To Protect and serve

To Protect and serve(Anthony Colombo) Maybe you have never been to Los Angeles, and maybe you haven’t seen a Los Angeles police car in person, but everyone has been to the movies or watched television. Anyway, the point I am trying to make is simply this; on the side of the police cars in the city of Los Angeles is the slogan, “to protect and to serve.” It is the credo of that, and really, all police departments in America. The sight of the cars with the departmental motto emblazoned on the side should instill a sense of confidence; a feeling of security because there are the brave men and women in those cars sworn to uphold the law and if necessary lay down their lives to protect the citizens of that community, right? But, in a larger sense, who are the ones to protect the people from the cops?

I have always been taken aback by the lack of trust shown police officers by the general public. Take for example those people who rush to judgment. At the drop of a hat, they cast aspersions without regard for the many thousands of men and women doing their jobs on a day-to-day basis never asking for or expecting thanks from anyone. If you look a little closer at the person complaining you will find, in the vast majority of cases, the complainer has something to hide. The principle in operation here is, make the most smoke and cover the real trash. No one looks at the “abused, obviously innocent victim.” No, point the finger at the cop and right away he is wrong. Even today, you hear things like “the man, whitie, honkie, and the pig.” In case you haven’t noticed, these aren’t terms of endearment. It’s always the poor innocent in handcuffs that get the sympathy. The cop, on the other hand, who fears for his life each time he or she makes a car stop, well, “he knew the risks of the job when he took it!” Or “if he can’t stand the heat, find another job,” Harry Truman would like the last one. As for the Wives, Husbands and children who stay at home waiting in vain for someone that will never come home again, well, “time heals all wounds.” Isn’t it surprising to anyone, but me, that there are still men and women willing to put on a uniform and do what each of us had to do in the days of the old west?

OH, I see what you are about to say, “how about the dirty cops.” You’re right there are those, but like in society as a whole, dirty cops account for about one percent of the total. But, OK, let’s talk about them.

I am sure you have individuals in mind, so I will acknowledge that there are those that doctor reports, plant evidence, and even use a little more force than necessary. In the case of the latter, you even have the idiots that use their batons on a suspect under the watchful eyes of a news helicopter. Some cops are so mindful of others that they will provide the light from their own helicopter so citizens can videotape with their own equipment. Hell, I’d bet there are even some that would provide the cameras. These aren’t the real police. There are minorities in law enforcement just like in society. No, I’m not talking about class. I am talking about intelligence. Because a person goes to school doesn’t mean that person is smart. It only means that they had the time and money. Cops are the same. Because a man ends up on the force doesn't mean he is any better than anyone else is. It only means that he was able to baffle the hiring board with bull. The unfortunate thing is these are the one presenter’s by which the other cops are judged.

Do bad cops join the force knowing they are bad, or do they turn bad after they're on the force? I guess there is some of the first group, but I would bet that their numbers are really low. The screening process is designed to ferret out those who would join with less than honorable intentions. Most if not all police departments now have a hiring process that includes physical and psychological testing. They also do detailed background checks on all candidates in an attempt to find those character flaws in a candidates past that would make them undesirable for the position of police officer. Even after a person is hired, in most cases he or she isn’t considered a police officer until they have completed an academy, and then, there is still a full year of probation. Still, men run the process, and since men make mistakes, some bad apples do slip through.

Realistically, however, I don’t think too many come into the job with dishonorable intentions. If this is true, what happens to change a person? For an answer to that question, you have to look at the job itself. Look, for example, at the kind of people a police officer lives with on a daily basis. People that deal in drugs, sex and money, lots of money, crooks of all kinds, car thieves, burglars, robbers, murderers, drug dealers, hookers and probably the worst of the lot, politicians. Young cops with high aspirations see low life's living high driving fancy cars. Then they get a look at themselves. Some officers earn minimum wage. They drive cars some states would condemn. It is little wonder, good people are tempted and some fall victim?

Most men and women are drawn to law enforcement because of the excitement sure, but even more are attracted because they feel they can do something to help their communities. In the academy recruits begin to learn about the street. No, you don’t know a thing about street life not the way cops are taught to see things. I don’t care how many movies you see you don’t have the same feeling one has who had a gun pulled on him, or thinks he is about to die. These kids are taught to look for things like that. People you used to have as friend’s distance themselves from you the first time they see you in the academy khaki. You start to think about cops getting hurt and seeing, what you thought were, friends dumping you like rats leaving a sinking ship. Your world gets smaller. At first others isolate you. Then you begin to isolate yourself. With a new outlook on life in general, the rookie learns the justice system. Their instructors will teach them “case law.” In short, case law is another way of saying the system has built in shortcuts for con-wise individuals allowing the unscrupulous to beat it. Speak of your dichotomy of term’s good guy’s bad guys. On day one of the academy you think, “I will be putting bad people in jail, and everyone will be proud of me.” Then there is day two and a reality check, you will be putting bad people in jail and those same people will sue you for everything you own. At the same time, you are being sued by criminals, others, the ACLU for example, will be suing you for violating the poor bastard’s rights.

Some officers can deal with these things by making it a part of the job and living with it. Others become obsessed with crime and criminals. They might look to thwart the system by developing the facts based in part on evidence they don’t have. This is called creative report writing, and a “good cop” can be quite creative. It may start with a traffic violation; a shoplifter, the crime isn’t the important thing, the criminal is. He or she must pay for the wrong the officer, not the court, sees, and if the officer has to help the court, well isn’t that his job? The real object here is to get bad people off the streets making them safe for the good people, right? After all, it isn’t like the cops are out to put just anyone behind bars.

Cops are just like other people. They have all the same troubles, joys, feelings, and needs. They want only the best they can provide for their families. Getting them can be a problem, however. As I said earlier, there are officers working for minimum wage. Go figure, communities hire people to protect millions of dollars of property, and more valuable than that, human life, and pay the poor sap five bucks an hour. The same community would be the first to ask why when the cop ends up supplementing his income, DAH.

I don’t know who first told me or even if it was something I told myself, but it is true that a good cop must first be a good crook. When you think about it, it makes sense. The best way to catch a thief is to be able to think like one. Once you get into his head you can turn his tactics around and use them on him. The downside to this is all too often a good cop, plus a bad salary, will try putting into practice what he knows. OH, you have notices I am using the pronoun he a lot. Well, that’s because women are new to the field of law enforcement, and they haven’t had the same opportunities their male counterparts have had. Give them time. They’re not immune. As women become more involved, they too will become susceptible, after all someone else said, “no one is perfect.” Anyway temptation, and only the strongest can overcome it. What I find amazing is the fact that people are startled when a cop steps across the line. Don’t most people look the other way when the clerk gives back too much change? Or, when two cans of soda drop out of a machine, has anyone seen that person run into the store to return one of the cans? How ‘bout the guy stopped for a traffic ticket. Have you ever seen anyone argue that they deserved the citation? How ‘bout the lady in line in front of you at the checkout counter that gets two hams for the price of one, did you call the oversight to the cashier’s attention? Aren’t these all crimes? So, what’s the big deal about a free cup of coffee? OH, yeah, I can hear your thoughts. There is a difference between a cup of coffee and a hundred-dollar bill, not really. The only difference is, in today's rates. The hundred dollars represents ninety-nine more cups. Just look at it as if you were getting all the cups at one time.

What’s the big deal? It boils down to interpretation. The point is simply this, we all do it. The difference between us is measured in degrees. There in lays the problem. There are three hundred and sixty-five degrees. Add to these three hundred and sixty-five vectors for each degree, and soon you don’t know where you are or how you got there. What you do know for sure, there is no turning back. It is the old saw in real time, “once the bullet leaves the gun, there is no calling it back!” So, no matter what degree or vector or whatever bullshit excuse you use to justify how you got to where you are, you also have to stand ready to justify it to others.

The funny thing here is the difference between a cop and the rest of you. Unless you have done something really bad, something that will get you into court, you won’t have to face Internal Affairs. When a civilian gets caught, he or she is given their rights. You have seen it on TV, “you have the right to remain silent...” well you get the point. Anyway, the same applies to cops except they get to hear something else. It’s called the “Reverse Miranda.” Cops are told their rights and then they are told that if they refuse to answer they will lose their jobs for failing to cooperate with a police investigation, sounds fair doesn’t it. Fair or not it only applies to police officers. If a citizen refuses to answer questions by the police, the courts protect their right not to incriminate themselves. That is the way our founding fathers set up our constitution to protect us from oppressive and invasive forms of government. I think we all agree that not being like Nazi Germany or Russia, Iraq and any of a dozen other countries is a very good thing. Still, in the early eighties the Supreme Court of the United States said that cops don’t have the same rights as other citizens. Doesn’t that make cops less than citizens? There are another differences between you and us. Take the person that walks out of a grocery store with twenty dollars of extra goodies, everyone thinks he was lucky right? No one calls him a thief, but if a cop is caught taking that free cup of coffee, IA climbs all over him. Suddenly, he is looking at time off, and it doesn’t end there. If a cop is disciplined with time off it goes against his retirement, promotions, etc. Talk about your double standard.

Well, I can go on and on but if I did you would get bored and the last thing I want to do is bore you. So, what is my point? The point is cops are human beings first and cops second. They make the same mistakes others make. Still, they are expected to pay a higher price for their actions. Yeah, I know that wrong is wrong, but when did a cop become the object of everyone’s vengeance. Some of us really try to protect and serve even when all we get is criticism. I often told people that I took the job because of the one person out of ten thousand that would say thanks. Now, I just sit and wonder where that one person is? I can use your sympathy.

Well, I would really like to hear from you, so you can write to me via the Central Valley Prison, 1132 Blossom Valley Rd., Fox River, California.