We allow those with deep rooted biases to sneak into our law enforcement agencies. Also those with anger management, superiority and fear issues. These are the things which need to be much more heavily screened. We will never eradicate these completely in any occupation but we MUST do better with law enforcement.

These problem individuals harm our society from mere harassing traffic stops and tickets to unjustified shootings based on fear, anger and yes even at times racism.

I believe it is fixable but it requires a better understanding of law enforcement and its culture from the outside and within. So many on one side want to hate all cops, the other end of the spectrum want to blindly support all cops no matter accusations or proven wrong doing, they believe it to be unpatriotic to question this profession because of how noble it is. Both are wrong.

All first-responders just like our soldiers on the battle field are the bravest we have and know what true sacrifice means. We should respect these professions, but always remember that mere men (and women) make them up and as such are flawed, sometimes to the point they shouldn’t be in the profession. We must not protect the bad apples from accountability and we must hold the good ones up as the shining examples of our society and the real superheroes our children should look up to.

I’m no longer a police officer and haven’t been for several years. My reasons are a combination of my own demons and not being able to tolerate some of what went on. I was and today am nothing more than the average guy, but I try to see things as objectively as possible.

So many cops now want to be so much more like Harry Callahan (Dirty Harry) and not enough like Sgt. Joe Friday. The truth is that Harry was exactly what people are fighting today, a cop who has preconceptions and beliefs. He always thinks he is right and will do whatever is necessary to get what he wants and/or sees as justice. He doesn’t care about Miranda, he doesn’t care about killing. He doesn’t even care about authority himself, but he expects everyone to respect his authority.

Then There is Detective Sergeant Joe Friday. His motto is literally, “just the facts”. He only wants to hear the facts of the case. He wants to make as objective of conclusions he can when investigating. Friday understands his role as a detective and leaves innocence or guilt to the judicial system.

So many officer’s today loose sight of the fact that they don’t determine innocence or guilt. They in essence do exactly what a special counsel does for congress in an impeachment proceeding. They are SUPPOSED to investigate every angle and lead, then prepare a report which they then take to a prosecutor who makes an initial determination of probable cause. If he agrees there is probable cause to make an arrest of someone, he creates an affidavit for application of warrant which includes a probable cause statement from the police officer and takes it to a judge asking for a warrant. There is also the option in some jurisdictions as well as the federal system to take it before a grand jury to get an indictment which is simply a formal charge which begins court proceedings headed toward trial. These methods are highly flawed, but that is a topic for another post.

Now if a police officer feels the crime is serious enough and the individual they believe who committed it is a flight risk or a danger to the community they can often make a warrant-less arrest and hold someone for 20-48 hours (depending on jurisdiction) while they get a warrant from judge.

The point of all this is that a police officer is not someone who is supposed to decide if someone did something or not. Many officers now decide who committed a crime before they have really even investigated anything. The other difference between these two fictional cops is the use of force. Both men are technically detectives. In San Francisco the term of Harry’s day was Inspector. LAPD to my knowledge always used the term detective. Detectives don’t often have as much need to use force on the job as beat cops. That never stopped Harry. He is all about using his authority via force and pulling out his big .44 Magnum revolver every chance he gets. As a society we think violence is cool. I see and hear people all the time making fun of people who are nerdy or geeky or simply are more about knowledge than being physical. Then they love those who assert themselves with guns or do a million other things which are considered aggressive and assertive.

Ask yourself though, if these two men were real police officers today, which do you think would have a better record of finding the actual perpetrator of crimes? Which would have helped prosecutors have a higher conviction rate? Which would have helped prosecutors put more innocent people in jail? Which is more likely to racial profile and be unfair to minorities? To me the answer is quite obvious.

Police are part of the justice system and it is important that they focus more on the facts than their own biases and personality. Everyone has bias, everyone has their own personality which affects how they live their life. It is important for police officers not allow these things to affect their investigations. AND, they certainly shouldn’t let bias or personal issues affect their use of force.

Sadly, you can’t read these stories without coming across the others that none of us want to hear. There are the tragic shootings of unarmed people. There was the arrest and excessive force against a Utah nurse who wouldn’t violate policy and the law for a detective, but there are more than I could even get in to listing.

I have been fascinated with the litigation surrounding cops who arrest firefighters over a pissing contest. I have just finished looking at 6 cases in the last 10 years where an officer on some sort of traffic crash arrests a firefighter who is helping a patient for not doing whatever the officer said. In every case, the officer was in the wrong.

My complaint here isn’t even all these issues, however that is certainly a HUGE problem. The thing I am so upset about today is the defense by the brothers in blue in ALL these cases.

Every time I see an officer doing wrong in the news, I go research it myself online. I try to get every fact and every side of the story before I make up my own mind on if the officer is in the wrong. Unfortunately the first thing I see online is the complete opposite among current law enforcement. They blindly defend whatever the officer in question did. When the officer in question has actually done wrong, or worse committed a crime they are themselves tarnishing the reputation of law enforcement.

I have said it before, but it bears repeating. We need to pay ALL law enforcement better. We need to train them better. We need to screen them better. We have too many cops out there who aren’t suited for the job, and they are getting the credit of the good guys who are coming to their defense when they do wrong.

If you have a impulse control, anger management problem, superiority complex or simply an axe to grind you shouldn’t be a police officer. Federal law enforcement screens for these types of things when they do backgrounds on their applicants. They actually talk to friends and family and even enemies of the applicant get a feel for who their applicants are. This isn’t done at hardly any other level of law enforcement. Its expensive. Additionally, its hard to get applicants who don’t have these issues when you pay $20,000 to $40,000 a year to start in a job where you put your life on the line.

When I was a police officer starting out, I paid my own way through academy (few departments in my state paid for it), I purchased my own weapon, duty gear and uniforms, and I started at $10 an hour. This wasn’t that uncommon in Missouri. A red state, who loves their guns, supports the troops and is supposed to be pro law enforcement doesn’t really back the badge financially.

There is so much that needs to be fixed with our criminal justice system, but a good start would be fixing our police departments. Abuse of authority needs to stop, killing when an officer’s life isn’t in danger needs to stop, and blind support of bad cops needs to stop.

Most cops who say they want to help people say something to the effect of wanting to help people by taking the “bad guys” off the street and putting them where they belong. They show nothing positive toward the “bad guys”. This is where I differ. I have adopted part of my philosophy from highway patrol lieutenant I know who taught me a lot about life. I think that there is only about one per-cent of the population that is truly bad. I think that people are inherently good. THAT is why I got in to the profession.

I think it is the job of law enforcement officers to find the law violators that are out there and help them just as much as they help the victims who have been victimized. Now granted, there are murderers and rapist that are beyond help and need something other than the help we can humanly give them, but for the rest I think it can be positive. Law enforcement officers should, upon making contact with someone who has violated the law, simply have a talk with them. For starters, they have to be treated as human beings if you wish to get them to confess to what it is that they have done. Many police officers go wrong here. Secondly you have to make them believe that you understand. The officer has to educate them on how the law works and what is going to happen. He should make the offender understand that even though they have done something wrong there is a path that can still be taken which can save his integrity. Once they confess, he should make them understand that now there are likely to be consequences that they must face, and facing them is what shows that they have accepted responsibility for the wrong they have done and shows others that they still have that integrity and can become productive members of society again.

There are no free rides. For everything there is a punishment, but in law enforcement it’s not about punishing, that is for the court. They are here to help those who have lost their integrity somewhere and help them realize that and to restore it by facing their accusers honestly in court and taking the punishment that is set forth.

I have caught a lot of criticism over the years for this belief, especially when I was a police officer. Many say it is not the job of the police officer to be a social worker and other things like that. I agree with that statement, however it is the job of every man to help is fellow man.

Another thing that really upsets me when it comes to law enforcement is the lack of respect for officers. I can honestly say I didn’t have a lot of problem getting respect when I was an officer, but when I hear others talking poorly of law enforcement officials it really upsets me. They are doing a job just like you do. They deserve to be respected. It isn’t personal when they have to stop you for something; they are doing what they are paid to do. Furthermore, they do it because they have a sense of duty and wish to protect you and everyone else in their community. They have a dangerous, underpaid, and difficult job at times. They aren’t out to get you. They are just enforcing what they have sworn to enforce. I could go on all day with examples, but that would be pointless. That badge is a symbol of trust, honor, and integrity. Respect it. I understand there are bad cops out there like there are slackers in any other profession, but that doesn’t make them all bad.

This little “essay” is something I typed up years ago to share with people. Since that time, there have been so many cases of police abuse which I will cover in another post, but I don’t believe in blindly supporting law enforcement. There have been recent cases of REALLY bad apples and there seems to be a real pattern. We need to figure out as a society what is going on and fix it. We need our police officers, but we also need to not allow those who are unfit to wear that badge.