The Agreement

???? It can often feel like every year is the toughest year ever to be a police officer.? Not just the number of police officers?murdered in the line of duty, but also the manner in which many were?murdered which included ambushes and public assassinations.? And not only the murders, but the?attempted murders, assaults?and the general view of the police by the public which?took a turn toward the negative, the likes of which I would submit has never been seen before.? Despite efforts by the vast majority of honest, hard working police and good citizens to bridge the gap, it just seems to get wider and wider.? Well, perhaps we're not doing it right.? Perhaps "the way we've always done it" just isn't working anymore, not even for those among us who truly support the role of police in society.??Perhaps we need to stop moving the goal post and start moving the ball.? We might just need to re-write the playbook, starting with what defines the players.

?? I once read an article about an unofficial poll that was done as sort of a human experiment.? The question asked was something along the lines of "In one word, what do you feel when you see a police car behind you?"? The article reported that a whole bunch of the people polled answered with something that closely resembled "fear".? Significantly fewer reported feeling something that closely resembled "safe".? As I read that article, the cop in me thought, "Man, the public has it all wrong.? They must feel guilty about something".?

?? Research methods notwithstanding, why would so many members of the motoring public report that they are afraid of the police?? After all, the police take an oath to protect and serve and the overwhelming majority do so with pride, altruism, and professionalism.? A number of research studies conducted since 2013 reveal that out of millions upon millions of police-public contacts in North America, less than one percent involve any use of force greater than routine handcuffing by the police.? Did you hear that?? That means that greater than 99% of the time, the police are able to do their jobs, including taking enforcement action such as arresting people, without any use of physical force greater than routine handcuffing.?

?? Do those who report being scared of the police not know that the Texas Department of Public Safety rescued 54 endangered children in 2015?? Do they not know that of the?less than 1% of the contacts that involved a use of force, less than 1%?of that 1% involve the use of deadly force?? Do they not see the videos of police officers playing street football with kids, the photos of troopers changing tires for stranded motorists, or the testimonials about the deputies who comforted an injured child after a traffic crash that killed both of her parents?? Well, perhaps they don't.? Perhaps not everybody sees the role of police in society quite the same way as a police officer in society does.?

?? Another thing to consider is that, as I so often say, words matter.? When we say that those motorists polled "fear" the police, what do we actually mean?? Does that mean that those drivers anticipate an unlawful beating if they are pulled over?? Does it mean that only a few drivers in your neighborhood aren't actively committing a crime?? No, I submit that perhaps it means we need to define what kind of "fear" people feel when they are driving in close proximity to a police car, and we will in just a little while.

?? As we continue with the theme that "words matter", let's examine some of the words and phrases commonly used on the law enforcement side of the relationship.? Let's start with phrases such as, "Don't resist and you won't get shot" (or myriad similar comments).? The underlying meaning in a comment like this is clear; if you don't use force against the police, ideally, the police won't use force against you.? BUT, is that the way everyone hears it?? No, it is not.? Some people hear that statement and hear a proclamation that unless citizens submit to the authority of the police, they will be beaten.? In a way that is in clear and stark contrast to the Sir Robert Peel's "Nine Principals of Policing" some citizens feel (and some officers believe) that the public is somehow required to "kiss the ring" or otherwise kneel to the superiority of the police.? Those who feel this way (on either side of the relationship) will hear the above comment in a much different context.

???Another one of my personally least favorites it, "The most important thing is that I go home at the end of my shift."? While I certainly understand that the intended message is that an officer shouldn't take an unnecessary risk with a violent attacker, we need to understand that when we say things out loud they aren't always heard by people who are listening in the same context in which we are speaking.? As members of a?vocation that wishes to be viewed as a profession, we often say things that misrepresent our brand.??After all, not ALL audiences are as "objectively reasonable" as a break room full of fellow officers.??Regardless of our intent, when we imply, to members of the public, that WE are the most important thing on Earth, conversely we are implying that they, their spouse, their home and their children are somehow LESS important.? After a third of a century in service of others, I can name many things that are more important than me. As can others who have responded to events such as school shootings.

?? Here's a good one: what do we call the people we serve?? When we pull someone over for a traffic violation or otherwise contact them after they break a traffic law, do we (and the text books, law books, etc.) refer to them as a motorist?? When we look at the processes and standard operating procedures for traffic stops, do we call them "motorist contacts"?? Do we call them?a citizen?? Tax payer?? Nope, we call them a "violator".? If we are to start to change definitions and public perceptions such as the study mentioned at the beginning of the article, we certainly need to stop calling people names.?

??? Although they are all potentially fatal and it is exceedingly unwise to fall into a state of complacency; traffic stops, on their own merit, are not particularly stressful for officers.? For an officer, making traffic stops is just another part of the day.?Even a busy patrol officer running from call to?call?is likely to conduct at least two or three stops?per day.? Highway Patrol troopers are likely to conduct a dozen or more.? In contrast, for the typical motorist, a traffic stop is extremely stressful.? There are considerations of fines, delays getting to work, increased insurance costs and general embarrassment.? Not to mention, citizens may experience a traffic stop only one or two or times in their entire life.?

Don't we as officers?experience something similar when we receive a complaint?? Even if we know we are not guilty of the accusation, isn't it stressful to be under?the scrutiny of people who have the authority to impact your quality of life?? Don't we?hope for, even expect to be treated fairly and with patience?? When we imagine the concept of Procedural Justice?from the standpoint of the?"subject" instead of the authority, it is easier to imagine why the little things matter so much.? The words we use can either invoke a sense of trust, fairness, respect and neutrality or they can invoke the "fear" that we heard so much about in the poll of motorists.? It may seem like splitting hairs, but hey, if we can start to fix?our relationship?with the public simply?by changing some of WHAT we say and HOW we say it, we should probably give that a chance.?

?? Here's another question to consider from both sides of the relationship; how many of us, when we are driving on the highway and see a marked police car approaching, immediately look at our speedometer and take our foot off of the accelerator?? Those among us, even the officers, who aren't lying just raised our hand.? Now, do we have that reaction because we are willful and wanton, violent traffic "violators" hell bent on reeking havoc on the police and the motoring public?? No.? Well, in most cases the answer is no.? In many cases we weren't even speeding.? In many cases we had the cruise control set and knew exactly how fast we were (and weren't) going when the officer appeared.? Do you want to know why you react they way you do?? Here's why: because of The Agreement.

?? If less than 1% of police/public contacts result in the use of force, that indicates to me that a couple of things are true.? One, the police do a pretty darn good job of de-escalation almost every time.? Not to say that we shouldn't continue to teach it and hone the skill in hopes of reaching 100%, but sufficed to say that those who blame the divide between the police and the public on a lack of prioritizing de-escalation by the police, are under informed.? The second thing it indicates is true is this: MORE THAN 99% OF THE PUBLIC ARE GOOD PEOPLE.? The tricky thing about "good people" is that they sometimes break the law.? They sometimes get mad and act rudely.? They sometimes lose their tempers, reach their limits, etc.? When that happens, all that good people need to bring them back inside the left and right lateral limits of social norms is a reminder of The Agreement.

?? All of us who make up the 99% of law-abiding citizens, on either side of the relationship between the police and the public, have made an unwritten and unspoken agreement with each other and society as a whole.? We have all agreed to know and obey the law, respect each other's persons and?property and to do our part to maintain a cooperative society.? Sometimes we forget and we do or say something that violates The Agreement.? When that happens, it usually only takes a reminder of The Agreement to bring us back into the fold.? The presence of a speed limit sign, the tears on the face of our spouse, words from a fellow citizen and sometimes the presence of a law enforcement officer or a marked police car are all things that can remind us of The Agreement and prompt us to check ourselves to see if we are holding up our end of the deal.? THIS is how I define what those people feel when they see a police car.? It's not "fear", but rather a reminder to them that they are part of a larger cause, that they have made The Agreement, that they need to check their behavior to be sure they are doing their part.? This is the same reason that WE ALL take our foot off of the accelerator and look at the speedometer.? We're not in fear of the consequences, we are ensuring the fulfillment of our role in The Agreement.?

?? To quote Sir Robert Peel's 7th Principle of Policing (ca 1829), "Police, at all times, should maintain a relationship with the public that gives reality to the historic tradition that the police are the public and the public are the police; the police being only the members of the public who are paid to give full time attention to duties which are incumbent on every citizen in the interests of community welfare and existence."? So let's agree, right now, that we will look at each other as human beings.? Not "COPS", not "VIOLATORS", but human beings.? All of whom can have bad days and even exhibit bad or illegal behavior from time to time.? Let's agree with the rest of the 99% of "Good People" to keep ourselves and each other in check.? Be accountable when we stumble, but be empathetic when we see others stumble.? This will never change the intent or behavior of the less than 1% who are evil.? Those outliers, on both sides of the law, will always be there and will need to be dealt with in the manner that they demand.? The 99% however, the society to which we belong and with which we have made The Agreement, will forever outnumber the evil.? And when the evil appears, we are much stronger to face it UNITED than DIVIDED.? Be patient with each other, empathize with each other, find yourselves in each other.?

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Peace.

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