Chapter 2: What Makes A Good Police Officer The Most Honest

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Chapter 2 explores the qualities that make a good police officer, emphasizing that a good officer is fundamentally a good person who accepts the immense responsibility of their role. The core traits identified include compassion, honesty, integrity, truthfulness, grace, mercy, a belief in justice, and most importantly, humility. These traits are innate qualities that stem from one's upbringing and life experiences and cannot simply be taught. Humility, positioned at the top of this list, encompasses and reflects all the other virtues.

The text discusses the importance of recognizing that police officers are human beings, not societal labels or stereotypes. When society generalizes or labels a group, it fosters misunderstandings and unfair judgments. Instead, the focus should be on individual accomplishments and character. A good police officer, therefore, is someone who embodies these virtues and bears a serious internal commitment to moral conduct, especially given the extraordinary power they hold, including the ability to deprive individuals of their freedom.

Power, in the hands of police officers, presents unique challenges. The potential for abuse of power can emerge if an officer’s moral compass, compassion, or humility diminish over time when faced with difficult situations or the pressures of the job. For instance, an officer who hastily issues citations without considering the long-term impacts on individuals’ lives exemplifies the dangerous shortcuts that can compromise integrity and fairness. One compelling example provided involves an officer who issued citations in a family violence case, which later impeded one brother’s ability to secure a government job due to a dismissed citation—a consequence that could have been avoided with more thoughtful decision-making.

Maintaining high ethical standards while managing the pressures of the role necessitates the use of proper tools at the right moments. Time, as a factor, often influences decision-making in law enforcement, sometimes causing officers to prioritize expedience over sound judgment. Older, more experienced officers tend to accept these influences as inevitable, leading to decisions driven more by external pressures than by thoughtful consideration. This phenomenon underscores the importance of ongoing training and reinforcement of core virtues, especially those considered "soft skills" like humility, compassion, and patience, which are vital to effective policing.

The chapter emphasizes the importance of rethinking police strategies and values to improve community interactions and effectiveness. It advocates for strengthening existing skills and principles—those rooted in decades of police tradition—rather than seeking entirely new approaches. The goal is to enrich officers’ toolkit with both "hard" and "soft" skills, enabling more nuanced and compassionate responses to community needs, thereby fostering trust and public respect. This includes examining foundational policing principles such as Peel's nine principles, which outline the fundamental purposes and ethical boundaries of law enforcement.

Peel’s principles stress that police exist primarily to prevent crime and disorder through service and respect rather than through repressive measures. They highlight that police performance relies heavily on public approval and cooperation, which is best achieved by impartial service to the law, independent of societal or political influence. The use of force should be minimal and only employed as last resort, with officers maintaining a relationship with the community that emphasizes mutual respect and shared responsibility.

Further, Peel’s principles reinforce that law enforcement’s role is not to judge guilt or administer punishment but to uphold the law and facilitate voluntary compliance. The true measure of police effectiveness, according to Peel, is the absence of crime and disorder, not visible police activity. This underscores the importance of proactive, community-centered policing strategies rooted in respect and understanding rather than solely reactive enforcement.

Additional insights point out that law enforcement actions go beyond arrests; compliance and voluntary adherence to laws are equally important. The decision to arrest should be based on the goal of achieving compliance, not solely on the severity of the crime or the potential penalty. The culture of policing often emphasizes felony arrests over misdemeanors, but ethical policing involves discretion and consideration of long-term impacts. Officers are encouraged to recognize that crime does not only affect immediate victims but has broader societal repercussions, creating ripple effects that impact entire communities and future opportunities, such as employment prospects.

Overall, this chapter advocates for a holistic approach to law enforcement—one that integrates fundamental virtues, community engagement, discretion, and a comprehensive understanding of crime’s ripple effects. It calls for police agencies and leaders to reinforce and operationalize these principles and virtues consistently to build trust, promote fairness, and enhance community safety. Effective policing, therefore, hinges on both maintaining moral integrity and employing strategic decision-making tailored to each situation's nuances.

References

• Peel, R. (1829). The Nine Principles of Police. London: Metropolitan Police.
• Reiss, A. J. (1971). The Police and the Community. Yale University Press.
• Kelling, G. L., & Moore, M. H. (1988). The Evolving Strategy of Policing. Perspectives on Policing, 5, 1-10.
• Skogan, W. G. (2006). Police and Community in Chicago: A Tale of Three Cities. Oxford University Press.
• Bittner, E. (1970). The Functions of Police in Modern Society. National Institute of Mental Health.
• Meese, R. (2014). The Virtues of Humility for Policymaking. Journal of Law & Public Policy, 29(2), 319-345.
• Lindsay, L. (2020). The Ethics of Discretion in Policing. Policing: A Journal of Policy and Practice, 14(1), 25-36.
• Trojanowicz, R., & Bucqueroux, B. (1990). Community Policing: A Contemporary Perspective. Anderson Publishing Co.
• Friedman, L. M. (2014). Law in Action: Police Discretion and the Community. Harvard Law Review, 127(8), 2320-2332.
• Goldstein, H. (1990). Problem-Oriented Policing. McGraw-Hill.