Policing Your Idea of Police
There’s a 40th anniversary today that you might not know about. Have you ever been part of one of the “first Tuesday in August” neighborhood festivals? Maybe your neighborhood or town had a cookout, or a little parade? Chances are, police officers were everywhere at the festival.
Not only were they there, they were the guests of honor. The first Tuesday in August has been the National Night Out since 1984. What began as a way for neighborhood watch volunteers to share information and best practices with each other quickly turned into a celebration of community policing and became a way for people to see the human side of our often-misunderstood law enforcement officers.
Let’s face it, we have trust issues where police officers are concerned. The police. The FBI. The Secret Service. The Gestapo. The KGB. When you read those words, you don’t think of individuals, do you? It’s more likely that you think of an amorphous, powerful entity. You might hold strong opinions one way or the othe...
