Did you see the Bowling Green study of police officers who get arrested?
What do you think is the most common crime police officers get arrested for?
Simple assault tops the list. 13% of all police arrests involve simple assault. Drunk driving is a close second at 12.5%.
Sadly forcible rape makes up 5% of all police arrests.
Another important part of the study showed that male police officers are arrested almost 95% of the time compared with only 5% for female officers.
Also surprisingly in 41% of the cases, the arrests occurred while the officer was working.
Although the percentage is very small, 71 police officers were charged with murder or manslaughter in the period between 2005 in 2015.
Of those officers charged not one single one of them was found guilty in a nonjury trial.
A nonjury trial is of course when a judge decides the case as opposed to a jury trial where 12 citizens decide the case.
Think about that and why that is.
The last important part of the study indicates that family support and encouragement were the keys to helping law enforcement officers professionally perform their jobs.
Why do you think this is?
Pittsburgh wrongful death, medical malpractice, car accident and criminal defense attorney Bernie Tully thinks it might be because many officers do not think the public supports them.
Most people will agree that police officers see the very worst in mankind.
They can be placed in a life-and-death situation in a heartbeat.
A police officer never knows when he’s going on a domestic call if the aggressor will have a gun or a knife.
Then on domestic violence situations after they literally risk their life to protect the victim, by the time the hearing comes around the victim often decides not to prosecute the case.
This has to lead to extreme internal frustration to officers.
Maybe that’s why drunk driving among police officers are just about at the top of the list of the most common arrests against them.
Many police officers also say that the public does not understand how stressful a police officer’s job can be.
They are probably right in that regard.
The point of this blog is that the number of police officer arrests is still exceedingly low.
We as a society should be thankful for that.
Pittsburgh wrongful death, medical malpractice, car accident and criminal defense attorney Bernie Tully thinks it would be a real good idea if you have the opportunity to thank an officer for the work they do.
After all they’re the ones who protect us.
They are the reason why we can sleep safely at night.
If you have ever had a burglar inside your house and called the police you know how grateful you are for the men in blue.
My dad was a Pittsburgh police officer.
I have to be honest with you. I could never be a police officer.
If I saw a guy who was 6 foot 5, drunk and coming at me with a baseball bat, I would pull a Jesse Owens and run the other way as fast as I could.
Most police officers are doing a remarkably difficult job in a professional manner.
What do you think about all this?
What’s wrong with the Pittsburgh Pirates?
Thanks for reading.
Bernie the Attorney.