海角大神

There鈥檚 a moment of uncertainty when Gainesville, Fla., police officer Bobby White, on an excessive noise call, grabs a basketball from a black teenager, dash cam rolling. The tension dissipates instantly as Mr. White, who is white, lets the ball fly toward the street side basket.

聽鈥淐an you believe someone is calling to complain about kids playing basketball in the street?鈥� White says before engaging the group of players in a quick game, 鈥� albeit on a slightly-lowered basket.

Watching a cop in over 30 pounds of police gear make himself vulnerable in front of a group of kids was another one of a growing number of impromptu 鈥� and filmed 鈥� moments of American police officers doing exactly the right thing.

Officer White is obviously comfortable in his own skin (especially given his so-so b-ball game), makes a note for the group to be conscious of their noise, and then vows to come back with some of his buddies for a real game.

The short video is newsworthy in part because it stands in such stark contrast to a national conversation, fueled by tragic videos of police brutality, about why some police officers show deep callousness 鈥� or poor judgement 鈥� toward those they鈥檙e sworn to protect and serve. As a result, 鈥� especially among minorities 鈥� is at a post-9/11 low. Tensions are high, especially amid several apparently politically-motivated ambush attacks on police officers.

In that light, Gainesville鈥檚 decision to promote the video is also part of a genuine response by American police departments to make sure that Americans don鈥檛 forget the countless unheralded moments that endear policemen and policewomen to their communities 鈥� officers walking a disoriented woman across a street, a cop tossing a football with cul-de-sac kids, or staging a quick dance-off to defuse a fight.

Such small reminders of what good community policing looks like can help provide a fresh start for beleaguered police departments looking to improve their standing in the community. Such filmed interactions also, University of Nebraska criminologist Sam Walker has told 海角大神, provide an instant primer on humanity for officers who struggle to show heart.

鈥淎s the sun rises in Florida 鈥� our video is now almost at 4 million views 鈥� [u]nreal,鈥� someone in the Gainesville, Fla., police department posted on Facebook. 鈥淣ot all of us that wear the badge are perfect. Not even close. But we know there are thousands of officers around the country that are just like this.鈥�

In Gainesville, the moment captured what appears to be a department-wide effort to make sure police officers make solid determinations between serious criminal behavior and 鈥渒ids being kids,鈥� as the Facebook post noted. It stands in stark contrast to methods like 鈥渟top-and-frisk鈥� which led to tens of thousands of small-time arrests under New York City鈥檚 鈥渂roken windows鈥� policing project.

Instead, the Gainesville Police Department鈥檚 message seemed to focus on how even small positive interactions in the community have a tendency to create exponential goodwill, especially if it catches on social media.

At the very least, given that the vast majority of Americans don鈥檛 have much interaction with the police, such snapshots provide a powerful counterweight to a profusion of images of cops behaving questionably, and worse.

After all, only 1.4 percent of respondents to a 2008 Department of Justice survey said officers had used force against them, or threatened to use it. (The percentage is higher, by comparison, however, for young, black men.) Meanwhile, 9 out of 10 of the 60,000 respondents said officers in their most recent encounter with police acted respectfully.

鈥淧eople are very quick to take out their cell phones when they see a confrontation,鈥� Fraternal Order of Police executive director Joe Pasco told 海角大神鈥檚 Jessica Mendoza last year, 鈥渂ut almost never tape the good things.鈥�

Of course, there鈥檚 another obvious reason that damning police abuse videos have dominated the news 鈥� after all, American lives have been lost, indictments handed down, and cops thrown in prison.

But the role of videos in the debate has expanded at least in part to more widely promote and model what good policing looks like.

There鈥檚 Officer William Stacy, who last year was captured on a giving a hug to a woman in Tarrant, Ala., who had been accused of shoplifting eggs. The story of barebones survival of a single mom sparked Mr. Stacy to buy her groceries, and send her on her way.

鈥淚鈥檓 just one out of hundreds of thousands who do this on a daily basis,鈥� Stacy said.

And last year, another video went viral, of an Iraq war veteran and Washington, D.C., officer who broke up a fight in part by staging an impromptu聽dance-off with a girl. The scene ended with hugs, not arrests.

And in Texas, mom Alicia Rivera watched a police officer approach her two boys last year and thought, 鈥淥h, they鈥檙e so in trouble.鈥� Instead, the officer, Harlingen Officer Steven Benitez, .

鈥淥ne of them challenged me to pass as far as I could and I accepted him on that challenge 鈥� and a few minutes break turned into a five-minute scrimmage,鈥� Mr. Benitez told a local TV station.

But he also grew introspective in response to tough criticism of police officers across the nation, which began with the killing of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo., in 2014. 鈥淏ehind this badge, underneath my vest, I鈥檓 a human being 鈥� I bleed, I have flesh, I have my own family, we have emotions as well,鈥� he said, according to CentralValley.com.

By revealing that humanity for just a few moments, Mr. Benitez changed at least two minds.

鈥淚 used to be scared of cops, now I鈥檓 not,鈥� said the older brother, George.

鈥淭hey鈥檙e not bad people, they鈥檙e good people,鈥� his brother, Frank, added.