Would you rather the police see themselves as warriors, looking at you as a threat, or as guardians, policing you how they would want to be policed?
As taxpayers, we hire armed police to keep us safe. Unfortunately, many officers make their cities less safe. These are the cops who look for a fight instead of a chance to serve, scream at any sign of disrespect instead of working to de-escalate situations, and tell rookies "Forget what you learned in the academy, this is how we do things on the street."
The Denison (TX) PD uses their recruitment video to encourage and glorify violence. After three minutes of military gear, amped-up music, and heart-pounding takedowns, the video concludes with the quote, "People sleep peacefully in their beds at night only because rough men and women stand ready to do violence on their behalf."
Denison is actively recruiting power-hungry "warriors" instead of mature "guardians." The video has been criticized by police chiefs from around the country, like Robert Lehner of Elk Grove, CA: "When you see commercials on TV to attract people to the military, you don't see that kind of stuff. What does that tell us about police organizations that would advertise like that?"
Officers take risks most of us never face, so we must respect them and compensate them well. But they also have unique lethal powers, so must hold them to a higher standard. Tell Denison, TX, officials: Delete your violent video and recruit guardians instead of warriors!
