SPOTLIGHT ON Police Culture

National news coverage of alleged police misconduct has grabbed the nation's attention and had a direct impact on local government managers. The serious and long-term impact of police misconduct is the broken trust between residents and law enforcement organizations that occurs when negative perceptions of police values are reinforced by allegations of unnecessary use of force. And to this is added the potential fiscal liability of police wrongdoing. According to an April 2015 ABC News report, law enforcement agencies are seeing a decline in applicants, and recruitment is down by as much as 90 percent in some cities as policing has lost some of its allure. This tarnish is due at least in part to low pay, high stress, and heavy workloads, but negative stereotyping of officers is increasingly a factor, according to police recruiters cited by ABC News. All too often, police and residents find themselves in a standoff in which neither side comes out the winner.