Public Servants

Public Servants: Dangerous Double Standard

Submitted by Dr. Kevin Keough
Website: http://www.policepsychconsult.com/

O2-24-2003

I write to stimulate public discourse about a curious and disturbing manifestation of a social dis-ease increasingly apparent in our daily lives. There is a diminished display of civility and declining experience of community throughout America. This insidious phenomenon robs us of a sense of solidarity-essential to the health and well-being of every citizen and human organization. Crime, one symptom of lost social temperance, is increasing in frequency, severity, randomness, senselessness, magnitude, and sheer horror. Increasingly, we experience a sense of helplessness and gnawing awareness we could be directly affected. Public health officials identify growing incidence of anxiety disorders related to national hypervigilance. National security experts and law enforcement authorities warn we are about to experience a surge in violent crime including domestic and international terrorism. The Unthinkable has already occurred yet authoritative sources warn the traumas that have rocked our nation are but small waves as compared to the 'spectacular' tsunami's that will challenge our resolve in the months and years to come. These frightening facts are complicated and exacerbated by a related symptom of our national dis-ease: the manner in which we treat the police officers called upon to protect our children and loved ones from domestic predators.

Historically, our country has demonstrated a lack of uniformity in the way we treat public servants sworn to protect us from predators. Police officers and other law enforcement personnel are accorded far less support and respect than those who serve in various military branches. National leaders simply do not encourage citizens to demonstrate the same kind or level of support for the public servants who patrol within our communities 24/7/52 as those public servants on patrol outside our borders. We are rightly exhorted to show for military servicemen and women. During times of war, we have learned the value of rallying behind members of the military independent of our views about military objectives and actions. We receive somber reports about casualties as many citizens write letters and send care packages to these unknown public servants. Few citizens dare advertise their arrogance by questioning the actions of rank and file military personnel. Americans offer proof of painful lessons learned from the Vietnam era. Sadly, we fail to recognize any national disgrace in the way we treat public servants sworn to serve and protect us from domestic predators. While it is patently true, it is never mentioned that the average police officer is subject to more stress, and faces greater danger, on a daily basis, than the average serviceman. Yet, it is socially acceptable and politically correct to engage in regular and often brutal criticism of individual police officers. Let the word go forth: the manner in which we daily betray police officers is as disgraceful as our collective betrayal of the public servants who served in Vietnam but even more foolish and myopic.

It is as if we are witnessing the social equivalent of an auto-immune disease. We are turning against and weakening the very institutions and individuals we depend upon for national security and protection in our communities. We conduct necessary activities to 'police the police' with a frightening lack of prudence and common sense. Law enforcement authorities and patrol officers are subject to unbridled and arrogant public scrutiny. "Monday morning criticism" of police activity is considered a constitutional right without commensurate social responsibility to demonstrate consistent and strong 'Sunday afternoon support'. Americans seem to consider the arrogant and routine dissection of police activity to be a new sport or national pastime. This phenomenon has generated an alarming disrespect for and suspiciousness of these public servants eroding their morale. Rather than rally to support these public servants when we most need them, we hurl criticism and batter them with insults. The level of this social auto-immune dis-ease appears to be increasing at the same rate as the threats to our social health. Just as we require a healthy immune system to fight off everything from the common cold to cancer, so too we must have strong and healthy law enforcement departments and police officers to maintain public order and protect us from predators. The worst types of stress, causing the greatest problems for the immune system include uncertainty, unpredictability, inability to influence a desired outcome, frequent exposure to individuals in distress, suffering caused by human beings and adrenaline bursts. These stressors are written into the job requirements and part of the daily duties of a police officer. Social support, typically identified as a major way to neutralize the negative effects of stress, is often replaced by social hostility and criticism in the lives of police officers.

It is critical to weed out all forms of corruption, discrimination, wrongdoing, and abuse of power within each law enforcement unit. Power does have a tendency to corrupt, and police officers have power. If a police officer commits a crime, he should get what is coming to him. If a police officer uses excessive force, has a demonstrable pattern of discrimination toward a particular racial or ethnic group, drives under the influence of alcohol, is abusive to a spouse or a child, he should face the same penalties as any other member of our society. No one is above the law. It is essential that there is a system of checks and balances in place, a mechanism that allows for early identification of bad police officers. Every profession has bad apples, and law enforcement is no different. However, we must ensure that our efforts to weed out the bad cops is balanced by a similar level of readiness and zeal to support the vast majority of good officers, identify myths and misconceptions that contribute to a discrimination against and dislike for these public servants. Our national security requires Americans to initiate a public campaign to cultivate respect for domestic public servants commensurate with the nature and type of support shown to members of our military. We can't deny the existence or the ramifications of the current double standard. Our national integrity requires us to demonstrate civility, courtesy, and ordinary human kindness to a group of public servants. We will reap the rewards of these efforts many times over.

Law enforcement personnel and emergency room doctors and nurses have many things in common. Their work requires tremendous skill, courage, discipline, and making split second life and death decisions. These individuals are too often treated with disrespect and abuse as they intervene in situations they did not create but must manage. These are extraordinarily stressful occupations that exact a serious toll on the lives of such individuals and their families. We want our ER physicians and nurses to be properly trained, with access to every resource they need, continuing education and professional support, prepared to care for a loved one in the event we must rush to an ER. Whether we realize it or not, good police work requires a level of skill and knowledge equivalent to emergency room personnel, just different types of skills, information, and technology. A sense of solidarity is common amongst ER and law enforcement personnel.

Public servants engaged in law enforcement have not been recognized and supported in any way commensurate to the nature and degree they deserve. Law enforcement is the highest form of public service. It requires tremendous sacrifice. . There are many factors that contribute to the generally poor manner in which our country treats members of the law enforcement community. People are unaware of the rigors of police work, know little of the way in which it cuts years off of one's life, places marriages in jeopardy, influences the way in which one perceives the world. The badge worn by the police officer is referred to as a heavy badge for good reason. Perhaps it is best left unsaid, but the thin bit of steel that keeps the badge in place also pierces the heart of the human being who wears it. It is high time we develop a modicum of humility, take the time to get but a glimmer of understanding of what it is like to wear that badge, before we rush to judgment. We have no right to send police officers into the line of fire without full material and community support. If we wait any longer to equip these public servants with every resource they need to perform their jobs in a responsible and competent manner, we do so at our peril.

One effective way to enhance public respect for domestic public servants to create a mechanism within every department for citizens to participate in ridealongs. Anyone with even a hint of awareness of the realities faced by these public servants would not be in a rush to judge an accused officer. It is critical that Americans begin to 'walk a mile' with police officers on patrol. Until then, these public servants are just that-servants to a system, cogs in a wheel that can be replaced. Any thing is acceptable in the absence of human solidarity. Some things cannot be forgotten, some experiences grab hold of a man and won't let go. It is rather difficult to forget the looks in the eyes of police officers, caught in dead zones, realizing that their lives are expendable. It may be difficult to get citizens into patrol cars. Several years ago, local politicians and newspaper columnists were challenged via the local newspaper to participate in police ridealongs to sensitize them to the serious dangers of widespread " dead zones" caused by an ailing emergency communications system. Not a single politician or community leader could show a sense of solidarity with these public servants. Perhaps, members of the law enforcement community could lobby for legislation making it illegal for any person who hasn't participated in an agreed upon number of ridealongs to voice their views in the public forum, to sit in judgment of a police officer. If a person wants the right to sit in judgment, let them earn the right. It has never been more important to get rid of the 'public servant double standard'. A clear and resolute demonstration of public support for and solidarity with police officers is just what the doctor ordered enhance our public health.

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