A rising issue in today’s society is the belief that police brutality is way out of hand and the police system is corrupt which is supported by the Black Lives Matter movement. This belief is fueled by the media and the way they portray police to act. The media often depicts only one side of things in order to get viewers because they want to show events that will grab people’s attention. The image shown by the media is often about all the negative things that police officers across the country do instead of showing the good deeds done by the police every day. This makes people believe that all police are bad people and that the police cannot be trusted. However, in the SWA 2 photo essay, using positive, negative, and racially diverse images that also show a great deal of facial expressions, it is easy to show that the message given by the media is exaggerated. Police brutality is actually a rare problem, and people can fully trust the police with anything they need. 

The first image in the photo essay is a negative image that shows many African-American people destroying a police car and by jumping all over it. This image opens up the essay because it shows the extreme of how predominantly African-Americans feel and that they hate the police because they believe police are corrupt. Facial expressions of the men jumping around on the car and destroying it show they are enjoying the act because several are smiling while assisting a teenager onto the destroyed car while others have their hands in the air like they are celebrating. The people within the image all appear to be around 20 years old and part of the younger generation. This is significant because the younger generation is familiar with technology, which passes information quickly including the negative images displayed by the media. A cell phone was used to capture the image which shows the ease of spreading images across the world and one of the individuals on the roof of the car has his middle finger up and is looking at a camera. He is trying to convey the message that he hates the police by showing a hate sign while on top of the car that they have appeared to conquer. The picture shows them being violent which is also significant because it depicts how people have turned to violence to convey simple messages they believe in like police being too violent towards African-Americans. Details of one picture is able to show many things about the issue at hand.

Later in the photo essay there is a picture of a white male police officer hugging an African-American lady who appears to be crying. The rest of the image is out of focus with a younger looking girl in the background taking a picture or video of the event with her phone. This positive image is to show that police are, for the most part, good people doing a very difficult job and they are typically great at what they do. The reason for the focus on the police and the blurred out background is to specifically show the officer doing good work, which is not often shown by the media. At the point in time when the event took place, nothing else mattered besides the good the cop was doing. He is clearly in the focus to emphasize the good deed being done. However, in the blurry background, the girl may be taking a picture or video of the event because she may not often see police doing good and she wants to capture the moment. While the officer is hugging the women, her face clearly shows that she is upset and in agony over something because of her watery eyes and tears that are about to drip down her face but the officer appears calm during the emergency. She has her arms wrapped around him for comfort because she is aware that the officer is doing his best to help her out. The combination of the positive image and blurring sends the message that not all police are corrupt and the actions of one police officer should not make a person believe all officers are like that.

The last image in the essay is a cell phone picture of two police officers arresting a man. Cell phone images mean that the event usually happened in public for many people to see. It could also show a lack of trust because the recorder may be recording because they think the police are going to use excessive force. One of the officers in the picture is white while the other is African-American and they are arresting a white individual. This shows that police do not arrest people based on their race, they arrest people for breaking the law and use the force necessary to stop the potential bad guy. The fact that the officer and man in green being arrested are both on the ground show that there must have been some resist by the man in green. When somebody resists, more force is needed and sometimes may seem excessive, but could have been avoided if the instructions of the police were followed. 

The image of my father and myself is able to bring a reality to the family life of police officers. In the picture, I am on the left in my lacrosse uniform while my father is on the right in civilian clothes. Police officers are not evil robots and they do go home to loving families every night. The picture is taken at a lacrosse game after the end of my senior night. My police father lives a life like every other citizen and is able to show up to sporting events and spend time with family. Both my father and I are smiling showing we enjoy the situation we are in and not everything a police officer does is always the most serious thing in the world because they have lives like the rest of the world. Often times people forget.

With many events constantly happening in this country, it is important for the public to not fear the organization that provides them with constant safety and security. The police force is here for the people and always will be. The images from the photo essay are able to portray the good side of the police and that they do a good job of protecting the public from danger and helping citizens in need. Facial expressions are very crucial in the photographs because how people feel about police can easily be known by the expressions on their faces. The difference in races helps to show that race should not be an issue when police are involved. Overall, the police force is not corrupt and the corrupt officers are dealt with properly. If people do not break the law, then they will have nothing to worry about with the police.
