and in the halls of legislatures across America and many Western countries. Is there any wonder, given that the antagonism towards police is greater than it has been in two generations — possibly ever before- that it is difficult not only to find recruits but also to find officers aggressively enforcing the law?
The article cites an increase in resignations and retirements compounded by fewer people applying to become police. This is understandable. Consider the perspective of the average police officer. The outcomes for police actions in the current environment are:
1-The police officer resolves the issue either by arrest, de-escalation, or some other action and nothing more needs to be done.
2-The police officer has to use force to resolve the issue, either by striking/grappling with a citizen to effect an arrest. The officer feels threatened and uses deadly force. These cases, as we have seen, often result in the officer being imprisoned because of the hindsight and prejudice of those who feel qualified to pass judgment on police motives — like the 20 percent in the survey.
3-The police officer has to use force to resolve the issue but is reluctant because of the risk of being charged with a crime. Hesitant to use force, the officer is injured or killed.
Simply put, police officers today experience three possible outcomes when performing their duties, two of which are bad. But how did we get here?
The main reason is the effective and relentless denigration of police by certain elements of society that stand to profit from the tragedies that sometimes occur when enforcing the law. This includes trial lawyers who gain from suing cities, the news media that gain from broadcasting about riots, and organizations like the ideologically driven Leftwing groups BLM and Antifa, as well as the politicians.
Their allegations of racist White police officers wantonly killing young Black men are not true. Nor are their claims of a racist criminal justice system that unfairly imprisons Blacks while letting Whites go free. These myths have been debunked.
Ironically, despite the effective disinformation campaigns about policing in America, the majority of Americans still have high regard for police officers. Opinion polls like Gallup’s Ethics Ratings demonstrate this. Police are held in greater esteem than their journalist and attorney critics.
Also, the Department of Justice (DOJ) just released a report, Contacts Between Police and the Public 2022, which confirms this. According to the report, 88 percent of Whites, 82 percent of Blacks, 81 percent of Asians, and 80 percent of Hispanics report being satisfied with the police response.
This is not the impression one would get from the media.
The results of the 2024 election have encouraged police. The social conservative issue of violent crime was the third most important among Trump supporters, according to the Pew Research Center. Politicians can no longer ignore the subversion of the forces of law and order.
Michael P. Tremoglie is a retired journalist, author, and former Philadelphia police officer. He was a columnist and investigative reporter for the Philadelphia Bulletin. He contributed to the Washington Times, Washington Examiner, Giornale di Sicilia, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, Philadelphia Inquirer, and Philadelphia Daily News. His work has been featured on Fox News, the Rush Limbaugh Show, the Bill Bennett Show, the Larry Elder Show, and others.
