REFLECTIONS ON POLICEWORK IN GENERAL

A number of random thoughts have been rolling around in my mind since my experience yesterday participating in police training exercises. Some of these thoughts relate to policing in general and others relate to women in policework.  This post will focus just on police work in general (and I will use the male pronoun since the overwhelming majority of officers -- 87% I believe -- are in fact men). 

I doubt that many average people have a sense of how demanding police work really is and how well rounded police officers have to be.  There is SO much that your average police officer has to master in order to be effective.  A police officer should, of course, be physically fit.  He needs to be extremely proficient at the use of the various tools in his arsenal, including his gun, his baton, his pepper spray, his handcuffs, and his taser if he has one, and that proficiency includes a lot of different variables.  For example, you can't just be good at shooting your gun-- you should be good at shooting it at night while holding your flashlight and ducking for cover.  You also need to know how to show restraint at using these tools, and you have to use that restraint in sometimes ominous, unpredictable and fast-moving situations in different settings. 

Of course, these are just the obvious things we think of when we imagine what police officers do.  But there's a lot in addition to all the physical, tough-guy stuff.  Police officers have to have the interpersonal skills to diffuse difficult situations and get information from people.  These interpersonal challenges of police work are a lot more intense than what most people experience just interacting with colleagues at the office. The police may encounter people in varying and often highly dramatic emotional states, people who don't speak English, people of all ages and cultural backgrounds, and people with physical and mental disabilities.  The police need a thorough working knowledge of the criminal law, including the criminal code in their jurisdiction, and the often complex body of law pertaining to the Fourth and Fifth amendments.  They need to be able to write thorough and coherent reports, and to be able to testify effectively in court.  And these are just the basics -- other officers also acquire more specialized skills, such as working on a SWAT team, using police dogs, or collecting fingerprint evidence.  Some officers rise through the ranks and need to exercise leadership and set policy for their departments.  Policing is truly is a fascinating, difficult and potentially rewarding profession. 

In light of all this, I think it's too bad that police work is not considered a suitable profession for the upwardly mobile segments of our society. Most students at the more academically respected four year colleges simply do not consider becoming police officers. I bet you could count on one hand the number of police officers with Ivy League degrees in this country.  Yet it's clearly a field in which having a college degree can be put to good use.  Police officers in many ways are the most powerful people in this country.  It is the police officers who generally make decisions as to who will be investigated, or charged, or arrested.  It is the police officers who have the power to either respect or violate your constitutional rights.   And what police officers do is every bit as valuable to the orderly and safe functioning of our society as law or medicine.

I also think the polarization in the U.S. of public attitudes about police officers is unfortunate.  It seems as though people fall into one of two camps -- either you worship the police and think they can do no wrong, or you believe the police are racist, sexist homophobes who will embellish their reports and violate your constitutional rights if they can get away with it.  I am not really in either camp.  I think that it's a terrible thing when a police officer abuses his power over citizens on the street, whether it's a small-scale or large-scale abuse.  Despite the many frivolous lawsuits I see, I think it is important that citizens have a mechanism to sue the police for constitutional violations and I applaud all the progress that has been made to make police accountable for unlawful actions.  On the other hand, I have been incredibly impressed with the professionalism of the vast majority of officers with whom I have worked. Unfortunately, I think that the hyper-critical mentality of many of us on the left towards the police has helped to create a sometimes resentful "us v. them" mentality among all police officers, not just the bad apples.  This "us v. them" mentality, in turn, can hinder efforts to improve police-community relations and to create a police culture of respect for citizens. 

So to end my ramble, I would propose a more nuanced view of the police in our country.  I would like to see a country where those who respect the police also understand that not every officer is a saint, and that abuse, even of "riff raff" is not okay.  I would also like to see a country where those who are inclined to be harshly critical of police abuses also respect the profession and its potential.  In short, I suppose I would like to see a more constructive discourse about police work than "police good" or "police bad."  I see that discourse occurring in many places internally in the law enforcement community and I sense that there have been massive improvements in many parts of the country over the last 30 to 40 years.  I would, however, like to see more intelligent dialogue about this stuff among the citizenry at large.   

Comments

[norbizness]

Well, there are two camps in Austin as well. Those who live West of the freeway, and are generally inconvenienced by traffic citations, and those who live East of the freeway (if they're brown or black), who are generally inconvenienced by excessive force, cultural insensitivity, and the occasional unpunished, unjustified shooting/tasering. It generally takes one of those incidents to undue years of conscientious police officers' work in community relations.

[The Happy Feminist]

No doubt.

[will]

I agree with norbizness.

Those whose families or neighbors have not been exposed to the police trust the police. Those people who have been exposed to the criminal justice system do not trust the police

[The Happy Feminist]

I don't know. My family never had any dealings with the police but I was raised with a profound distrust for them. It was just that the notion of police bullying citizens, especially poorer citizens or minorities, was so repugnant and we weren't stupid enough to think it never happened. You can even SEE it happening on shows like "Cops."

I developed a rosier view of police when I somehow found myself as a prosecutor in a very rural county. Small town police in a homogeneous community tend to be, I think, far less likely to abuse their power than perhaps in other areas.

My main point is that, regardless of how much external accountability you provide for police, I think the best solution for improving police conduct is improving the culture of individual departments. How this is accomplished exactly, I don't know, but I remain convinced that policing can be a great profession and I know a number of officers whom I believe do their jobs with a great deal of professionalism.

[wdegraw]

What are your thoughts on residency requirements for cops? For instance, should a city cop have to live in the city that he patrols (as opposed to Long Island or upstate NY/NJ for an NYPD officer, or an LA Cop living in OC)?

[The Happy Feminist]

Hmmm . . . I am not sure I have any profound thoughts on that question. I am only now in my capacity as a civil attorney just starting to work with the police in a more urban area.

In the rural area where I prosecuted, the police were very much a part and parcel of the communities where they worked. Everyone knew everyone and I think that was helpful. Since it was so homogeneous, there were no racial or ethnic tensions of which I was aware. (For example, I've never prosecuted a black defendant.)

My gut answer is that it probably is better for the police to live in the city and area they patrol because it reduces the "us against them" mentality. On the other hand, urban settings have their own divisions -- the culture of a community can vary dramatically from block to block in a place like New York City for example.

Also, racial and ethnic diversity is crucial for a police department. You don't want an all-white police force enforcing the laws in a community of minorities.

[Mrs. B]

I liked this post and agreed with your 'reflections'. In my early 20's I worked for the police department as a 911 call taker. I, too, have a lot of respect for police officers(yes, I do acknowledge there are some bad ones...as there are in ANY profession). As part of my training I had to do a ride along which I enjoyed immensly...nothing exciting or out of the ordinary happened, it was just interesting to see the ins and outs of police work. Also, the police officers for that city were required to have a Bachelors degree and I think part of that requirement was so 18 year olds couldn't be on the force. Another interesting thing was that ANY citizen could do a ride along once a year(that's been many years ago , so that policy maybe different now), so even when I didn't work for them anymore, I did one more ride along just for the fun of it.

[Jay]

Those whose families or neighbors have not been exposed to the police trust the police. Those people who have been exposed to the criminal justice system do not trust the police

Maybe this has something to do with the fact that being a criminal is one of the main ways you get "exposed" to the criminal justice system.

[wdegraw]

I agree with you. I also think that good old fashion community policing principles (walking the beat)could overcome some of the "us v. them" issues otherwise attributed to the racial imbalance between police and the communities that they work in.

I also appreciated your comparison of the rural v. urban scenarios. My career choices took me from the biggest of the big cities to the most rural of rural areas. I now consult with local law enforcement agencies - think Cowboy hats and spurs in court. When people have a police emergency, they don't call 911, they call the sheriff at home.

So, the problems in this context in these communities may not break down along racial lines, but along the lines of who is closer to the family of the victim versus who is closer to the defendant, or the cops, or whomever. This is a dynamic that will take some getting used to.

[wdegraw]

Yeah, that is true Jay, but very few family members - most notably children - will side with the "system" when their loved one is accused and/or convicted of a crime. On top of the other ways that these folks may feel alienated by their local law enforcement agencies, such events can and will lead to an irreversible circle of mistrust.

I used to lecture to kids from grades K to 5 on various criminal law related topics, and I was always shocked at how deeply mistrustful of the police these kids were. Many would ask incredibly sophisticated questions about how the system applied to specific circumstances, usually having to do with how or why their brothers, fathers, uncles, etc. were "set up and framed by the police".