Letter of the Day | Don’t treat police like robots, they are humans too

THE EDITOR, Madam:

Our police officers are among the first responders and are on the front line. As agents of the State, they are charged with the awesome responsibility of enforcing the laws of the land, while reassuring the citizens within communities that they are safe to carry out their normal business affairs and the ensuring the safety of people.

What do police officers wish citizens knew about their personal and professional lives?

• They are often overworked and are showed little or no appreciation.

• They want to feel respected by the communities they serve.

• Like every other human being, they have inadequacies and limitations.

• Police officers are not immune to life’s problems and fears. They get discouraged and experience self-doubt; they need understanding, acceptance, and support just like anyone else.

• They can be hurt by mistrust, vindictiveness, criticism, insensitivity and lack of appreciation.

• They sometimes get angry.

• Police officers often struggle to live up to the organisation’s demands and expectations, and sometimes they are unrealistic and impossible to fulfil.

• They don’t possess all the professional or leadership trait/skills, but we have some of the brightest and most brilliant minds within this noble organisation.

• Police officers are not simply hired hands, but they are agents of the State.

What you the citizen can do to help your police officer

• Make an effort to always comply with a clear and precise command once given in a professional and respectable manner.

• Realise that your police officer is not perfect, he can make mistakes. Also, like you – yes, you – he can have a bad day.

• Be available to play your part in the fight against, and reduction of, crime.

• Visit a police station that is nearest to you from time to time; show you your appreciation to your police through cards, letters and thoughtful words.

• Respect your police as an agent of the State charged with upholding the rule of law.

Year after year, we sound the bugle and fire the volleys in honour of our fallen officers, whose lives have been cut down in the line of duty. And, sad to say, the sparse denunciations and the hush outcry are as loud as an atomic bomb. And the innocuous question still reverberates through the annals of time, who will be the voice for those whose voices are made silent by violent death? As the blood of these officers cry out from the ground, they cry out in clarion tones, “I am not Robocop!” We, these voices say, are somebody’s heart, someone’s child, someone’s father, someone’s mother and someone’s spouse.

Due to the high pressure of the job, including fighting crime, police officers experience physical fatigue, stress, and exhaustion. They sometimes suffer from acute and chronic illnesses. All of us just need to remember, the men and women in uniform are as human as you are.

KEVIN A. WHITE

Justice of the Peace

Assistant Chaplain

Jamaica Constabulary Force, Area 4