Law enforcement officers Tiffany Park and Vincent Cho discussed the connotations of being an officer in today’s political climate Monday during Activities.
The discussion was part of Future Horizons Club’s aim to help expose students to different career paths, club leader Eric Han ’17 said.
Han said that it is important for students to understand what a police officer’s job really entails from the perspective of one.
“A lot of people at Harvard-Westlake go on to jobs in tech, finance, law and the like,” Han said. “This means that people lose exposure to blue collar jobs like law enforcement. Tiffany Park is an outstanding police officer whose perspective I think should be heard by students.”
Park and Cho answered questions about how officers are portrayed in social media versus how they see themselves.
“It’s important to know the point of view of the police officer and it’s important to be respectful, especially as a young student,” Cho said. “I think it’s important to just realize that you’re dealing with someone who is also human and not a robot.”
Clara Ross ’19 said the sheriffs’ perspectives helped to bridge the gap in perspective between civilians and law enforcement officers.
“I think it was really interesting to see what it’s like to be a police officer,” Ross said. “I feel like we often take them for granted in our society and forget that they’re actual human beings. It was nice for them to have a discussion with us and show us that it still is just a job like any other.”