Police in the News
By: Paige Christensen
Think about the last news story you heard about police
officers. Did it involve a police shooting, if so was the
police officer viewed as “justified” in their choice to
shoot or in how they handled the situation? Was there
only one opinion displayed in the presentation of the
story, if so what was the opinion/ point of view? Is news
coverage being reported fairly and objectively, or is it
subtly being displayed with only one point of view? An
example of this is an officer involved shooting that
happened in Saratoga Springs Utah on September 10,
2014 . It happened at the Top Stop in Saratoga Springs
at Crossroads Boulevard and Redwood Road. Through
interviews and conversations with officers in the
department at the time, i have heard many things. The
officers that i was able to talk about all generally agreed
that the investigation was timely moving and the officers
involved were justified and that they had clean records.
Chief Burton was interviewed by KSL news reporters
and also agreed with these statements because “he's
received no official complaints on either Schauerhamer
or Judson, nor does the department have a history of
racial discrimination” (Jacobson, KSL).
Cassandra Chaney in her paper about racism and police
brutality quotes Marger about racism they say “racism is an
ideology, or belief system, designed to justify and rationalize
racial and ethnic inequality” (p. 25)and “discrimination, most
basically, is behavior aimed at denying members of particular
ethnic groups’ equal access to societal rewards” (p. 57)”
(Chaney 481). Racial profiling would come from racism. In
the end it was ruled that the officers were justified in the
shooting because the victim, Darien Hunt, was not listening
to commands, he had a weapon of a Katana Sword, and he
was going towards a largely populated area, the Walmart.
The department and officers involved in the shooting were
accused of racial profiling throughout the case.
Representation for the department explains that the officers
choice to act and shoot had nothing to do with his race and
everything to do with his actions. Jeremy Wright was another
officer working for Saratoga Springs at the time of this event
and investigation. He says that the investigation was pretty
fast moving and that when things are fast no matter the case
you have to make your decision, it is in informed decision but
has to be made, and then you have to stand by it.
. The department made the statement
that there was no racial profiling, and
they stood by their statement (Wright).
The news company and channel KSL did
a story on this shooting. As i watched
the interview and the news coverage
the two reporters and anchors women
did pretty well with staying objective in
reporting the story. None of them gave
any personal opinions, they just stated
facts and asked questions. However
there was a clip of the Hunt family
talking about how they felt about the
situation. Mrs. Hunt felt that “All I see is
my son being murdered and nobody
wanting to come forward” (Hunt,
Jacobson, KSL). Although the news
channel personnel themselves stayed
objective they showed this clip, which is
a very one point of view clip.
Making the entirety of the coverage not all
objective, but displaying one point of view
more than the other. Another form of
media for reporting news is through social
media. Now this is not put out by new
channels or companys, but by people
themselves. So it makes sense that there is
only one point of view represented. A case
that was discussed a lot about on social
media is the Michael Slager and Walter Scott
case. Walter Scott was shot on April 4, 2015
in a vacant lot in South Carolina (Smith,
KSL). In this case there was multiple types
of media used, like a key video. This video
was taken by a pedestrian who happened to
be walking by at the time of the scene
happening. In the video Slanger shoots eight
times. Since this video was taken by a
public personal it was very easy for it to be
put all over media very quickly after it
happened. This video was used in the
presentation of the case, and was used all
over social media to make statements.
There were many post on facebook,
instagram, twitter, and more social media
platforms about the case and about Slanger.
One is post on instagram says “THANK
YOU!!!! Finally one of these racist-a$$ cops
gets convicted!...” ( t.one_Capone)
Episcopal Church they say
This was not posted by an official news company,
however this is how many people in today's world “Black lives matter; they matter to God and
get their news information, through social media
post like this one. So if this is the only point of view they should matter to
someone were to see then they would most likely
gain the same point of view. Because they will most all Americans. However, as we continue to
likely not look further into the story or case, they
will just read what appears on their feed and base
witness unjust and
opinions off of that. An immediate consequence
that happened for Slanger was right after the video
came out he was fired from his department in unconstitutional killing of black nwn by the
Charleston South Carolina. Now the News
company KSL did do a report on this case as well. police, we must ask:
They did very well at reporting the facts. They
explain the Shooting, Setting, the Defence, The Jury, What is the role of the Episcopal Church in
and Punishment, all in an objective way. Without
any specific points of view (Smith, KSL). In the end providing safe space
of the case Slanger was ruled guilty, and convicted
of second degree murder and obstructing justice.
for and mediating discussions of the role of
He was sentenced nineteen to twenty-four years in
prison. Slang was also much accused for racial
profiling and be racist in his decision to shoot Scott. policing in America as
This is a key story used in the “Black Lives Matter”
campaign. Many other programs highly support it continues to maintain racial attitudes and
the Black Lives Matter campaign including the
values that have
negative effects on the life chances of blacks in
America?”
(Fisher-Stewart 439
This document is an example of people assuming that all officers in general are racist
because of stories they hear that are similar to the Slanger story. Now in this example of
a story the official news company did not display one or another point of view to
persuade the public, they were quiet fair. It is just the fact that not everyone is willing to
listen to the full coverage provided by the official news companies.
The face of police and law enforcement officers is changing. There is
Then as i talked to the Xennials still many wanted to be a police officer at a young age,
but much less actually became one. Then as i continued to talk to Y and today's
Millennials there are many less of them who were interested in being a police officer
when they grow up. There is a few reason for this; one being there is many other options
now for careers, another is they do not make nearly as much money as other careers, like
doctors and veterinarians, also because many who are originally interested in becoming
a police officer see how they are treated unfairly by public. From growing up with many
close relatives and direct family members in police work i have heard a lot of the
background to many situations including officers and the news. I also do very well to
keep up with the current news and have my own opinions. In the end the professional
news channels do a good job as staying objective in their story coverage. But other
places of news being reported share all and only their points of view.

definitely more women in today's police force then there was just ten years ago. There

is also many ethnicities that are represented in the police force today. For example in

my grade i have three friend who are all in a school program for police training, and one

of them is a girl and the two others are filipino and samoan. So overall there is becoming

more diversity in today's police force. Something else that has changed in the last not

only ten but twenty and thirty year is how many little children want to be police officers

as a career or job when they grow up. When my father was little he knew he wanted to

be a police officer, and so did jeremy. Through talking to many people of the baby bust

generation many of them as a child thought it would be a dream job to be a police

officer, because they were seen as an everyday hero.