What A.B.C won't tell you about being a Cop in Philly.
By Jordan Wilson
There seems to be a great disconnect between the minds of parents and teenagers everywhere. Parents think teenagers are always moody, and teenagers think adults are too pushy and always in a bad mood. These groups could better understand each other if they simply explained their reasoning to each other in a respectful manner. This is the position that my mother and I are currently in. She comes home pouty and angry at me for what seems like no reason at all, encouraging me to respond by also pouting around. This spirals into an unending loop of darkness, where nothing can get done.
However, every once in awhile she’s willing to explain to me the origin behind her bad moods. They always seem to be about the same thing. She goes on and on about how terrible the people at her job are, and how much her bosses get on her nerves. She’s worked for the Philadelphia Police Department for about 25 years now and that could really stress someone out. Due to the amount of corruption, and hate that is spread throughout the police department, my mother told me that she hates her job. Because of this I wondered to myself- How can someone like her continue to work in an environment like that? How can any police officer continue to fight in a corrupt system?
What's next?
Being the sleuth I am, I decided to investigate more about what's going on in the PPD. In a city where crime is becoming more and more prevalent, you would think what most concerns police would involve crime of some sort. However, it's come to my attention that the majority of my family’s problems with the police department, seem to stem from inside the department itself. Recently, my mom in particular has had trouble with many of her coworkers. In some instances, problems are minuscule, However in others it seems like there is a deeper seeded issue causing these problems. Here are the questions I decided I was going to ask:
Deborah
I decided to interview two people: First I wanted to speak with my Mom. She's a Sergeant, and has been with the police department for over 20 years. However, in most recent times she has been getting transferred from place to place to different departments, without proper protocol. Through speaking to her I hoped to gain a better idea how it feels to be a Black woman in the police department and how working there has deprived her of the respect she deserves.
Leroy
Next, I decided to speak with my dad. Just like my mom, he's been in the police department for over 20 years. However, unlike my mom, he's been in the same district the whole time. This means that he's kind of a Veteran in the 12th district. Although I never hear it from him, my mom has told me that they don't treat him with the same respect as some of the new guys. Hopefully I can get his take on how he has been treated by his job.
Conclusion
What I hoped to achieve by conducting these interviews, was to give my readers the perspective of average every day police on the happenings in their work place. in this day and age they are under a lot of stress, and it isn't fair how the media tends to vilify them in the news. Most Police are just average people doing their best just like you and me. They're Mothers, fathers, and even sisters.