Is the confidence of the American people growing or declining when it comes to the police? And is this affecting the recruitment of new officers? Lima Police Chief Kevin Martin says yes.
Speaking Wednesday at the Lima Noon Optimist Club, Martin cited a 2017 Gallup poll, that people under the age of 35 have become less confident when it comes to the police. While the poll showed the overall confidence level of Americans increased to 57%, the numbers mask the drop in confidence among Hispanics, African Americans, and younger adults. Martin believes the increased skepticism and lack of trust is a leading force in the ability to recruit new officers.
"I think that's directly related to much of the 24-hour news cycle that we see on cable news and social media because when one cop does something bad it gets played over and over again, it gets tweeted, re-tweeted, it gets blogged about over and over and over again, and the perception starts to become that the one bad cop is a representative of everyone in the profession and that's simply is not true," explains Chief Kevin Martin.
Martin says yes, there are corrupt officers, but there are so many more good police officers that want to serve their community. He adds that being a cop is a good and noble profession.
