Columbia, SC (WLTX) - Richland County Sheriff's Department vehicles will now have the words "peace officer" on the back of them, a move the sheriff hopes will help the public better understand what his officers do.
Sheriff Leon Lott announced Wednesday a partnership with Police to Peace--a group that aims to create better interactions between law enforcement officers and the communities they serve--to put the decals on all cars.
"[Saying] Law enforcement officers just kind of tend to be all you're doing is enforcing the law," Lott said. "The peace office actually identifies what we do, and that's keeping the peace."
"Our public, our citizens, that's not what they want," he continued. "Our citizens want us to go out there and solve problems, solve conflicts, and keep the peace. It's all about keeping the peace."
Lisa Broderick, the executive director of Police to Peace, said the goal see how the words that people see affect their perspective of officers.
"We wondered to ourselves, is there a way to prove words matter?" Broderick said.
She said researchers from New York University and UCLA will research the impact of the stickers: they'll be looking for changes in perceptions, attitudes, and interactions. They're even helping officers with messaging so they know what to say when they're asked about the change.
"People are visual these days people want to see things and when they see something bad in law enforcement it taints all of us. But when they see something good, that helps us out as a profession and helps us build better relationships."
Lott said the effort is being done without the use of any taxpayer dollars.
r