Please write a one page reflection in response to the visit by the Biddeford PD. Please also include your question even if you didn’t get to ask it.
On Monday, November 13th, two officers from the Biddeford Police Department came to visit our class to present about the department as well as some crime statistics in Biddeford. Some of the language they used in the beginning while introducing themselves struck me as odd, such as one of the officers saying it wasn’t as “fun” and “exciting” as he thought the job would be when he first became an officer. I can understand this, but at the same time it’s frustrating to know that victims of crime are struggling with likely very traumatic events which police officers can deem not “fun” or “exciting” enough. This just really threw me off right at the beginning of the presentation and it was a little hard to take much seriously after that, although I hope these officers have changed their outlooks on crime since joining the police department.
During the visit, I thought it was pretty interesting to learn about the crime statistics in Biddeford. None of them really stuck out to me as surprising but I had never seen the statistics laid out like that before so it was still important to see. Learning about the CALEA accreditation and the process was something I had never heard about before. Especially when they mentioned Auburn as one of the city’s police departments that have this accreditation, I was surprised because this is my hometown and we have always had complaints about the department. However, again, the kind of language they used when explaining the accreditation process wasn’t the best. I understand it is a job, but when they complain that to keep the accreditation they have to keep better track of things and make sure everything goes by the book, it comes off as if they would take less care during the cases if it meant their job was easier. This could have just been my overthinking or my bias, but I really think that changing some of the language and not complaining about it being “such a process” could help them not come off the way they did to me.
The question I wanted to ask but didn’t get the opportunity to was: “Do you believe the law represents a conflict or consensus perspective?” Based on the fact that they work to enforce the laws I would suspect they would answer in favor of the consensus perspective. I was hoping I would get to ask and they would surprise me by saying the law impacts certain groups unfairly because the law targets these groups, but I assume that would be too much to ask of them. I’m sure that to be able to keep doing the job they have to believe they are helping everyone equally, or at least I hope this is the case. If the Biddeford P.D. ever visits one of your classes again I think it would be interesting for you to ask them this question at the end if none of your students think to ask it because it could be meaningful to hear from real law enforcement.
