Policing in Trump era: A tough job isn’t getting any easier

The night begins with a traffic stop.

It’s a warm evening in late May, and Corpus Christi police officer Skyler Barker spots a car with a license plate that is too dirty to be read. It’s a minor violation in Texas, but no ticket is produced. One of the passengers, like Officer Barker, is a veteran, and the two instead chat about their shared back pain.

Minutes later, Barker is outside a house speaking with a woman whose elementary-school-age grandson has run away. Four other grandchildren wander the quiet street as he takes down the boy’s description. Before he has time to radio the description out, however, the boy reappears.

Barker calls him over.

“It’s OK to get mad,” he says, “but you’ve got to stay at home. You can’t run away, especially at night.” The boy nods a few times, staring at his shoes. They part ways as the family thanks him.

Barker, a square-jawed Marine Corps veteran from Longview, Wash., says he is still as enthusiastic about the job as he was the day he started. But he, along with eight other current and former rank-and-file officers around the country interviewed by the Monitor, believe that the daily personal and professional strains on individual officers are frustratingly overlooked amid strong criticism of police conduct – particularly concerning use of lethal force – from some corners…

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