The Post's editorial staff weighs in on national and local concerns over policing.
National headlines have repeatedly proclaimed shaky relations between police and the population they serve over the past several months, calling into question policing practices and the way people interact with the men and women charged with protecting them.
Recent police protests in New York City and elsewhere in the wake of the deaths of NYPD officers Wenjian Liu and Rafael Ramos — as well as protests following police-involved shootings of unarmed black teenagers Michael Brown and Tamir Rice, among others — have further thrust the topic of cop-community relations into the spotlight.
Extra attention aside, we can’t help but notice that area police officers, who have been consistently accommodating to students in past years, have made a concerted effort to relate to students this academic year.
Take for instance the Joint Police Advisory Committee (JPAC) barbeque this past fall, an effort from the Athens Police Department, Athens County Sheriff’s Office and Ohio University Police Department to meet with students and faculty to discuss the controversies and concerns regarding law enforcement.
That event happened prior to the grand jury decisions in the cases regarding Brown and Eric Garner, the New York man who was suffocated by an NYPD officer, when tensions were highest, and it showed local law enforcement was thinking proactively.
In the coming weeks, OUPD will be hosting “Coffee with a Cop,” an opportunity to sit down with an officer and discuss any subject, no matter how controversial. The department is also planning on “Pizza with a Cop” at a yet to be determined date.
We urge students to attend both events and engage with the officers. They’re making a point to be accessible to students, and we should take them up on the opportunity.
Editorials represent the majority opinion of The Post’s executive editors.
