Serve and Protect

“Is that all you have to do? I need to have your job!”

           

She quickly walked past while dropping her verbal payload. It was sarcastic, condescending, and void of scrutiny. I smiled, not because it was funny but out of obligation.

I could have said, “Where were you when I was picking up the pieces of a car wreck that killed three women and a baby? or where were you when I was waiting on the fire department to bring a ladder to cut down a man hanging by his neck in an oak tree? or where were you when I listened to the confessions of murderers, robbers, rapists, and thieves?” but I didn’t. I knew what to expect when I pinned on the badge 25 years ago, and I, like many others, took the motto “To Serve and Protect” to be more than a cliché. Some of us really believe we are called by God to do mankind's difficult chores.

           

Historically, lawmen in the United States have been pretty good at protecting. They are eager to respond to danger, right wrongs, stop violence, and risk personal safety for the sake of others. Unique among public servants, they proactively seek to stop danger, abuse, and violence before it occurs. They search for unsafe motorists, drunk drivers, suspicious persons wandering in the night, and thieves who wish to steal your possessions. Of course police sometimes make disastrous decisions, overreact, or stretch the limits of their authority, but protecting people and their property remains the most important duty of government. Without protection, civilization cannot exist; however, protection alone can be indiscriminate, brutal, and out of balance. Law enforcement protection must be more than brute force to be effective, and the thing that tempers it for maximum affect is service.

Many people think service is simply seeking justice for victims, and that is partially true, but an attitude of service changes the way we protect law violators as well as victims. It reminds police officers that humanity is vulnerable and fragile. It helps protect police officers from themselves. It keeps protection objective rather than subjective, and it reminds cops that they represent something bigger than themselves. Protection and service are two sides of the same coin. To be done correctly, protection cannot be separated from service. So, what does law enforcement service look like?

1)      It is non-judgmental. This is hard because law enforcement requires discretion and judgment. Cops must make a determination on many things like if a crime actually took place, how serious was it, who did it and where are they, and is there probable cause for arrest. These are daily chores for cops, and to make matters more difficult, experience teaches them that people are deceptive on various levels. Cops must make judgments, but they must not be judgmental. They must refrain from applying moral standards on victims, witnesses, and even suspects.

2)      It listens for the purpose of understanding. This is the art of empathy. Empathy invokes sensitivity in the hearer and causes him to vicariously feel the experiences, thoughts, and feelings of the person he is listening to. Empathy has been described as walking in another person’s shoes or looking deep into a person’s soul. True service includes listening and understanding with empathy.

3)      It brings reason to people at the most difficult moments of their lives. Most people cops come into contact with are distracted from reality due to a number of factors including drugs, alcohol, anger, depression, anguish, envy, greed, mental illness, etc. Serving people means changing their perspective by reminding them of what is true, important, and best. Changing perspectives takes time and care.

4)      It doesn’t take things personally. Wise cops recognize verbal attacks as merely attacks on what they represent which is the authority of the state under God. Police officers do not subjectively enforce laws of their own making; they enforce the objective laws of the state, country, and ultimately God. An attitude of service saves cops hours of misery by giving them the ability to deflect the verbal smut thrown at them by distracted people. In this country, self-expression is deemed a right, and cops cannot justify use of force to protect themselves from words. Service teaches cops to compartmentalize insults, criticism, and hatred. Service understands that it doesn’t matter what a person says as long as they obey the law.    

The service of properly responding to people is law enforcement’s greatest asset in protecting the public and results in people feeling truly protected. It also helps cops respond properly to unsolicited insinuations they are lazy and could be replaced by self-righteous busybodies.

My service to the woman who made the accusation was refusing to be offended by her. My protection was hiding her from the horrors of my occupation which are very real.