COP Columns
COP Columns
Cops Can't Win
So Stop Trying
The police are in a tough spot. They seem to be constantly under the guns
of political correctness. The papers carry an unending stream of stories
alleging discriminatory misconduct. A few of these stories are true. Most
aren't.
Usually, though, it doesn't matter: The media show very little interest in
finding out whether the cops were in fact wrong. They assume it.
Journalists being what they are, reporters convict by innuendo instead of
evidence--but that's a privilege of being a reporter.
Now, if I were a cop, and reporters actually made an effort to learn their
subject, and find out whether they were right, I'd be content. A neutral
and competent press would be no problem. But reporters aren't. Neither are
politicians. That's the reality.
For example, I recently read of a bunch of cops who were denied promotions
on grounds that they had engaged in "racial profiling." The phrase is a
term of art, having little to do with reality. Black cops profile too. But
never mind. The fact is that if cops stop whites who fit a criminal
profile, no one will care. But if they stop blacks, it will be racial
profiling and they will be punished.
If they shoot anyone, black or white, rightly or wrongly, the assumption in
the headlines will be that they did it wrongly and, if at all possible, for
racial reasons. What to do?
I know exactly what I would do--and what, if I were a police chief, I would
quietly tell my men to do. It's a simple solution: Don't ever do anything
politically incorrect. Do exactly what the press and racial lobbies want.
Easy.
Take profiling. Having spent a lot of time in police cars, I know that, at
least in jurisdictions I'm familiar with, blacks just flat are the street
trade in drugs. I'll give you addresses of a dozen open-air drug markets if
you like and you can go look. Whites use and sell a lot of drugs, run a lot
of the bulk trade, but not on the street. But right and wrong don't matter.
Hindering the trade in drugs doesn't matter. Politics matters.
So, if I saw what I knew was very likely to be a drug dealer's car, and the
driver was black, I'd ignore it. A cop gets paid whether he stops drug
couriers or not. If the driver was white--and again, whites are heavily
involved in parts of the drug trade--I'd watch him like a hawk. Sure, I'd
know both were probably guilty as sin. But why risk my career?
Open-air drug markets? The cops can detect them at a hundred yards. So
can I. But--why risk a promotion? Just say you didn't see anything. Easy.
Fifteen years of time in service is a lot to lose, retirement-wise. Why
simultaneously fight criminals, racial politicians, judges, and the media?
Have another doughnut instead.
As far as shooting is concerned, I'd never shoot anyone except in defense
of my own life. And I'd make sure I never had to do it. Thing is, if I
killed a guy in an alley who was coming at me with a piece of rebar, no
matter his race, I'd be tried in the press as a trigger-happy killer. The
Washington Post would ask why I didn't shoot him in a leg I couldn't see as
the bar was descending on my head.
Why do it?
Actually, I just wouldn't go into alleys. Or I'd make a lot of noise first,
yell, "Cops!" or something, to make sure any bad guys hit the road.
The same principle fits a lot of police work. If you stop a guy bouncing
his car from one curb to another, and he's so drunk he can't stand up, he'll
almost invariably say, "You're jusht shtopping me cosh I'm brown." The
alkasensor could register a BAC of 4.0 and then dissolve in his breath.
Doesn't matter. If the arrest stats come out, you will be one racist pig.
So, sez me, arrest white drunks (of whom there are plenty), and let the
others go. "Sorry, sir. I can see you're entirely sober. Finish driving
over the hydrant and go about your business."
Sure, crime would go up like mad, and drunks would drive through buildings,
and the drug business would flourish. So what? If the community won't tell
me what the job is, and back me up when I do it, then hey, I can find other
things to do. Easy. No problem.
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