It ain’t easy being blue, at least that’s how the headlines are making it look.
If you watch the news you will see that some of the most recent stories have shed a very poor light on a particular department.
Headlines have been filled with officers committing acts that everyone is frowning upon, and what is even worse, is they are all being painted with the same brush.
“Vancouver police shooting prompts calls for officer body cameras,” a CTV News story reads.
The story digs into a shooting from earlier this month, where officers responded to a call about a series of stabbings.
The officers used a non-lethal method to get their point across, by shooting small beanbags. The man stumbled over to his knife, hiding behind a police vehicle and out of the camera’s view.
A series of five shots are heard ringing through downtown Vancouver, and a man’s voice yells “you killed him.”
This incident has prompted a pilot project involving on-body cameras on Vancouver police officers, a move that is both costly and causing some unease amongst residents.
Some report it is a violation of privacy, however the video would fill in the gaps of cases such as this.
It is because of what goes unseen that so many officers are painted with the same brush, however just like any line of work, they do what they are trained to do, respond and keep the public safe.
For example, the Mayerthorpe officers who were simply doing their duty 10 years ago, and lost their lives to keep everyone safe.
All things considered, yes the headlines give the latest and most pressing news, however sometimes they can cause the bad to outshine the good.
On a daily basis officers are working to keep the public as safe as it can be, and maybe as a way to ensure that their actions are justified, cameras are a good idea. But whether or not an officer is responding to a call, or driving down the street they always have one thing in mind, keeping the community safe.
Not all officers have justification for what they do, but in this community we all can take comfort in knowing we are safe.
