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Richard Friedlander: Men and Women In Blue

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Richard Friedlander has this Perspective on our changing attitudes about the men and women in blue.

Clothing may not make the man or woman, but when it’s a uniform, it certainly makes an impression.

As a kid growing up after World War II, I recall scores of soldiers and sailors successfully thumbing rides. Conscripts or volunteers, their uniform said, I’m one of you and I just helped save our country. People trusted them. We were all on the same side. Giving them a lift was little enough repayment for their sacrifice.

Police aren’t soldiers, but.every day proves how much we need them. Their uniform - like the soldier’s - is a mark of community trust that they are protecting us, and we give it purely on faith. Regrettably, this trust is too often abused. The rift between police and public grows wider with every eye-witnessed incident and more and more difficult to repair. Seeing an unarmed man unable to breathe or a young girl in handcuffs would make anyone think twice before freely bestowing their confidence on the person in blue. It’s a sad state of affairs when not only foes but friends regard those in uniform as the enemy.

It would be nice to imagine blue-clad cops walking their neighborhood beat instead of cruising in a patrol car armed with state-of-the-art military weapons. Living among their people, getting to know them and earning their trust. Of course, this isn’t going to happen anytime soon. The police aren’t going to drop their guns unilaterally. Not with so many civilians carrying in what seems to be a zero-sum game.

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Perhaps a start to restoring trust lies in recruitment. We’re always hearing how more and better education determines success in life, yet only 30%  of our police have a four-year college education and 5% have graduate degrees. While 15% of departments do require some college experience, only 1% require four years. Of course, education alone does not necessarily make a good cop. It may be a gift that can’t be taught. But police with college educations are 40% less likely to use force than those without it.

With a Perspective, I’m Richard Friedlander.

Richard Friedlander is an actor and mediator in the East Bay.

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