Bridging the Gap of Law Enforcement and Our Public "What Causes the Strain?"

Abstract

Changing View of Law Enforcement through the General Public Eyes After attending this presentation attendees will learn about the tensions that have arisen in the United States concerning the behavior of police officers and on-site Forensic teams that have raised many questions; whether the media portrays the incident correctly , whether the incident was justified , and, whether race relations was a factor . In order to get an idea of the public’s current perception of law enforcement and forensic personal and if the portrayed view of such personal has a mental effect on them, we designed a survey of questions utilizing a quantitative study, specifically focused on how the general public feels about the nature of our forensic personnel in this country . The survey was accompanied by a public forum consisting of three law enforcement officers who have each been involved in a deadly use-of-force situation. During the forum, these officers each gave a detailed account of the situation, as well as how the situation impacted their lives, both professionally and personally. In an extension of this research, we are studying the effects of social media-induced protests.