Ep 2, Wednesday July 4th, 2012, 9pm
Thanks to everyone who joined us for the inaugural edition of #copchat last Wednesday night. We had a great time getting a feel for how it will play out in the future and a little bit of what will work and what will take a little more work. Christa and I both received some great feedback and input from many people and we really appreciate the time to you took to provide it and the hour or so you spent with us.
So, onto #CopChat Episode 2. This one has the makings to be an exciting and fast paced hour. Why? We’re going to bring you some things that are almost “taboo” for police to talk about.
- personal opinions
- politics and
- patriotism
Hey why not? The Canadians just celebrated their country’s 145th birthday and July 4th will be a huge happy 236th birthday to America.
What do you think? Should officers be allowed to show their political views? What about entering into discussions with their personal opinions on subjects? What about an officer’s position in society as a citizen and a police officer. Which comes first, which holds more weight?
Think about the Occupy movement. Should officers not have the ability to voice their view as the 99% or does their position of upholding the law always come front and centre?
What about the idea of political leanings having the potential to drive policy? Such as: whether a PD works with the ACLU on crafting policy around using some piece of technology?
This really has the makings of a new understanding for the public to see the catch 22 many officers are in and just as important, the police can get a perspective from the public of what they would like to hear from their police or give their views on what they are looking for at peaceful protests and gatherings.
Do you think political leanings could drive policy? Such as: whether a PD works with the ACLU on crafting policy around using some piece of technology?
I believe everyone should have the right to express an opinion, however, when officers are in uniform and “working”, given the nature of their job, it would be prudent to maintain their focus in terms of public safety as well as their own safety!