Sainthood is limited to less than a handful of individuals per generation because the standards are so high. Everyone else has the frailties of human beings. Growing up means learning from the mistakes that people make in their youth.
Yet, the public expects young men and women who choose law enforcement as a career to be robots in controlling their emotions in high stress situations, while showing compassion to the people with whom they come in contact. The best description of the dilemma is a statement made to Denny Crum, the legendary basketball coach for the University of Louisville. The statement was, “Coach, there is not a person on this planet that you cannot teach to play basketball, but there is no one you can teach to be 6’10”. It is impossible to teach maturity, it is learned from experiences.”
Policing is the only profession where the applicant is asked to voluntarily risk their personal freedom for simply doing their job. A corporation seeking to hire a new CEO can expend the time and resources to find the right person for the position, but what happens when there are tens of thousands of positions to be filled in local, state and federal law enforcement agencies? Firefighters and police officers are the only professions which require successfully passing a pre-employment polygraph and psychological evaluation.
A person can become a surgeon in their mid to late twenties. They will deal with life and death on a daily basis but, should they make a mistake causing loss of life, they will not face Murder or Manslaughter charges. They might lose their license, or their job or a civil suit, but they will not face prison.
Then there is the issue of job loss even if the officer acts properly. Darren Wilson was cleared by a Grand Jury and an intense investigation by the Department of Justice. He voluntarily resigned from the Ferguson, Mo. Police Department because of threats to other officers. The only job he was able to get was a grocery bagger and that job only lasted six weeks due to threats. He remained unemployed for two years. Betty Shelby resigned from the Tulsa, OK Police Department after being relegated to a desk after her acquittal in a trial for shooting and killing Timothy Crutcher. Chief Janee Harteau was fired from the Minneapolis Police Department for sleeping at her home while an officer involved shooting took place.
Fear is the biggest emotion which police officers must be able to control and fear is the underlying cause of a significant portion of police use of lethal force. In 2016, a rookie New York City Police Officer was convicted of Manslaughter. The officer told investigators that he was in fear walking down a dark hallway and fired when he saw a figure appear suddenly.
In the final analysis, it takes a continuous stream of young men and women to continue to protect and serve communities. In return, it takes the support of those communities to make officers feel needed and wanted. Police Officers are not robots or computers that can always make instantaneous correct decisions. Abuse of power should always be punished to the fullest extent of the law, but mistakes are simply that, mistakes.