I’ve never listed cops along with teachers, firefighters, and other people I consider heroes because I don’t consider them heroes. Sure, there are a few out there who are working for good, protecting people and maybe even saving lives; but nearly every encounter I’ve had with a police officer has had a negative context. The two times I’ve called the police myself to help women who were obviously being beaten were utterly disappointing; officers arrived more than an hour later on both accounts after the men had already fled the scene, the woman, of course, mumbling, “I’m fine.”

From being pulled over to be “checked out” with a college friend (no reason was given; they simply chatted us up, flashed a light at our shirt collars, and let us go, prompting me to feel both angry, embarrassed, and scared) to verbally threatened and plenty of other incidents—none of which had anything to do with their jobs, and all of which happened while they were in uniform—the police in my state haven’t given me anything to promote a vote of confidence for them and their “brothers.”

There is a reason, after all, why police officers are not given guns in certain countries.

And this apparently isn’t unique to our area, either. In fact, many people have experienced incidents far worse than those I've described. Reports of inappropriate conduct and police brutality run rampant across the country every week. Here are just a few of the latest news stories.

Gainesville, FL: Last Tuesday, a University of Florida student was shot by police. The student’s brother, Dr. Kwame Obeng, says it was an action of police violence. The man shot, a doctoral student from Ghana, has polio and a child. His family still has no idea why he has been shot; police shot the man after he refused to let them into his home, and after two tasers fired failed on him. The family cannot believe that the man, considered an upstanding member of the community, did anything to deserve to be put in serious condition.

Worcester, MA: A man who was beaten by police was awarded $47,500 in a federal civil rights case on Wednesday. He was allegedly beaten with a baton while on the ground.

New York, NY: Jury deliberations are beginning in the case of a man who says he was sodomized by a police officer by his baton in a subway station. The man had been arrested for smoking pot.