A Sketch of the Policeman's "Working Personality" by Jerome H. Skolnick discusses the effects that police work has on Police Officers' outlook of the world around them. Skolnick discusses that the police, because of the different elements of their job, tend to develop ways of looking at the world distinctive to themselves. Police also have a tendency to perceive threats by various indicators that a person may exhibit. These may include gestures, language, and attire that a policeman has come to recognize as a possible threat to his well-being. This could be recognized by a familiar gang color, or just something that a previous contact had done that the officer had felt was a threat.

Skolnick also discusses the fact of police being continually occupied with the threat of potential violence day in and day out. Whether it be a person pointing a gun, or a kid in a long black trench coat, a policeman may see danger signs in a variety of different forms. Skolnick states that a policeman in this situation views a suspect's personal history as being "momentarily immaterial."

Finally, Skolnick goes on to state that the police profession causes social i

solation and solidarity in the police workforce. The fact that the police officer may be called upon in times of need is often outweighed by other job duties such as traffic enforcement. Emotionally it is difficult for an officer when a person thanks them once for their help, yet the next contact the officer has with them might be for a traffic violation. Now the person, instead of thanking the officer, threatens his job, calls him everything in their limited vocabulary, and generally tries to make them feel bad. This may be very difficult to deal with considering the fact that the officer may have just reduced the possibility of that person or others being injured or killed. This makes it very difficult for police, especially to form any kind of relationships outside of the police realm.

In response to the problem of "us versus them," many agencies nationwide have begun to implement the COPS program. COPS stands for community oriented policing. This is an effort between the police and citizens to develop a combined effort to deal with the concerns of the citizens of a community. The police have an opportunity to find out what most concerns the citizens, and citizens have an opportunity to get to know the police better, and possibly understand some of the reasons behind police actions. It is hoped that through this combined effort, police and the community might be able to bridge the gap between them, and cure the "us versus them" attitude.

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