Chicago Police Officers Share The Highs, Lows Of Their First Three Years On The Job
(CBS) – Much has happened in Chicago and nationally to spark tension between law enforcement and the public since CBS 2 met a trio of police recruits three years ago.
CBS 2's Mai Martinez sits down with officers Melissa Burchett, Nick Malone and Jose Rivera to find out how they're doing.
First, what's the hardest part about being a Chicago police officer?
"It's a struggle with the violence you see, the kids in the community that you see also viewing all this violence," Burchett says.
"It just seems like with all these violent crimes and mostly teens and young adults are committing the crime, it seems like were losing so many generations," Malone says.
Asked if things are worse on the streets than they would have imagined, Malone says being an officer makes "the blinders come off and you see things differently."
Helping can be difficult because of another reality: the code of silence.
Burchett says it's a challenge responding to a crime and "trying to figure out what happened here."
"Whose involved? And no one being willing to help you come forward," she adds.
Says Rivera: "It's frustrating in some aspects and then in other aspects I get it because these people have to live in these communities so they might be afraid."
Another challenge the officers face: the growing anti-police sentiment following the deaths of black suspects.
"When it's black-on-black crime, they don't say much, but when it's an officer, then they want to say 'black lives matter.' But black lives should matter all the time," Malone says.
When the system works, the officers say, there's no better feeling than knowing they have helped.
Like in the case of Samiah Lomax, who was abducted earlier this year. Burchett was one of the officers who found the 5-year-old child.
"To be able to take her from that situation is just amazing," she says.
All say they have no regrets about becoming officers.
Rivera says he's grateful when people "come up to you and say thank you."
"Thank-you's go a long way," he says.
