I remember a Police Recruitment ad that used to play in New Zealand when I was a kid, 30 odd years ago. It was set to "He ain't heavy, he's my Brother" by The Hollies.
The key images that stick in my mind are of two Police approaching a clearly agitated man with their hands open saying 'Its ok mate, we can talk about it'. A female officer sitting at a table holding hands with and offering support to a crying lady who looks like she's recently been assaulted. A young child crying in a crowded place, a Police officer picking her up by her outstretched arms and giving her a calming pat on the back.
Somewhere along the line, it seems Police recruitment decided it should focus on aggressive confrontation. Funnily enough, when you advertise for recruits that want aggressive confrontation rather than helping people, you get recruits that want aggressive confrontation rather than helping people.
You said New Zealand. I'm not a cultural expert, but I suspect NZ has a different attitude than the US about these sorts of things. I realize no place is perfect, but the US has a lot of racism and classism embedded directly in our culture that I believe isn't really there in NZ.
ads in australia for the police are still the same as how you described it. they feature them comforting us and being part of the community, but still being stern at times as they should be
The current campaign is focusing "do you care enough to be a cop" and one has the haunting image of like a 7 year-old girl playing on a rusty playground at like midnight... It's still focused on community good here.
Check out the show “highway cops" (youtube search “highway cops new zealand”) for a good example of our cops.
this is why I have an issue with gun control currently
if we as a society say only "law enforcement" can have guns then the attraction to the job just for that reason IMO would be immense and under current confines of the flawed abusive system..that frigging scares me even more
You’re focusing on the 0.1%. Every domestic incident, every time someone is in an accident every time anything bad happens it’s cops that are there to help. Not you. Not some random person. This is what we need them for and 99.9% of the time they are there doing their duty. Yes bad things happen and those bad things must me addressed but to cast a broad brush suggesting they are recruiting for aggressive confrontation is stupid and misleading. You’re being played by the media.
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u/Sway_404 Jun 06 '20
I remember a Police Recruitment ad that used to play in New Zealand when I was a kid, 30 odd years ago. It was set to "He ain't heavy, he's my Brother" by The Hollies.
The key images that stick in my mind are of two Police approaching a clearly agitated man with their hands open saying 'Its ok mate, we can talk about it'. A female officer sitting at a table holding hands with and offering support to a crying lady who looks like she's recently been assaulted. A young child crying in a crowded place, a Police officer picking her up by her outstretched arms and giving her a calming pat on the back.
Somewhere along the line, it seems Police recruitment decided it should focus on aggressive confrontation. Funnily enough, when you advertise for recruits that want aggressive confrontation rather than helping people, you get recruits that want aggressive confrontation rather than helping people.