A botched DUI arrest reveals a 'dirty little secret' about policing

[Jedi Guy]

39. "Mandatory psychology exams and background checks would be in place."

I can't speak for every department nationwide but psych exams and background checks are, I would say, the norm rather than the exception. When I joined a police department as a dispatcher, the process included two psych evaluations (one written and examined by a psychologist, one a face-to-face with a psychologist) and a very, very thorough background check. Thorough as in they called every single one of my living relatives, every employer I'd ever had, and even asked me to get contact information for my neighbors.

That was the standard process for all department employees, sworn and otherwise.

Furthermore, the department had a behavioral science team (shrinks) on the payroll. They were involved in all internal affairs investigations. They also had twice yearly check-ins with every officer to see where their heads were at, how they were managing the stress of the job, that kind of thing. They checked in with communications personnel twice yearly, too, both the police service operators who fielded 911 calls from the public and the dispatchers like me who only dealt directly with the officers. We frequently heard some really unpleasant things on the job and having someone to talk to about it was helpful.

Is that ubiquitous across the country? No, probably not, particularly when it comes to the little podunk agencies that serve small towns and sparsely-populated counties. They're not going to have the money for that kind of thing. I don't know if larger agencies use the same structure or resources as my old department but I'd feel confident in betting that they do something along those lines.

There's a lot wrong with policing in modern America. The "warrior" training is a big part of it, both in and of itself but also because if that's how they train it makes it obvious who they're looking to hire and undergo said training. The "warrior" training needs to go.

The blue wall of silence is also problematic, but that one I understand to a certain degree because it's just human nature. Any tight-knit group of people is going to have a mentality, unspoken or voiced, that they protect each other, look after each other, support each other, etc. And in some ways that's a good thing. You want that kind of camaraderie in your team until they cover up and lie for each other. This too is an outgrowth of the "warrior" training, the us vs. them mentality it inculcates, the unspoken threat that if an officer "snitches" on their blue brethren they may find that backup arrives a trifle late when the shit hits the fan.

But complaining about the "us vs. them" mentality that cops have retreated into in one breath and then blurting out in the next that all cops are bastards is compounding the problem. It reinforces the notion that the public hates them, that the public is the enemy, that they can only rely on each other. It makes the blue wall of silence worse.

Immediately rushing to judgment every time something controversial happens rather than waiting for the facts to emerge likewise isn't helpful and, once again, teaches cops that the public hates them, that they'll never get a fair hearing in the court of public opinion, that they can only rely on each other.

I worked closely with police officers for over a year. Are all cops bastards? No. That's a simplistic and frankly childish worldview. Are all cops faultless heroes? Of course not, that's equally simplistic and childish. Cops are people doing a difficult, stressful job that most of us couldn't do and wouldn't want to do. Some of the cops I worked with were in the job for the right reasons, some of them were high on their own supply and liked throwing their weight around. Some of them were genuinely good and decent people, some were assholes I couldn't stand to be around.

As it turns out, reality is more complex than convenient slogans like ACAB and FTP.