A fellow education student and I were talking about police officers and being pulled over for whatever reason. We then got to talking about how whenever we drive we are always worried about who is driving behind us, is it a police officer? are we going to get pulled over? There is a constant worry when we are driving of being pulled over and receiving a ticket. Police officers are supposed to be on the streets to make us feel safe and watch out for harmful groups of people or individuals, not make us feel intimidated. He had stated that there is even a sense of intimidation when police officers, who are still in training, are walking around the campus. Is fear and intimidation the true message police officers should be sending out or should it be a sense help and security?
Looking back on past experiences in school I can recall teachers who sent the same message as police officers tend to do. They go on their “power trips” which bring fear and intimidation to the students. I remember one teacher in my grade eight year who went on a rant about how we should be clapping during speeches. He gave us a lesson of which types of claps were acceptable. One thing I distinctly remember him telling our class was to “go jump into a fire.” I don’t recall the reasoning behind it but since then we were all intimidated by him because we knew that he was not afraid to raise his voice. Now that I am going into the field of education I will always be able to look back and remember this as something I will never want to do to my students. Teachers should be helpful and send a positive message to their students, not send something that will bring them fear.
Key of Ideas 
It’s harder to use a method that eases students or civilians, in the police’s case, to respect you without using fear and intimidation. Intimidating people is the easiest way to gain control over them however they will probably not respect you in return. I think as an authority if you, yourself treat the one underneath you with respect and love, then the attitude would be returned in most cases. Some people are defiant no matter what thus need harsher treatment.
Maybe I can shed some light on this. Honestly, I do not like driving either in front or behind a police car. Makes the heart rate speed up and gets me quite worried about my speed. Police officers are there to serve and protect, like you say keep us feeling safe. Not a lot of people like police officers for just the reason that they are intimidating and are feared by the mass population. Now here is where I make my point. In Tae Kwon Do, and any martial art that is based on self-defense as a matter of fact, the basic rule is that there is “peace by intimidation.” No one is going to openly try and attack a black belt because they are afraid of getting their ass handed to them in a fight. The same thing is true for police, “peace by intimidation” makes everyone nervous but it also makes the “bad guys” nervous as well, and honestly, I would prefer that than Regina becoming the crime capitol again.