CARLTON FLETCHER: Criminal police tear at the fabric of society

The police and their justice, they laughing while they bust us.

— War

Crouching in the cold and silence of an early winter morning, seeking cover behind a berm in anticipation of the action that lay ahead, the police officer offered a prayer that had become something of a mantra for him during his then 17 years on the job: Lord, let me get home to see my wife and little girl.

Despite all the jokes about doughnut shops and one never being around when they are needed, law enforcement officers like the one mentioned above — a man who put his life on the line to serve and protect his community for 28 years before “pulling the pin” and finding more sedate work — the men and women of the so-called thin blue line who go to work each day with something of a target pinned to their backs, are deserving of the honor and respect their profession has long engendered.

As the saying goes, only the bravest of the brave or the most foolish run toward danger while others are running away.

But the image of law enforcement the country over is being tarnished — some say beyond repair — by the increasing number of rogue cops who have engaged in what is universally regarded as the unpardonable sin of their profession: committing heinous criminal acts under the authority of the badge they wear.

The outrage nationwide is growing as accounts — many of them now captured in all their horror on seemingly ever-present video footage — of barbarism once too ghastly to believe are revealed. Even the staunchest supporters of law enforcement are starting to wonder if their trust has been misplaced, if the pathway has been cleared for power-tripping individuals to not only take the law into their own hands but to settle personal vendettas at the expense of their fellow officers and of the community they protect.

Certainly the rash of criminal actions involving law enforcement officers in this country is not a new phenomenon. Such actions have no doubt always been among the dirty little secrets of the crime-fighting fraternity. Cover-ups have always been an unfortunate part of law enforcement, many discovered years after the fact when the principals involved have long since retired or passed on.

But with today’s technology, it’s become increasingly more difficult for anyone — especially a taxpayer-supported employee — to work in a vacuum. Eyes and ears are everywhere, and they’re always watching and listening.

Maybe there are more bad police officers on the job today. Nationwide, especially in urban areas where large numbers of people live and work, an increase in criminal activity has led to a demand for ever more law enforcement protection. Under pressure to fill positions lest the controllers of the purse strings start making cuts in budgets, the hirers and firers are taking on candidates who could not withstand the scrutiny of a thorough background check.

Officers are coming onto the job now who have no business being there, men and women who are susceptible to the lure of power that wearing a gun and badge can generate. They’re the ones who rely on intimidation more than reason to do their jobs, the ones who engender mistrust in neighborhoods where cooperation would be a useful tool.

Worst of all, these few — but obviously growing in number — are endangering the lives of their sisters and brothers in arms and tearing down community relationships that took years to build. And, sadly, they’re diminishing the honor of one of history’s most honorable professions.

Trust is one of the most sacred elements of the relationship between a citizen and the persons he pays to protect his life and property. Without trust, the foundation of that relationship crumbles. The officers who are guilty of perverting the law — the ones caught and the ones who have not yet been found out — deserve the harshest punishment allowed. Their crimes tear at the very fabric of our society.

Email Carlton Fletcher at [email protected].