By WHITNEY ELFSTROM
USFSP Student Reporter
ST. PETERSBURG – When he walks into a restaurant or public place, Luke Lapham says, he can feel the stares of people and sense a switch in their demeanor.
Lapham, 33, is a police officer, and that means “as soon as you wear this uniform, you’re automatically hated” by some people.
Those people, he said, have “a prejudgment of police officers – a bully, meanie, power, pig.”
Being a cop is the equivalent of living in a fish bowl, he said, with every move closely examined by the public.
But Lapham, who joined the department in 2010, wants people to remember that police officers are “human, too.” He wants to change the mindset of people who jump to conclusions about him.
Lapham said that the news media skews the public’s perception of officers, or at least that’s how it seems to him.
“There’s never anything positive” about police in the news, he said. Rather than doing positive stories – like the efforts of police to help children in need – journalists only run stories about officers who mess up, he said.
The key to changing people’s minds, he said, is educating them on what goes on during a typical officer’s eight-hour shift.
That’s why the Police Department welcomes people who want to ride along with an officer for a day.
People who ride – and walk – with him, Lapham said, will see that he is flexible, especially on parking and traffic violations.
When he sees a car parked where it’s not supposed to be or someone driving the wrong way down a one-way street because they’re lost, he gives the offenders the chance to explain things before taking action.
For him, the best thing about being an officer is helping people.
“(Finding) a true victim that wants your help, and you (also) can put the bad people away – it’s probably the best part.”