During the story, Officer Schoolcraft is introduced as an officer in the force who does not agree with the way officers in his precinct get their “numbers” up, or statistics as a cop. Out of curiosity, he decided to take it upon himself to carry around a tape recorder to see how much corruption he could document within his precinct. By Schoolcraft doing this, I do not consider him a trouble maker. Honestly, I considered him to be more like a researcher trying to figure the intentions of officers and to prove that some officers legitimately do not care for the common good of citizens, but only for their ranking and the longevity of their jobs as cops.
Throughout his recordings, Officer Schoolcraft picks up stories of officers committing wrong doings within the community. For example, he discovered that the officers ordered to have all Halloween travelers who traveled in large amounts to be stopped, hand cuffed and arrested to “clear the streets”. Technically, committing such an act is considered unlawful and illegal arrest. This is also a form a of “kidnapping”, in a sense.
Officer Schoolcraft is very brave. He went out of his way by putting his job at steak just to get an in depth look of his occupation. In no way shape or form do I feel as if he was stupid for doing some snooping. I feel it was worth while because now we have factual evidence of the negative side of the police force. His curiosity brought a better sense of the reality of the police force and how it always isn’t always “perfect”.
By spying on his fellow officers, I honestly believe Officer Schoolcraft was not doing his job as an officer, but doing his job as a concerned citizen looking out for the well-being of his community. In my opinion, when someone challenges the status quo, they are purposely going against the norm and are not concerned of how they are perceived in the eyes of others. I honestly would not have went about snooping on my fellow officers any differently than Officer Schoolcraft did. When the situation got tough, I would have also “called in sick”. I believe bravery conquers a lot and standing up against what is morally wrong is more important that a ranking in the world or a reputation.
-Garmai
I loved your paragraph discussing Schoolcraft's bravery. I also had a refreshing outlook on his raw view of the corruption in the police force today. His fearlessness and bravery were unfathomable.
ReplyDelete"I honestly believe Officer Schoolcraft was not doing his job as an officer, but doing his job as a concerned citizen looking out for the well-being of his community." This is definitely my favorite statement from your post. It sums everything up perfectly!
ReplyDeleteIn your post, I like how you talked about Officer Schoolcraft as brave and not stupid, for snooping. I also liked ho you said "His curiosity brought a better sense of the reality of the police force and how it always isn’t always “perfect”." This is so true, because everyone thinks that the law and police forces are always perfect, but many times they are not. I too would have called off sick, but unlike you and Office Schoolcraft, I probably would have been to nervous to snoop on my colleagues in the way he did.
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