Police Officers And The Police Force - 1310 Words

â€Å"You have the right to remain silent, anything you say can and will be used against you.† Most of us know exactly who says this and what it means. The only problem is that this quote is the extent of our knowledge as an outsider to the Greensboro Police force. I was able to get an inside look at what really happens in a day in the life of an everyday police officer. I spent two days at the department observing the officers and riding alongside one in the police car. Throughout my experience I learned that most of the stereotypes I had about police officers were completely wrong. One of the first officers I talked to was Corporal Donaldson, who is also my father. I asked him about his experiences with the general public. He told me that†¦show more content†¦However despite this there are many more problems that police officers have to deal with like disrespect from the public. I asked the officers what one word is that really stands out to them as blatant disrespe ct, 90 percent of them told me that word was pig. A â€Å"pig† is a slang term which is used to disrespect a police officer. Most officers say they will just ignore this but according to state law â€Å"it is illegal to make or use any utterance, gesture, display or abusive language that is intended to and likely to provoke violent retaliation.† About 5 of the 20 officers I interviewed told me they have arrested people for repeatedly calling them a pig. Not only is this a normal reply, but most people, including me, do not know that officers can do this. While I was riding around in the patrol car with Officer Hank I saw firsthand that many people do not respect police officers. One person who he pulled over cursed, yelled, and all together disrespected Officer Hank due to their taillight being out after already being warned. Officer Hank told me he was not going to give them a citation before they disrespected him. I also found that when officers where cameras people are less likely to be disrespectful to them. My dad always wears a camera when he is patrolling and besides people pulling the â€Å"race card† disrespect is something he rarely has to deal with. Another key factor is the gender of the officer in