While having lunch with two friends of mine who are also in law enforcement, my friend Jim made the following statement that I immediately accepted as true, yet I had never really considered it before:
"Everything we do as cops is second guessed and scrutinized."
How true this is! And how annoying, defeating, undermining, dejecting, and embarrassing this is too. Everything we do as cops is second guessed and scrutinized. We write a speeding ticket; it goes to court. In court the defendant asks why we cited him. The judge wonders why we didn't "cut him a break" We arrest a drug dealer; it goes to court. The newspaper prints a story on it (maybe, ok probably not) Readers comment and wonder why we are wasting time locking up drug dealers "when there are rapists and murderers running loose!" We shoot and kill a person who was trying to shoot and kill us; the bad guy's family wonders why we didn't just shoot him in the leg.
Police live and work in a world without the luxury of hindsight. We live an work in a world where life and death decisions are made in the blink of an eye. When a stock broker makes an honest mistake, his clients lose money. Sometimes they lose lots of money. But the stock broker is protected. But not so when the cop makes an honest mistake. He's labeled as crooked, corrupt, vindictive. Judges and lawyers with law libraries and all the time in the work to read through them question the officers judgment.
I can't readily think of another profession that is scrutinized so consistently and heavily as law enforcement. And as annoying, defeating, undermining, dejecting, ad embarrassing as it is, it just gets plain old. If I had one "thank you" for every ten "why did you's" I'd be more than happy.
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Hey, first of all, thanks! You do a tough, dangerous, almost-entirely-thankless job. Thank you!
ReplyDeleteSecond, ask any stockbroker you meet how it feels not to be scrutinized and second guessed, and they will laugh a hollow laugh and tell you how clients call them up and berate them for every little tiny thing they do. I'm not a stockbroker, but I'm pretty sur I can say with confidence that anyone with a boss gets this, to greater or lesser degree.
You get it in much greater degree because your job is infinitely more important than a stockbroker's. The stockbroker (as you say) only deals in money, and you are dealing in freedom, and lives. You also get it in greater degree because your bosses (the taxpayers, the electorate) are right bastards, never satisfied, always complaining.
So, anyhow -- thank you!
Thank you, thank you, thank you...
ReplyDeleteSee guys, I'm happier already! Thanks for reading.
ReplyDeleteYep, ditto ditto! You and your law enforcement brothers and sisters deserve a LOT of gratitude from the public. Frankly, I don't know how you folks keep your patience with all the jerks you have to deal with.
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