Not All Apples are Rotten

You're standing in the middle of a living room. There's broken glass and furniture everywhere. A woman is crying and a man has barricaded himself in another room with a gun. You are the only person on scene, and you have to figure out the best course of action for how to deal with this situation until your backup arrives. You've responded to domestic abuse calls before, but this one feels different. The man steps out of the other room and waves the gun at you. He threatens to shoot you and the other woman in the room. You have a life-altering decision to make. And you know that all three of you will never be the same after this.

This is a job that requires you to be on high alert at all times. You must make split second decisions that could possibly (and most likely will) change someone's life. Police officers have this job. While working, they must prepare for the unexpected and be able to think on their feet. They have no room for error, and every move they make is recorded. The public eye is always on them. Once a mistake is made, the officer's are immediately ridiculed and any footage of the event is posted all over the internet. Social media can be dangerous when it comes to the topic of policing, but it can also be of help to the police and the public alike.

Put yourself in the shoes of an officer. Imagine you are responding to a call where an armed male individual is threatening to shoot up a store. You arrive on the scene to find the armed man has the gun pointed at a civilian. You yell for the individual to drop the gun and put their hands up. Instead they turn and point the gun directly at you. You see the individual move to pull the trigger. You have milliseconds to process what is happening and you feel an immediate sense of danger. Will I make it out of this situation alive? Are the civilians around me safe? What about my family?

Your muscles tense up in preparation to take action. Your heart rate picks up and breathing quickens. Your brain screams at you to do something. You have to protect the people around you and also protect yourself. Then the realization hits. It is either you or him. You pull the trigger, hitting the armed man, and he collapses to the ground. After the shooting, the reality of the situation comes crashing down. The adrenaline has worn off and there you are; under a microscope because you have made the most difficult decision imaginable.

In modern America there are so many negative views on police officers. These views come in many shapes and forms. Social media, the news, activism, and political appointees all hone in on the individual who by the nature of their job is being held to the highest standard possible. Officers are exposed to some of the most traumatic situations, but they are expected to perform their jobs perfectly. At the end of the day, no one asks the officer if they are okay. The newsline reads "police shoot out" or "officer injures unarmed civilian." They rarely show the whole story and they never take into account all of the factors that led the officer to make their decision. This is why improper use of social media is detrimental to police officers, why bad cops do not represent the entirety of police officers, and why policing is a necessary entity to keep America safe.

Before getting into the details of why policing is important, it is necessary to understand where law enforcement originated from. The English had a significant impact on American law enforcement. In both colonial America and England, local law enforcement was the responsibility of the populace. They were tasked with protecting their family and relations; they were known as kin police. A citizen-volunteer watch system was established in America. In addition to many other services, they offered social services such as managing soup kitchens, finding missing children, and apprehending stray animals (Sage).

Kin policing was the main form of law enforcement until the middle of the 19th century, when it was replaced by constables, sheriffs, and citizen-based watch organizations. Sheriffs were now in charge of apprehending offenders, assisting the legal system, and collecting taxes. Night watch groups and day watch groups were formed, but they served no help to the community due to the volunteers falling asleep or socializing during their shifts. The watch groups were also not equipped to deal with the rising social unrest and rioting that were beginning to occur. It was at this point that publicly funded police departments began to appear across both Colonial America and England (Sage).

The Home Secretary of England, Sir Robert Peel, submitted a bill in 1829 that would alter English law enforcement. His objective was to establish a police force that would assist in handling the social unrest brought on by London's fast industrialization and urbanization. The London Metropolitan Police, which is regarded as the first contemporary police force, was established as a result of that measure. Because of some of his fundamental ideas that would later direct the establishment of police forces in America, Sir Robert Peel is regarded as the founder of modern policing (Sage).

Before England’s influence on law enforcement, America primarily utilized slave patrols. Slave patrols, aka paddy rollers, were responsible for finding runaway slaves and returning them to their masters. They were harsh on the slaves when they were captured, and their penalties were not pleasant. The wealthy would support the slave patrols because they would make the slaves fear any idea of rebellion. Because of this a hierarchy was formed, making the already large gap between the wealthy and poor classes a chasm (Sage).

Following the Civil War, slave patrols gradually changed into policing groups tasked with stopping insurgencies. Many colonists after the war felt threatened by the newly freed African Americans fearing that they would disrupt the social order. The earlier slave patrols eventually started to look and function more like the recently formed American police forces. The New York Police Department was formed in 1845, and numerous other departments across the nation soon followed. The departments adopted three English characteristics: limited police authority, local control, and fragmented law enforcement authority area (Sage).

Now, the institutionalization of the police in America had to start with where the police got their authority. State codes are used to define certain terms that dictate the job of the officer, who they work for, and what they are supposed to enforce. For the state of Indiana, Indiana Code 35-31.5-2-11 states that an agency “means any authority, board, bureau, commission, committee, department, division, hospital, [and] military body.” According to Indiana Code 35-31.5-2-144 a governmental entity is “the United States or any state, county, township, city, town, separate municipal corporation, special taxing district, or public school corporation [or] ‘governmental entity’ also includes a person authorized to act on behalf of a state or local agency.” So an agency is a specific type of body and a governmental entity is a settlement of some size.

The definition of a law enforcement officer is also stated in the Indiana Code: “a police officer…sheriff, constable, marshal, prosecuting attorney, special prosecuting attorney, special deputy prosecuting attorney, the securities commissioner, or the inspector general” (IC 35-31.5-2-185). What this means is that any individual with one of these titles is considered as a law enforcement officer. The police work for governmental entities (cities, townships, etc) that have been established by agencies (states) to enforce the law addressed in each state's codes.

An example of a law that the officers must enforce can be found in the Indiana Code: “a person who knowingly or intentionally: (1) touches another person in a rude, insolent, or angry manner; or (2) in a rude, insolent, or angry manner places any bodily fluid or waste on another person; commits battery, a Class B misdemeanor.” To put it simply, this is the Indiana law that defines what battery is and then is used by law enforcement officers to arrest individuals who commit battery. This format is used by each state to establish a legitimate law enforcement department and to safeguard their societies. The police gain their power from the state to enforce state laws. However, they do not work explicitly for the state. They get their authority from the governmental institutions, and it is the job of governmental institutions to enforce the state laws, which they do by employing officers.

Explaining the definition of a police officer and where officers receive their power is a step in the right direction to understanding why officers are needed in society. The vast majority of the American population do not know these definitions, resulting in issues between the public and law enforcement, and confusion on how the police should do their jobs and what sort of authority they have. Many citizens rely on false news and rumors to educate themselves on how officers are supposed to do their jobs. A major roadblock for police officers right now is social media.

Social media is an influential platform that can both help and hurt the police. Many online users criticize, ridicule, and hold officers to a higher standard on social platforms. While officers most definitely should be held to a high standard, the entire world being involved in doing so is not only extreme, but also a potential danger to both the officers and their families. Seeing how bad social media makes them seem, officers not only back off from policing but they also fear for their lives.

Social media is a valuable tool in keeping the populace "in the know" about things going on in their communities, but like everything it has its downsides. After being slandered in the media in multiple incidents over the last several years, police officers around the country began to withdraw from their sworn duties. Instead of patrolling the streets they began staying in their cars waiting for the calls so no problems could arise that they were not specifically called to. “The inevitable result? Violent crime surged in city after city, as criminals began reasserting themselves” (The War on Cops).

Officers began fearing their job, scared of “becoming the latest YouTube pariah when a viral cell-phone video showed them using force against a suspect who had been resisting arrest” (The War on Cops). No one wants their face posted all over social media, especially when the comments are ripping the person apart. In most of these cases, the full context of the situation is not caught on camera, so the public really has no idea why the officer would be responding in such a way. This leads to backlash, slander, and more violence against officers just attempting to do their jobs.

On the flip side, social media can be a useful tool for the police. Apps like Facebook and X (formally known as Twitter) are used by police departments to inform the public of criminal incidents. They are also used to help locate missing children by alerting the public of what the child looks like and other identifying features. By creating a false personal profile and interacting with online groups, officers are able to find and apprehend registered sex offenders, and messages can be used in court to convict the offender. Social media is also helpful in knowing what areas to avoid when dangerous situations are unfolding, and can be used as an avenue for public safety announcements. Not all social media is bad, it can do a lot of good, but in the wrong hands it is dangerous.

Social media and the internet gives the public access to basically anything they can think of. Many citizens will watch and read articles about the police. They will then take that information that they have learned and let it shape their views on police officers. However many videos and articles on the internet are shown out of context or even just false information. People have to be careful with what they read and see online, and fact checking is something that should be done after reading an article.

Now, there are plenty of movies and tv shows out there that are about police officers like Bluebloods, Chicago P. D. and The Rookie. But generally they’re not always realistic. After watching shows or movies that involve police, some citizens may think that they have become experts on how police officers should do their jobs. “Most people have never been in a physical fight, let alone a life-or-death shooting, so they are left with Hollywood and media fiction to educate them about law enforcement shootings” (Shots Fired). As a result, pleasant settings can devolve into hostility when a civilian feels they know how an officer should do their duties. To truly understand how police officers are expected to do their job, you must undergo the same training as all officers.

Because of this inaccurate portrayal of policing, many people have come to hate the police. They do not take into consideration what exactly an officer does for their community. People may believe that the world is okay, that there is control, and that the police are unnecessary since everything appears to be in order. Consider taking out the garbage in the morning and returning home to find the trash gone; you will not have to worry about it. But what if the garbage truck stops arriving to collect the trash? What if trash begins to build up everywhere, creating a massive problem, and no one comes to clear it up? Just as garbage trucks take care of the trash, Police take care of the community.

In the movie The Dark Knight, Heath Ledger's Joker has one purpose: become an agent of chaos and introduce anarchy into Gotham City. He wanted to show what happens when you disrupt the "plan" that is a peaceful society. In a conversation with Harvey Dent, he finally explains his motives.

You know what I noticed? Nobody panics when things go according to plan. Even if the plan is horrifying. If tomorrow I tell the press that a gangbanger will get shot or a truckload of soldiers will be blowing up, nobody panics, because it's all part of the plan. But when I say one little old mayor will die, well then everyone loses their minds! Introduce a little anarchy. Upset the established order and everything becomes chaos.

In this example, the police are the ones keeping the plan in place. They are the reason why society is as ordered as it is today. Without them, chaos would take over, and crime would rise. Without them, there would be mayhem; murder, robbery, and overdoses would be commonplace, with no one able to stop them. Police take care of these issues. Order is being created without us realizing it, and because of that the public does not witness these common, everyday events. When does society notice the police not doing things according to plan? When one of the rotten apples is involved.

When a couple rotten apples (officers who abuse their authority, deviate from their training or engage in illegal or unethical conduct) in the police force made the worldwide news in Minneapolis, Minnesota for the detaining, brutal arrest and subsequent death of George Floyd, a national outcry against the police as an entire institution arose. Did those rotten apples need to be punished? Absolutely. Was reform needed? You can be sure of it. But the fallout took it a step too far. Because of people's unwillingness to look at the truth, defunding the police became the focus in 2020 after the incident. However a year later in 2021, CNN ran a story titled “Even Democrats are now admitting ‘Defund the Police’ was a massive mistake,” and according to the New York Times, “the movement faltered after crime surged.”

Many Americans fail to see beyond one incident and what benefits they will be losing. Because of that, police departments get defunded, crime rises, and we are right back where we started. That's not to say that there are not bad police officers, there are. And they need to be weeded out and addressed. But let's say an EMT or a firefighter does something wrong. The only one to receive the blame is the one who did wrong. The entirety of the EMTs or firefighters are not being ridiculed. However if one police officer makes a mistake, all officers are the bad guys and shouldn’t be trusted. Logically that makes no sense. It is a hasty generalization. As The Hill points out “every police officer is not ‘the police.’”

J. Warner Wallace, a cold-case homicide detective, wrote an article giving insight that could change how people view the police. He explains that:

We’re all fallen human beings, and the standard for police officers is higher than just about any other profession in the country. We have to be perfect in times of crisis with little or no time to consider the options. Some are better at this than others, and a few are bound to do or say something they shouldn’t. No one is more offended when this happens than the hundreds of thousands of police officers who work hard to uphold the honor of the badge. No one hates a bad cop more than a good cop (Six Things).

In his introduction Wallace he explains that, “[a]lthough most people are familiar with police work from television dramas and news reports, few actually understand the nature of the environment in which we work” (Six Things That May). After watching shows or movies that involve police, some citizens may think that they have become experts on how police officers do their jobs. Because of this, peaceful situations can become hostile because a citizen believes they know how an officer is supposed to do their job when they have no practical experience in the real world. “Everybody’s got an opinion on what law enforcement should be doing. And I’m like, ‘Man, if they got all the answers, we’re always taking applications’” (Walk the Blue).

In some of these situations, officers are faced with individuals who believe that they know the law better than the officer, and they also believe that they are exempt from being held accountable for their actions. When watching bodycam footage you’ll come across many situations where individuals are resisting arrest claiming that they can’t be arrested because the officers work for the individual. But just because tax money goes toward funding the police doesn’t mean civilians can get out of an arrest because “you work for me.” The police work for the safety of all people within their society. When an individual commits a violent crime, they are threatening that safety. Officers don’t arrest people just because they feel like it; they arrest people to maintain order and to protect the public as a whole. Paying taxes is not a get out of jail free card.

Officers don’t get to decide the calls they receive. They’re unable to pick and choose which calls they take or don’t take. They have to respond to every call no matter the circumstances, and one of those calls could be their last. If someone runs a red light that individual has committed a crime. If a police officer sees that, they are duty bound to pull that person over to enforce the laws. However, a lot of the time the officer really has no idea what they're walking into when they get dispatched or make the stop.

One tragic example of duty and sacrifice is the story of New Mexico Patrolman Justin Hare. On March 15, 2024, Patrolman Hare was conducting a welfare check on a disabled vehicle. The man, later identified as Jaremy Smith, approached Hare’s cruiser and talked to him through the passenger side window. What the officer didn’t know was that a few days prior to the welfare check, the man in the vehicle had murdered an off-duty paramedic in South Carolina and stole her car. The bodycam shows Patrolman Hare offering to drive the man to town when Smith pulled out a handgun and shot the officer. Smith then walked around to the driver's side door and proceeded to shoot Hare two more times. He then got into the police cruiser with officer Hare who was still alive. Smith then drove the vehicle for about five minutes before he stopped the car to drag Hare out of the vehicle and leave him on the side of the road. What was meant to be a simple welfare check turned into a deadly situation with a horrific outcome (Man Pleads).

A lot of times people use the argument that in many fatal deaths caused by police the victim is mentally unstable. However they don’t realise that at that moment the officer's life was probably threatened. Maybe a gun was pointed at him or even a knife. Maybe the person moved to stab the officer or they went to pull the trigger. At that moment it comes down to two things: the officer is thinking, "how do I unarm this person," and "will I make it home today?" Many times people only look into the victims side of the story. Nobody takes into consideration the exact situation and whether or not the officer was in danger. If someone’s intention was to use deadly force on a law enforcement officer then they are a threat to the public. If an individual is willing to harm a police officer then what else would that person be willing to do if they are not stopped.

The saying “not all apples are rotten” can be directly applied to police officers. Over the past few years when an officer makes a suspicious call or bad arrest, the public jumps the gun and begins blaming all the officers for that individual's wrongdoing. But Jock Condon puts all the officers' thoughts simply: “[n]obody hates bad cops more than good cops. They make our jobs harder. We don’t want them. Don’t ever put me in that position because not only will I throw you under the bus, I’ll drive the bus” (Walk the Blue). Good cops want nothing more than bad officers removed from the job. Not only are bad cops putting a bad taste in the mouths of civilians when it comes to law enforcement, good cops get a mouth full of poison. Unable to wash their mouths of that poison officers are then continually dragged across the hot coals of the rotten cops wrongdoings.

But there's hope for the police, the institution, and the people they protect. Because while one of those rotten apples has done something horrible, the citizens of the United States have governmental protections provided to them. These protections, at their core, are found in the amendments to the U. S. Constitution. These protections were created to safeguard the public from the power of the government and to offer them a way to exercise their rights without fear of punishment for doing so.
The first ten amendments to the Constitution are known as the Bill of Rights. The First United States Congress wrote the Bill of Rights in 1789. The purpose of the bill was to amend the Constitution and address concerns made by anti-federalists who thought that a powerful central authority would impact individual people’s freedoms. As Thomas Jefferson, the third President of the United States says, “A Bill of Rights is what the people are entitled to against every government, and what no just government should refuse, or rest on inference.” The anti-federalists were deeply wary of the government as a whole and demanded that certain safeguards be put into place (The Bill).

The first of these safeguards is the first amendment. “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press, or the right of the people peaceably to assemble” (Constitution). The fourth amendment is one of the most important amendments when it comes to policing in America. It establishes: “the right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause” (U. S. Const. amend. IV).

The fifth is one of the main amendments that supports the “innocent until proven guilty” principle. “No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury…nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation” (U. S. Const. amend V). The sixth amendment ensures a public and speedy trial, saying “In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed…” (U. S. Const. amend VI). These amendments assist to safeguard civilians, and if an officer violates one of them, they should and will be terminated from the job.

Finally, the fourteenth amendment helps to ensure that each of these amendments will be enforced at all levels of government (federal, state and local).

No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws (U. S. Const. amend XIV).

But these amendments are not the only ones that provide regulations on how the police do their jobs and how the public is protected. Case law throughout the United States is essential to policing.

In the landmark case Miranda v. Arizona (1966) the fifth amendment protection against self-incrimination was violated while officers were questioning an individual U. S. Const. amend V. The Supreme Court granted a writ of certiorari to hear the case and three other cases of the same nature and ruled that, in order for the fifth amendment to be implemented and for an individual to understand their rights, the officer arresting the individual must make that person aware of their rights under the constitution. These rights are as follows:

You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney, if you cannot afford one, one will be provided to you. If you decide to answer questions now without an attorney present, you will still have the right to stop answering at any time until you talk to an attorney.

Now, in an instance where an officer makes an arrest and does not follow the proper protocol for Mirandizing the person they are arresting, that officer can be held accountable for their inaction in a legal and fair manner, and the individual will be protected.

The most important safeguard for American citizens against the police is the police themselves being proactive in internal affairs and getting rid of the rotten apples. This brings trust, accountability, and integrity back to the police force. It also ensures that the good apples aren't tainted by the bad ones. As Galatians 5:9 puts it, "A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump" (KJV). While it is a biblical passage, it very much applies in real life scenarios.

The Department of Justice explains that an investigation of an officer might be initiated by a citizen complaint, concerns from other officers, or evidence discovered against the officer. Internal affairs agencies handle these situations, but civilian oversight bodies can analyze them and make suggestions on what steps should be taken. Depending on the outcome of the inquiry, the officer will be fired or disciplined. In some cases legal actions are necessary depending on what the officer has done to require an investigation.

Choosing a career that involves the unexpected takes a special type of human. One must be able to have their head on straight as a gun is being pointed at it. Life-altering decisions must be made in mere seconds and there is no time to think twice. Every move you make is put under a microscope and analyzed down to the millisecond. This is the job of a police officer. A job that can so easily cause PTSD from certain situations and calls.

Officers receive their power from the state in which they are employed. Not only is it their job, it is their duty to enforce the laws the state has set in place. These laws can be found in each state's individual state Codes. Officers use the power that they have received from the governmental entities they are employed by to help put law breaking individuals behind bars. By doing so they are keeping the community safe.

Social media can be and is a dangerous place when it comes to the topic of law enforcement officers. It can cause dangerous situations to arise when spreading false or one sided beliefs of police officers and their complicated jobs. Because of this, there have been times when officers have stopped proactively policing and began fearing for their lives. But there is a pro to social media. It can be used to keep the public informed, find missing people, and help convict registered sex offenders among other uses.

Although the suspenseful shows Hollywood puts out about the police are fun to watch, they normally do not come close to the actual job. Many people see how Hollywood portrays it and they believe that is actually how officers do their job. But it’s not, the job is much more complicated than just arresting the criminal and a feel good ending. Relying on fake cop shows to teach oneself about the career of law enforcement could lead to a false belief, arguing with law enforcement officers about the job they do everyday, and possibly a full blown dangerous situation.

The Constitution is one of the most important documents in the United States. It forms our government, how it works, what each branch's power is, and where they have jurisdiction. But it doesn't just speak about the government on a federal level. It sets rules in place that protect the public, and it also gives officers the rules they must follow. The Bill of Rights gives American citizens the right to due process, the right to a speedy and fair trial, and requires that the individual is innocent until proven guilty. This system helps ensure that officers don’t abuse their power and enforce unjust punishments.

Bad apples within the police force shine a spotlight on all police officers and cause chaos within the force and disillusionment and distrust outside it. By finding and removing those officers, peace and partnership can be maintained between the public and law enforcement. But if an apple is left to rot, it could streamline the process of rotting the rest of the force. If the positive views of police officers can be turned negative when one apple is bad, then when the entire bushel is rotting there will be no one to call for help, and no one will want to. Unnecessary  bloodshed will be the outcome and crime rates will soar. That is why it is important for those rotten apples to be found and removed.

It takes a special person to do what the police do. They have to make life-altering decisions in split seconds. They see the horrors of the world, and they must face them directly. Once an officer leaves a call they can’t just leave what happened behind. Sometimes they must relive the situation and watch the bodycam so they can write the report. They should be respected for what they do every day. They ensure everyone's safety and are the glue that keeps the community together. They continue to watch everything that happens even when they are not working. Police officers protect and serve the community, and while we do not deserve them, they do so willingly every day. The vast majority of them deserve respect and support for what they do. We can live our lives in peace because of what they do behind the scenes when the city is sleeping, and they’re only a phone call away.

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