As children, people never think of the police as bad guys. They’re supposed to catch the bad guys, not be them, right? But since August 9^th, 2014, some people have begun to see the police in a new and menacing light.

Since when did the people turn against the police? Directly stated by the released trial evidence, between the times of 12:01 PM and 12:03 PM on August 9^th in Ferguson, MO, an unarmed Michael Brown was shot and killed by police officer Darren Wilson. Thus, a spark was ignited that continues to burn even today, 5 months later.

Protests ensued.  Although most of these protests began peacefully, many turned into a damaging, riot-like situation by the end of the night.

Unnecessary police brutality has been always been a hot topic, but not much discussion has occurred beyond the disbelief shown in Youtube’s comment section and media pundits.  What conversations are occurring locally?

The real question is why do we, the people, have to fight for the justice the police are supposed to protect? As police, the job title assumes the responsibility of protecting a community. A police officer’s  job is to protect the human rights of its citizens and to enforce the law on those who choose not to follow them.

On the flip side, CATO Institute’s National Police Misconduct Reporting Project states that there are on average 9.5 misconduct reports daily. How many of them are severe? An average of 3. How many end in death? Almost none. However, according to a 2010 national statistical report, 247 people died due to the 4,861 unique reported cases of police misconduct.

Why do the people suddenly have to protect those 247 from injustice? Why do the people suddenly have to do a police officer’s work?

People are human, full of their own biases and internal conflicts.  When we, as citizens, remember this, we can understand why these injustices occur.  Police officers are not, by job title alone, heroes or villains.  They’re human and capable of making flawed decisions.  They’re also capable of coming to the rescue when a protest gets out of hand.  Individual police officers choose to be heroes or villains.

We, as citizens, can choose to see the individual as opposed to the stereotype.  Isn’t that what we’re expecting from the police?