I had a short conversation yesterday with a Conway police officer concerning public relations and the image that I believe a great number of police officers project to the public. This projection does not elevate the public's respect for the police but a fear of the police. Is this their goal?

Now I want to be clear, I have a great respect for the duties and responsibilities of police officers and I appreciate the danger that they potentially encounter on a daily bases. I do believe that they should exercise appropriate caution when approaching all strangers and situations that deserve their alertness and full attention, but I strongly believe also that there is no excuse for a police officer to be coy or impersonal with the public with which he is so honorably entrusted and indebted. It is unconscionable for a public servant to project himself better than or above or below the public, be they rich or poor, clean or dirty, young or old or ugly or beautiful. There should always be respect from both the public and the public servant. Respect should be mutual.

I am a conversationalist and I find myself engaged in conversations that very often concern the feelings of animosity and displeasure of their experience with the police. I know some of these stories are exaggerated and/or the real culprit to the unpleasant encounter was instigated by the private citizen himself, not the police officer. I also am aware that some police are as shallow minded as some private citizens and this is a catalyst for disaster.

Where does all of this disrespect originate? I believe it starts with disrespectful parents. Sad isn't it? We can imagine the problems a child taught to be disrespectful will encounter throughout his or her life. It is very difficult to break bad habits so all too often these disrespectful children grow up to be disrespectful parents raising and teaching their children some of the old disrespectful ways, a viscous cycle, and invariably some of these disrespectful children grow up and become our police officers.

We, as parents, need to try to do our part by being respectful to our fellow men and women and try to teach our children to do likewise. The teachers, starting in the kindergarten and the first grade of schools start teaching the principles of common respect and good citizenship. This should continue throughout their entire school years. The simple habit of being respectful with your fellow men, women and children would solve the vast majority of our daily social problems.

The police departments also have a responsible to have a continuing training program to educate and reinforce the importance of the responsibility of the police treating the public with respect.

The police know that they themselves, and their friends and relatives at times violate minor, but important traffic laws. These minor infractions of the laws does not mean that the violator of the law is a bad person nor does it mean the violator should be let off the hook.

My experience with the majority of the police officers with whom I have made efforts to engage in dialogue seem to possess a degree of standoffish demeanor as if I don't deserve their undivided attention, or "How dare I question their authority?' It seems that they assume a posture that 'They are the Law' and 'They are the Enforcer of the Law' and I belong to the class of those that are to obey their laws.

This feeling is somewhat reinforced when a police officer is shown to have violated a citizens rights and the only punishment the officer receives at most is being fired. This firing rather than getting jail time implies to me and many others that this is for the purpose of restoring the image of the department rather than restoring the dignity of the violated victim. If I falsely imprison or detain someone I go to jail but if the police falsely imprison or detains a citizen, at most the guilty officer is fired. He does not go to jail. This is a disparity in the law enforcement process and it erodes the public confidence and trust in our justice system and it further intensifies the public's disrespect of the police.

The questions are, 'Is this an important issue', 'Do the police care', 'Whose to blame', and 'Who does this responsibility fall upon to make better this relationship between the police and the public'? I say all of us.