Sarver: ‘They don’t respect police like they used to’

When Newark Division of Police Chief Steven Sarver was growing up, if a police officer asked you to come over, you responded with “yes, sir” or “yes, ma’am.”

Society has changed since then, and more and more people have become disrespectful of police, he said.

“They want us to come to them,” he said. “People don’t want to put their hands up, they want to challenge you.”

With three officer-involved shootings in Newark since Nov. 5 — after not having one for nearly a decade — Sarver said police are dealing more frequently with some community members who don’t appreciate their presence.

“It has got to the point where these men and women go out every day to do their job and really have to wonder if tonight’s going to be the night that someone takes a shot at them,” he said. “Seven years ago, we wouldn’t have dreamed of that happening.”

Sarver said he has seen the amount of disrespect grow more in the last six months, around the time the shooting of an unarmed black teenager in Ferguson, Missouri, began making national headlines.

“Ferguson was strictly nonrespect of police,” he said. “If (Michael Brown) had just said ‘yes, sir,’ it would have ended a lot differently.”

The national attention on police shootings also has increased scrutiny on agencies and how they investigate incidents. Sarver said police are supposed to hold themselves accountable, something he thinks officials in Newark do well.

The technology and advanced weaponry available also are challenging for officers, Sarver said. When he started as an officer in the 1970s, he had a six-shot revolver. Now, officers carry a 15-round pistol just to keep up with what’s on the streets.

Police cruisers are now equipped with computers to complete reports on the road and cameras to capture what officers and residents are doing.

Having officer-involved shootings in the community and a growing part of the population who is willing to challenge police, Sarver said, has changed the way police approach their jobs on a daily basis.

“If someone’s going to hurt you and you want to go home that night, you have to defend yourself, and sometimes it involves deadly force,” he said. “It is a shame that every time a police officer shoots at somebody, it makes national news, but when somebody shoots at a police officer, that’s part of your job.”

During a retirement reception in his honor Wednesday, Sarver got emotional talking about the lack of respect for law enforcement officials from certain segments of the population.

He said he hopes the days where officers have to fear being shot at or having to use their weapons to defend themselves are over.

bbruner@newarkadvocate.com

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Twitter: @bethany_bruner