Respect

Lets talk about respect for a moment....shall we.  Respect is an action where an individual will show regard or consideration for something or someone.  As parents we spend a great deal of time teaching our children this very simple and basic action throughout their childhood.  "To earn respect you must give respect".  Simple....right? Well not always. 

A person of authority is someone whose real or apparent authority over others inspires or demands obedience.  This would include parents, teachers, and police officers as traditional authority figures, for children, at least.  I would like to think that "inspires" obedience is something that would be practiced by most authority figures towards the average human being, as opposed to "demanding" it.  Yet sometimes obedience is "demanded" in a very disrespectful manner by an authority figure just because they can.  Let's call THIS power and control, which is the number one trait of a bully.  

Quite frankly I don't care who you are.  A parent, a teacher or a police officer.  If you don't conduct yourself respectfully toward another individual you don't deserve it in return, and I don't care if you are wearing a police uniform or not. Just because someone wears a uniform does not exempt them from being an ass.

I have experienced and learned a great deal over the past 9 years as it relates to bullying.  A huge common denominator are the complaints I receive from youth who have lost all respect for their police services because of their personal experiences. Because of the very disrespectful manner a police officer handled a situation.  It's a real shame.  Those who don't deserve to wear the uniform give it a bad name.

Example: 19 year old driving a three toned, run down vehicle because that's all he can afford, is driving home from a labour intensive job.  He is grubby and dirty looking because of dealing with piping etc. all day.  He is driving the speed limit and is stopped by police who asks for a licence and registration which is respectfully handed over.  The next command from the police officer is that this young driver open the trunk of his car. When the officer was asked for his badge number the young driver was sent on his way.  This certainly does not look like profiling.....or does it?  Has this professional individual of authority overstepped his bounds?

Next example:  A 17 year old student is stopped by a police officer after having been up for 24 hours working on a school assignment.  Eyes are tired and blood shot. The officer asks how much pot the student smoked. When providing the answer of "none", the student is threatened with an "obstruction of justice" charge if they don't admit to having smoked pot.  So they admit to it simply because they are terrified of being charged.  Nice - lets get our young jammed up unnecessarily. Is there a quota trying to be reached in this example, or is it an issue of power and control?

Last example:  A mother is asking questions of a police officer regarding the process of their child being arrested.  She is accused of being uncooperative.  Why - because she is just looking for information?

I have been employed within the legal profession for the past 32 years.  I believe in justice, but not in the judicial system we have.  And as far as rights and freedom of speech go.....well it's something that isn't always permitted, even if it is respectful, when dealing with a police officer.  Because in this country, you are guilty until proven innocent. 

Parents - prepare your children with this useful information. Make sure they know what their rights are.  http://www.childrensadvocate.mb.ca/childrens_advocate/wp-content/uploads/Criminal-Justice-Youth.pdf