Choose Service Over Force Science in the Fire Service!
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Real Hero Report | August 2019 | 29
The unrest experienced in Ferguson, Missouri five years ago was
a seminal event for the law enforcement profession. Half of the
10 most violent and destructive riots were a result of perceived
abuses by the police. It is ironic police departments rarely experience a
trust crisis due to crime rates. Rather it is officer interactions with the
public and the resulting perceptions that factor most.
In 2017, the Pew Research Center released survey results on
police-citizen perceptions, which are particularly instructive on police
legitimacy. Of the officers surveyed, 62% claimed their primary role
is to serve as both protector and enforcer with 53% of citizens in
agreement. However, 29% of citizens viewed police primarily as
enforcers with only 8% of officers viewing themselves this way. The
disparity is telling in that one-third of citizens viewed officers through
the lens of force rather than service.
Recent events involving the objectively reasonable use of deadly
force have triggered a critical view of law enforcement. In Graham
v. Connor, the “objectively reasonable” standard was articulated to
determine if the force used by an officer violated a citizen’s right to be
free from unreasonable seizures. In short, it is through the eyes of a
reasonable officer that the use of force is to be judged, not through the
perspective of a citizen who has unlimited time to review all the facts.
While a court may find an individual officer’s use of force “objectively
reasonable,” citizens’ opinion of its use, both situationally and
globally, may be diametrically opposed. Therefore, if law enforcement
officers and agencies do not have the support of their citizens, the
consequences may be dire.
Former police officer Seth Stoughton serves as Associate Professor
of Law at the University of South Carolina. In a 2015 commentary,
he opined that the “warrior mindset has mutated into the warrior
mentality.” The mindset is a vow to survive regardless of the odds,
with the warrior mentality holding that an officer must “treat every
individual they interact with as an armed threat and every situation as
a deadly force encounter in the making.” Indiscriminate application of
the warrior mentality reinforces citizen perceptions of police solely as
enforcers. Additionally, it could lead to an unwitting chain reaction of
escalation, which increases risk for officers and citizens alike.
If we are to shift citizen views of the police towards the role as
protector, the role of guardian must replace the warrior mentality.
The warrior mindset must be used as a tool, not unlike a traffic vest,
flashlight, or pen. The warrior mindset only should be deployed when
its need arises, not during every encounter. To win and retain the
hearts and minds of our citizens, law enforcement must change both
its strategic goals and tactical response to citizen encounters. Officers
must continue to practice community-oriented policing, and we must
reconnect with the citizens we serve before the next “Ferguson”
occurs. The police force must evolve into the police service, and officers
must embrace the guardian mindset and judiciously deploy the warrior
mindset as the need dictates.