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Over the last few weeks I haven’t said much because I haven’t had the words. I’ve been heartbroken in so many ways. What happened to George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and others is not okay! However, it’s not easy to watch people I see on a daily basis, my officers, hurting so much either. The fact that Officer Dia, a Toledo Police Officer, was shot and killed in the line of duty on July 4th is not ok either. His last words were, “Tell my family I love them.” It all breaks my heart.
Let me start off by saying, I do believe there are bad cops out there who treat people unfairly, who take things too far, and who violate people’s rights. There are officers who are rude when there is no reason to be rude and no one wants to be on the receiving end of that treatment. I know that there are awful realities that are created by police officers that people have to deal with everyday. My heart breaks when I see videos of people who have been harmed or mistreated by law enforcement. It’s not fair at all for the person that experiences it and it makes all law enforcement look bad. The cops who choose to act this way make the officers angry too. Those who dishonor the oath they’ve taken and the badge they wear put the lives of the other officers at risk by their actions. The officers I know take their job seriously and don’t take kindly to people who don’t live up to the high standard. Again, I can only speak from the officers that I know, but they have and will continue to hold officers accountable and punish offenses as needed including arresting their own when it’s needed.
Being able to ride in the passenger seat for the last four years has taught me a lot about law enforcement. It has dispelled some rumors and myths and helped me to really see what they do. I want to share a few of those things with you all.
Some of them were kind of silly things. I used to believe that officers had to get a quota of tickets written each month, but that is not true. There are some grants that do focus on enforcing traffic laws in places with a high volume of violations, but no quota. Another was when I saw an officer driving fast without lights and sirens on I automatically assumed they were just doing it because they could. As they passed me I would often find myself thinking that police officers must feel they are above the law and can do whatever they want. Now that I’ve sat in the passenger seat, I’ve watched people react so oddly when the lights and sirens come on. It’s almost as if people panic more because of the lights and sirens. Some don’t get out of the way at all, some move over to the right as they should, and some move one direction and change their mind at the last minute and move right in the way of the officer. Officers can often get to an emergency faster and safer without their lights on.
I don’t think I ever looked at officers as more than an authority figure with a uniform and a badge. I never really had a reason to get to know them as anything other than that. Now that I’ve had the opportunity to see the heart behind the badge and understand them more fully, I’m so thankful. Of course I enjoy the chance to get to know them personally and know about their families, but that’s not all it’s about. Their heart and humanity is exactly why they do the job. The majority of officers get into this line of work because they truly want to make a difference. Each of them has a story about why they chose law enforcement and a change they want to work towards in their community. This may sound strange, but they get disheartened because there are so many things that work against them making a difference. The larger legal system often reduces sentences or lets people out of jail that the officers worked to get off the streets. The officers watch children they helped remove from a bad situation be placed right back into it. They get discouraged when they’re working so hard to solve a case that will really matter to someone and they can’t get all of the pieces together. So much of their time gets tied up with fairly mundane and less important things that they don’t have the time to do what really makes a difference. As they go through each shift, this can wear on them and even cause them to lose some steam and drive to get out there to really help people. When they do go to a call where they feel like they really made a difference, it sticks with them and helps their emotional and mental state.
I never considered how difficult it is for officers to have the right demeanor in doing their job. They have to maintain a level of authority and control in a situation, but it can so easily be misconstrued. If they approach a situation too “soft” or too easygoing, they might not be taken seriously. If they approach a situation acting too firm or “cold,” they can be viewed as a jerk or rude. Regardless of how much information the dispatcher gets from the caller, there is always a level of uncertainty to each situation for the officer. They have to be prepared for anything. A poem by Paul Harvey explains it so well. He says, “He must be such a diplomat that he can settle differences between individuals so that each will think he won. But…If the policeman is neat, he’s conceited; if he’s careless, he’s a bum. If he’s pleasant, he’s flirting;if not, he’s a grouch.” I would definitely encourage you to listen to the rest of the poem. It’s a great description of the juggling that exists in doing their job.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQ1YsyZMaaU
Paul Harvey’s poem also addresses the many roles that police officers take on. I know I definitely believed the job of a police officer was pretty cut and dry. I assumed they did all the stuff you see on television and didn’t think about too much more. Their job is so big and includes such a wide expanse of things. They go on so many different kinds of calls and have to be ready to handle so many different situations. From what I have seen, they juggle it all pretty well. I have seen officers sit on the street/curb with a homeless woman because she was having a breakdown and she refused medical assistance. In that situation an officer is stuck because they cannot force someone to get treatment unless they are a threat to themselves or to others. I have heard numerous stories of officers going to the home of a teenager who has violent episodes from bipolar disorder and is able to be calmed down by their presence. Officers have given the teen their personal cell phone number so they can be contacted whether they’re on shift or not when the teen needs someone to talk to. I have seen officers be a listening ear to someone who just needed to be heard and understood. Many times they are grief counselors after a sudden and tragic death and they are relationship counselors in various crisis situations in families. They have to be ready to respond to situations that mental health professionals, social workers, healthcare professionals, and many others would often be handling. Most times they have to do it without the proper tools at their disposal and without easy access to the resources that people often need. The officers are the ones to get the call because their number is the easiest to remember and they are always available.
I know one of the big conversations right now is to defund police departments. Not all of the ideas and concepts are bad in the proposals, but some of it concerns me. I love the idea of social workers and people with these other skills and training working alongside police officers. In fact, conversations about a team like that is what got me out on my first ride alongs. We really can serve people so much better when we all work together, but it takes intentionality and strong planning. The idea of just cutting police and sending people to calls on their own may not always work out. Medical calls for Fire and EMS are a perfect example. On many of those calls they have the police make the scene first and they stage while the officers make sure it’s safe. Once they give the all clear Fire/EMS make their way to render aid. Calls that social workers and mental health professionals would make have the same potential to be dangerous or get out of hand. Sending them in by themselves might work the majority of the time, but when things go wrong they could easily go very wrong. Having the officers and the other professionals work alongside each other ensures everyone’s safety and allows the person in need of help to benefit from all of the training and expertise from all of the professionals.
I absolutely want us to find the best ways to get people the help that they need and ensure they can access the necessary resources. I absolutely want the day to come that no one is treated unfairly or poorly by law enforcement. I want there to be conversations about potential changes and improvements in policing. That conversation has to include other pieces of the process and other systems too though. I am all for looking at new ways to handle situations and accomplish the goals in front of us. I am not for doing it at the expense of the officers that do their work with integrity and compassion. Their position and their work is so important and the conversations have to be held in a way that show we as civilians and community members value them. I am thankful for all that I have learned that has helped me to better understand who officers are and what they do. I am thankful for the officers that I get to serve alongside and consider it such a privilege to get to call myself their chaplain.
