What Would You Like Us To Do?
Tim Dees
Editor-in-Chief
Officer.com
Officer.com is here for the law enforcement community, and I usually write these editorials with that audience in mind. Lately, though, it seems like I have attracted more of a civilian audience, and this time I want to speak to that group more specifically.
The last couple of weeks have focused on police misconduct (or behavior perceived by some as misconduct) and police-citizen interactions. The comments have made reference to police officers being too quick to use the force option, disrespectful of constitutional limits on their powers, overly protective of one another, biased in their enforcement and discretionary decision-making, and just not the kind of police that you want or are comfortable with. So, let me explain a few things that might shed some light on why we have the police that we do.
By the way, I know that some of you react badly to that “civilian” reference in the first paragraph. There are a couple of reasons why I use it. One, I was a cop, and that’s how we talk. Two, it distinguishes cops from non-cops, not only in terms of police powers, but also in mindset and lifestyle. I can’t think of a cop I know who is not respectful of military service. A poll we ran here some months ago indicates that half of our readers are veterans themselves, whereas only about 10% of Americans have served in the military. I’ve never noticed that vets who are or were cops disparaging the use of this word in the police context. So, with regard to this objection: Get Over It.
Next, since so many folks seem to think that cops are undereducated, ignorant, poorly trained, and/or inadequately reverential of the Constitution, here are some of the problems we’re dealing with. There is, without doubt, a police subculture. One layer of that is fairly consistent from one part of the country to another, and that’s the fraternity of the badge. Cops will help each other out when and where they can because of this shared bond. This does occasionally extend, to one degree or another, to discretionary decisions about violations of the law. Maybe it shouldn’t be that way, but I very much doubt that you or anyone else is going to change that much. The same practices occur between fraternity brothers, members of the same lodge (Masons, Moose, Elks, Eagles, etc.), people who served in the same branch of service or military unit, went to the same high school, or share some other commonality they hold dear. Granted, everyone should be equally bound by the law without favor, but police officers also have the ability to make discretionary decisions, and the criteria they use for those decisions has to be flexible for it to work. Take that discretion away, and you are going to get the speeding ticket every time, whether you’re late for work or rushing to the hospital to say goodbye to your dying child. I’d like to see some better training in that discretionary decision-making process, too, but that impacts on another issue that I’ll get to in a minute.
Next, let’s look at the rank waters of our pool of police candidates. Police recruiting is more of a challenge today than at any time in our history. Even when respect for the police was low in the 1960s, there was a steady supply of vets exiting service from the Vietnam era, and the economy kind of sucked, making secure civil service jobs more attractive. There’s no draft now, so military service is less common, proportionately more service members are in the reserve or National Guard and have regular jobs, and a bunch of them can’t leave service, anyway, because of military stop-loss directives. Certainly, some service members want police careers, but they have some of the same problems we see with the non-vet end of the pool.
It’s not uncommon for a law enforcement agency to have to recruit 100 applicants to get one viable body to train and hire. Lower educational standards mean that high school and even some college graduates can’t read or write well enough to pass the written exams. Since obesity is a national health problem and mandatory physical education programs in schools are rare, many can’t pass the physical abilities tests (which are generally a lot easier than they used to be). Some more get culled out when they’re asked, “Why do you want to be a police officer?” and they’re stuck for an answer. Background investigations dump a bunch out of the eligibility cohort. Bad driving records, recent or chronic drug use, bankruptcies or heavy debt loads (cops with credit problems usually have trouble managing other aspects of their lives, and they’re ripe for exploitation by people who can offer them money), criminal histories, poor work habits, and the refusal to cease associations with known criminal elements are all red flags. Back off on these standards, and you’re asking for big trouble. One large municipal agency tried it in the 1970s, and wound up with every seventh officer being under criminal indictment.
Once you get that qualified recruit, some will drop out of the police academy, or get thrown out for poor performance or misconduct. Some of the graduates that get their badges will be found wanting by their field training officers, or will quickly decide that police work isn’t what they thought it would be. In this era of entitlement, many new officers are disillusioned when they find that they are expected to spend years working uniformed patrol, chasing the radio, before they will get a shot at SWAT, detectives, or a promotion–and there’s no guarantee they will get it then. There has always been a substantial loss of police officers during the first five years of their careers, because they don’t like what they experience and think they can do better elsewhere. And most experienced officers will tell you that it takes about five years before a new officer is at the journeyman level. By that time, the officer’s employer has invested over five years and maybe half a million dollars to get that one functional troop. If you think that’s an over-estimation, take into account the recruiting and training expenses for the hundreds of applicants that dropped out somewhere along the way, plus the costs of the finished product’s salary, benefits, and equipment.
Let’s talk about that training thing for a bit. Police academies in the United States run between twelve and 32 weeks. That might seem like a lot, especially as compared to military training to qualify a soldier for the battlefield, but there’s a big difference in environment. Military training is usually done in the context of a total institution, where every element of the trainee’s time and behavior is directed and controlled. There aren’t all that many total institutions in our society. The only other ones I can think of are prisons and cloistered religious orders. Even residential police academies, where the recruits live at the training facility, allow free time in the evenings and usually most or all of the weekends off. You can’t socialize or imprint a police recruit in that kind of environment the way that the Marines can in theirs. Moreover, novice warfighters work as a member of a team, seldom operate alone, and have reasonably close supervision. Cops usually work by themselves, and may see a supervisor only once or twice a shift.
Finally, there’s the socio-political structure that cops have to contend with. Every business environment has some kind of culture to it. If you work in a conservative office and you insist on showing off your stylish tattoos and body piercings, you may not get fired, but I wouldn’t be spend a lot of time planning your decoration scheme for the corner office, either. If you’re in a more relaxed place where jeans, t-shirts and hip-hop music (I use that noun in the most liberal sense) are the order of the day, I’d advise not coming to work in a three-piece Brooks Brothers suit and passing your lunch hour reading The National Review in the break room. Law enforcement agencies also have an organizational culture unique to each outfit, and it is much more demanding than those in most other professions.
Cops usually find it difficult to maintain close relationships with non-cop friends, so their personal and professional lives have a lot more overlap. Internal politics is consistently named by law enforcement officers as their primary source of stress. If you can’t or won’t play the game, your life is going to be worse than that of the geekiest leper outcast in junior high school. Every law enforcement agency has an operations manual full of standard operating procedures and policies, but the organizational culture and actual practice has far more influence on how things are and will be done. Organizational cultures are not immutable, but the change process requires a lot of time and strong, consistent leadership. It might take as long as 20 years, that being the duration of a “keeper” officer’s career and the time required to purge the organization of the people that were too much into the old ways.
There are also people in the policed community that dictate, formally or otherwise, how things will be done. An officer can ignore that program and take enforcement action on who and whatever he deems appropriate, and be on the side of the angels for so doing, but he might as well hang a “PARIAH” sign around his neck. The private citizen is far more empowered to change that kind of system, because the rebel cop that tries to do so will be deprived of his livelihood. If a law enforcement agency has a reputation and practice of heavy-handedness, disparate treatment, or refusal to act on certain complaints, you can bet that someone outside the agency has a vested interest in seeing that practice continue.
So, that’s the broad strokes illustration of the problem. You want better police? How much are you willing to pay to raise salaries to be competitive with other careers, fund longer and more intensive training academies, and provide work incentives that will attract good officers and keep them there? Are you willing to take an active role in the governing of your community and rein in the protected special interests? If you’re a parent, or plan to be one, are you up to taking a proactive role to produce a kid that would be one of the hundred that could make the cut to be a cop (if you don’t want them to be cops, that’s okay–people like that are usually well-prepared to do just about anything else they would like)? And, do you have the patience and tenacity to see this through? To remind you of maybe what you don’t want, I’ll use a Dirty Harry line to close:
“Well, do ya, punk?”
Tim,
Great article. Before I entered the hiring process, I never appreciated how difficult it was to become a police officer. Though I am still a member of the policed, I hope to soon join the ranks and serve the populace.
I believe recruiting/test could be handled in a more expeditious fashion. For example, a regional or statewide police test could be created to enable applicants to apply at a bevy of departments at once. Departments who have bought into such a test would be able to assist in marketing the test that does not force an applicant to fill out a different 57 page Personal History Statement for each department they apply with.
Using web-based online application status sites would enable potential recruits to determine where they are for each specific department they have selected their application to be routed to.
The benefits of such a program from an applicants standpoint are enormous. Ultimately, as things become more and more automated with the rise of the information age, police recruiting will catch up and some of the process will become cheaper.
Though I do think LEOs should be paid more (I was shocked to hear some departments in large, high crime, urban areas make ~$25K to start), the profession is not one people join to get rich. It seems to be better that way.
If thats not telling it like it is, well, I donno what is. Now if I could just forward it to the powers that be, and not get “the black mark.”
Tim mentions the organizational culture and its effect on actual practice, but I think it’s worth taking that thought one step further and pointing out the inevitable and prevalent stress that results from the dichotomy between published policy in those volumes of policies and procedures and the REAL standard operating procedure that the administration and senior officers expect the street cops to actually use on the job. Violate the street rules and the officer is ostracized, criticized and distrusted by the very people he must depend on to back him up on the street. But take that just a hair too far past the point that is politically correct or offends some “community activist” and the very same brass point to the manuals and policies to cover their own collective derriers while the officer on the street is left to swing in the wind, vilified in the press and condemned in the court of public opinion. Fundamentally it is a phenomenon of those organizations run by people with far more political savvy than actual leadership skills. That is commonplace in the civilian world, of course, but in police work the stakes are exponentially higher: They can get you fired, sued, or even killed. Unfortunately, a ridiculously high number of law enforcement agencies are such organizations. Tim is right to mention strong leadership, but that is sorely lacking in many departments both large and small.
Right on! Its about time some one took a stand for the garbage men and women in our society. I’ve been a cop for about five years. I have worked for four different agencies. If people think it’s tough to be a cop try doing the job on Idaho wages. Just one more thought, if more admin types stood up for their troops it be alot easier to keep them around.
I have 7 years in and I can say there are serious problems in recruiting, training, and retention of police officers. First: the recruiters are not punctual in responding back to interested people. When I was applying, I had to call over and over again before any one ever called me back. The preliminary written test was a joke, I felt like I was back in 8th grade. And I heard lots of people complaining about how hard it was, if they think that was hard and still get hired, no wonder many cops are not functioning well on the street. Then, of course you have to get through all the other tests/processes. Polygraphs? Dump them, they are worthless as a hiring screening tool, look up the report done by the Academy of Sciences on them. You just lose good recruits to false poly results. What good is having to do pushups, situps, reach test and a 1.5 mile run? You going to do that before you arrest someone? And how many cops ever run 1.5 miles chasing someone? How about using a real world test like the POPAT? Get rid of the stupid 1.5 miles run and the rest of that test. And how many cops never run again, once they are out of the academy anyway?
Then there is the academy:from day one the instructors talk down to you like you are an idiot. They try so hard to be like Drill Sgts, but they are just laughable. (And not one of mine had ever been in the military, I was.)How you ever going to get this job elevated to a profession when you treat new people like garbage? And as soon as the instructors found out some recruits had college degrees, they were dog meat. But it just served to show how behind the times, the instructors really were. As for retention: the FTO program is nothing more than a few more months were the FTO can screw with the rookies. If you ever want to get police work professionalized and get high level recruits, you need to stop treating them like crap and stop eating your own, just because your FTO did it to you.
Outstanding!! This is a true evaluation of policing today?
Golly.. how in the world do we get the brass and the community to understand this???
After 18 years as a “beat” cop (by CHOICE, not because I couldn’t do specialties!), this is one of the most accurate articles I’ve EVER seen!!
Sgt. Cameron Burke
College Park (GA) PD
Bravo! Beautiful summation.
As I have written before, a living wage and proper training are key elements in making any department successful. These two things with a strong leadership, that has clear goals and direction, can protect and serve with the best of them. How can you expect the best out of your officers when they don’t know where the day will bring them? Any plan will work for the short term and all officers can work within the scope of those plans.
When officers can’t afford to live within the community they are hired to protect, because the wage to cost of living ratio is so out of whack, how can you honestly believe that those officers feel the level of connection to their populous. The median home price should be the basis of the officers starting wage, 25% as a starting point, then they could afford to live where they work. When an officer has to travel more than an hour to find an affordable home or take a second job to make ends meet, how can they feel that the risk is really worth it? So many good people are forced out of the job because of financial matters it erodes the whole base for a sound police force.
So many officers feel that their sacrifices (Shift work, long hours, and a system that releases the Bad Guys before the ink is dry on reports. Not to mention lost family time) aren’t viewed as such by the community that why should they bother to risk everything so that some know it all, with a camera, can bring it all down because they know the right people to cry to. I think Jack Nickelson said it best we want them on that wall, we need them on that wall. But seemingly we don’t want to pay them to be there for us.
And for all the bad officers that may be out there the good still out number the bad by a large margin, and no single officers or group of officers has ruined as many lives as those guys from Enron did.
Good one, but there are people out there that will hate the police no matter how good of an article you write.
I have been a ploce officer for more then 16 years. I have worked for a department that had 1600 officers and now work for a department that has 100 officers. I think the number one problem with the profession is the internal stress that is caused by the inner workings of a police department. We hire Type “A” personalities because we want officer that can take charge and control situations. We the officer is out on the street we expect them to make decisions and be in control of the situation and themselves. Once they are in the staion, we want them to do what they are told and have no say in how things are done. This is where all the stress comes from.
During my career, I have been shot at, in foot chases, vehicle pursuits, served high risk warrants and been in numerous physical altercations, and I have not found one of these situations to be stressful. As soon as I step into the station, my stress level goes through the roof.
I believe and have seen this environment make officer leave the job because they just can’t take the stress any longer. I believe this is first and foremost what must change in our profession. If police officers are happy with the job then this will translate to them doing a better job on the street and the community will get the service they deserve.
So it is not just our impression that police departments like those in Chicago, New York and L.A deserve there reps of being out of control, full of rouge cops and that filing complaints does little or nothing to change the problem since the it is a top down system wide culture? It also explains a great deal about the Ratsy’s Philly of my youth.
This was a fantastic article. Much better written and articulate than the last post defending an out of control cop.
I respect all law enforcement officials who take the time to do the right thing. Shake someone’s hand. Say hello. Smile once in a while. Or simply say, “Hey, how are things going tonight?”
Its amazing how the littlest things can help prevent really big problems.
My daughter comes home from Kindergarten and says she got to meet “Officer Friendly”. She knows he wears a badge and uniform and carries a gun and drives a squad car.
I really hope the day comes that she does not have to read about a cop who drags a guy from his car just to level false charges and imprisonment at him.
But, and here is the kicker. One REALLY bad screw up will end your career just as easily as it will end mine.
(Sucks, don’t it?)
As far as training and commitment, well, again, here is where I really do respect folks in uniform. (both civ police and those in the military)
Politics sucks. Get over it. Its here to stay and we just need to deal with it in one way or another. Or, find another profession. At some point, gubmint officials will wake up and start making changes to hire better people with better skill sets.
And for the record, I do not “hate the police” or law enforcement in general. I hate bad cops and I despise bloated windbags who write blogs that go onto defend bad cops.
I am a new officer, and I agree with the comments already posted about training and recuiting being an enormous hurdle, and the need to get bigger and better a reality, how to do it on our measly bedgets though is a challenge and a half.
Thank you for another wonderful article an “real life policing”
this is what concerns me about the city i live in which is normal,Illinois..the police go into places like circle k or fast stop and get free donuts and coffee while either taking a break or going to the bathroom which i understand.The problem i have is that i cant go into these places and receive anything for free,some clerks have told me what i already suspected,that the place of business would give them these things to detour crime with the cop car and the uniformed officer inside and i do agree that this would in fact detour crime.However,the receiving of any goods or services or monies is considered a bribe.First the police signed up for this job and secondly they should realize that everyone else has to pay so something isnt fair in a sense as most police have smarts from what your article reads.The police have told me that the reason is because they like them and not for any other reason.WOW AND DOUBLE WOW.YOU CANT BE SERIOUS.They get paid like the rest of the people living in the community their for they should pay as well.workers all over america in every city bring coffee thermos and or a cooler to work.I have reported this to the police dept and have confronted officers about whether they have paid.The police dept did pass out a memo to the officers telling them they were not allowed to take anything for free from businesses that use this type of idea to get better protection.The problem did cool down for a few months but it has started all over again and when i confront them they tell me things like the business doesnt want you here or they tell me mind my own business or let me know yes,we get free stuff as if its just a revolving door.Cops say weed is a gateway drug,what about free drinks and food,would that not raise a question as to whats next.i have no criminal record and the funny thing is they think i should be in jail as one officer told me.Oh and the store formentioned i have never been into.private property wow.Do we really have rights in the community we live in,not really.And finally when i do report these actions that just buy chance occurs when out running to the doctor or the grocery store/the funny part of that is i can catch the police breaking the law all the time where i live.im running out of patience with the police hanging up on me when i do call to report a illegal act.just a few weeks ago i spotted a real nasty lange change violation and called it in and they said the famous i talked to him and we have found it UNFOUNDED.Or hows about a front windshield obstruction tickett.Well since proceeds funds the city/state its okay but they dont mess with the dot as all of there buses have fans blocking there windows as well.sorry to come down hard,but im a priciple type of person and i think america should be free and JUST.Whats good for one man should be for all man.we live together not apart.thanks for the freedom to get some of this off my chest.and just to let everyone know/we choose the job we want not the other way around.fair will always be fair and freedom and justice for everyone.No man is above the law.john
This was a really good read.
I’m glad you took the time to write this, and have acknowledged the non LEO people who are reading here.
Challenging people to take an active role in their police force’s behavior is a great point to include. But, backing it up with all the details that we never see is a great way to prove the point.
Being a freelance writer, I get to speak with a lot of different people, including police officers so I have a more informed point of view.
But, as a criminal justice student, I’m proof that a lot of people wouldn’t consider doing the job just because of the reasons stated above.
So, thanks for including us in your perspective this time around.
Andrew
Some thoughts on ways to change the perception of law enforcement:
- Adopt local media. Find a reporter you can stomach and tip them to any and all events, trainings, promotions, and other ‘good’ news that is happening in your department. You probably already do this, but the more you hit them with news the better your chances are for coverage.
- Have community events. Public safety functions, citizen police academies, neighborhood watches help the community feel involved with law enforcement and it helps negate the wall of silence that tends to surround police. Police get painted with broad strokes when it comes to public opinion - but it’s harder for folk to do that when they get to know a few officers. Officers will also get a chance to mingle with some of the law abiding civvies on a non-stressful moment. People LIKE police officers when they aren’t getting a ticket or having a crisis.
As for recruitment, obviously this is going to take some time, but some ideas would be to talk to guidance councilors at schools. Showing people what the options are in law enforcement, reminding them about criminal justice academies. The best way to get good recruits is to recruit at high schools and colleges. The pay is something of a shock. But once again, if the public doesn’t know what the problems are they can’t help. Make people aware of it. Use the media. When a study is done throw a press release at the news, call your local papers and news stations, write editorials, get the word out.
A site like this is great and very informative, but as Dees points out, it’s mostly for LEOs - or people who are very familiar with how the system works. The more the public knows about the difficulties facing police the more sympathetic they will be. And sites like this are a step in the right direction, but a more mainstream dialog is needed to bring about wholesale change. Civvies will need to talk to elected officials if there’s going to be a change in pay and recruiting or even funds for community projects.
Before you can create a better cop you must create a better society. People that abuse their position in life do so because they grew up to believe it’s ok. I don’t know if anyone ever conducted the research into the background and upbringing that so called bad cops come from but in 20 years of law enforcement in New York City I saw a wide spectrum of personalities. I believe I would be safe in stating that the people that evolved into rougue cops would have been the same in any other walk of life. These are the shyster attorneys, the quack doctors, corrupt politicians, crooked mechanics, goldigging spouses, and all the others in society that feel they are better than the rest of the world. Selfish and arrogant people exist in all walks of life. I do not believe law enforcement has any greater degree than other professions. It’s just more newsworthy.
Fairly good article, Mr. Dees. I think where we part company on many things is the eternal is-the-glass-half-full/half empty debate. You have a much more pessimistic view of the state of the profession. On our end, internally, the cops and administrators that try to effect change from within do not necessarily become pariahs. Progress does occur, but it is indeed an evolutionary process and evolution is slow. You can’t get proud, motivated, highly task oriented people (like cops) to buy into your ideas overnight by saying “Change is good”. Solid, practical arguments work well.
We are indeed in a crisis in hiring for several reasons, some beyond our control, some not. Generally, people can make the same, or in most parts of the country much more, in other jobs. Monday through Friday, normal hours jobs. We are a necessary function that few in the general public really would want to do — and fewer would do well.
As for the public: I’m lucky to be working for a department with good support by its politicians. Politics, and the demands by the people for quality policing can be a positive force.
But politics (and politicians) can be fickle and the apathy of your local voter often results in the only supposed voice of the people that is being heard is not that of the community, but of the special interests and the persons with their own agendas. Previous posters to your blog illustrate this nicely.(such as Joy reading the same blog I did and seeing ‘cops are out of control’. Sigh. Or the nearly unreadable post by ‘john’ above. Free donuts as a gateway drug? huh?)
But what does the public want? In my experience, the public wants us to be there for them, be the police, act professionally and to act on crime and disorder to the extent that they do not have to fear crime and violence. They want us to stand up for those who cannot or will not defend themselves. To work for justice.
Then they would like us to go away.
Not because they hate us, but because they want to enjoy the freedoms of this country, without having an oppressive police state. Oh, they wave to us on patrol, they like us, because we make them feel safe. And we like them, too, to the extent we will go in harm’s way for them. Most thinking people realize that where there is no enforcement there are no laws.
So whats the solution?
Well, maybe there is no “fix”, this may just be the way it is; and will be as long as good men and women continue to step up to the challenge. Its an age old problem, as it was written in the Victorian Age “When constabulary duty’s to be done….A policeman’s lot is not a happy one”
To the abv. post by John. First of all receiving a free cup of coffee isn’t bribery, its gratuity. I suppose you have never gotten a perk from your job?! Second people on a bus are not obstructing the driver’s view. Third, your call in for a lane change, serious matter better recall officers for that life threatening violation. For one thing you probably called the station instead of 911. What are they supposed to do? race out there and drive all over town for something they didn’t observe and write a ticket? WOW! Do you hate the police or are you jealous because you won’t or can’t do it? I’ve got an idea next time you run a stop sign, red light, speed inadvertantly take a pencil from work…turn yourself in, what’s good for one man is good for all man. As a cop I’ve sacrificed more than I ever have then working any other job, ie..mandatory overtime, nights, weekends, holidays, recall, court, low pay. Sure I chose this profession and I’m sorry if I got a free cup of coffee. Before you lay judgment down,take a long look in the mirror.
To Jim Berry, excellent point. I myself never was stressed out dealing with people on the street (Detroit), it was the administration that stressed me out.
Katy E, well said.
I just re-read my post and after saying Mr. Dees is pessimistic, perhaps I am a bit of a pessimist.
Too many PD’s allow the press to drive them, and the bad news sells lots of ad space. I shouldn’t have left it sounding that I don’t believe good, positive public relations are important. They are. I very much believe in the items you mention, but I think that the public also wants us to be unobtrusive in their lives. Its a difficult line to walk.
It never ceases to amaze me the type of people that complain about the police in this country. It is my opinion that many of these people are small minded at least in a global sense. I am sorry but peace officers shooting at a car that is trying to run over them is NOT police brutality. That self defense Police using a TAZER to stun and subdue an out of control, hysterical college student is not police brutality. That is called an arrest of an idiot. Allow me to you what police and governmental police brutality really is.
Imagine that you are in your home and a group of government police or soldiers enter your house with knives machetes and hold you down and chop off one of your limbs. No warrant, no probable cause, no other reason than intimidation of you village, tribe, or ethnic background (Sudan, and many other parts of Africa).
Or imagine that you (a normally law abiding citizen except for a traffic infraction or two) are driving down a highway and you are going a little over the speed limit and you are pulled over by an army unit of 18 or 19 year old conscript soldiers (with no law enforcement training or ethics) who pull out fully or three round burst weapons out on you and they search your car, person, and your family as they are screaming at you to lay on the ground. This is a common occurrence in Mexico.
Or imagine that you speak out against the president of your respective nation and are detained and beaten for days while incarcerated in a jail where you have no place to defecate, little food, and sewage water to drink. This has occurred quite recently in Zimbabwe.
I am not saying that there is not some small measure of corruption in law enforcement agencies but I hate to say that normally corruption is perpetrated by peace officers in supervisory positions and are not people that you the everyday citizen would have contact with. At least this is the case in the United States.
Trust me, peace officers are a group that have been discriminated against because they are the ones that must enforce the rules. Nothing is harder. Peace officers do not just shoot or use force against people for the fun of it. They have reasons when they have to do those things although it is not pretty. Using force is not pretty but peace officers cannot just sit there and allow potentially out of control situation get worse. Peace officers cannot just run away and allow criminals to do what they will. What would happen if they did that? Criminals would roam our streets freely as they do in Sudan, Mexico, Zimbabwe, and many other nations that do not have professional, hard working peace officers as we do here in the US.
Ditto for what Mike said.
John,
I don’t see how giving a free cup of coffee or a creme filled pastry is circumventing the law.
My 5 year old gets a free piece of candy every time we visit the local candy store… but just one piece a week.
If cops started DEMANDING freebie’s all the time, I would look at it in a different light. Those that do, should be swept off the force. Then it becomes extortion.
But, you do bring up a few good points. If a neighborhood begins to feel the need to bribe cops to patrol the area, then a much bigger problem is at hand.
Does that mean a biz can’t treat a customer however it wants? (regarding freebies, no, a biz can dole out free stuff to whomever)
I don’t trust most police officers because so many of the good ones have shown such a lack of respect for the public by whitewashing the actions of the bad cops on the force. And the last thing a good cop is going to do is point out a bad cop…
As to the larger point of this blog entry, I see it as a step forward in identifying changes in an environment that has stayed mostly stagnant from an internal structure. (maybe I am wrong…)
I hope every cop out there spends more time dealing with cops in other areas as an unrecognized civilian. (ala “walk among the unwashed masses to see how the little people live”)
The only way to change perception is with reality and communication.
Do I think a police force will be better off with $150K/yr salaries for recruits? I guess it depends on what the market and tax payers will put up with. What they won’t accept is a $1K/yr bad cop demanding anything.
Make an example of the bad cops on the force and show that crap recruits are not wanted and you end up with more respect.
The armed forces today now have the most well educated and driven soldiers on the planet. Are their bad apples? yup. Weed them out and make an example and you will drive talent into your profession instead of out of it.
John it’s deter not detour…..dumbass