Thinking Man's Corner

Article by: William G.

First of all: MERRY CHRISTMAS! If that offends you, you’re in the wrong place.

“I think a cop deserves the benefit of the doubt.” – Chief Jesse Stone as played by Tom Selleck. Aside from the facts that the Jesse Stone series is extremely well done, generally more technically proficient in gun play, and Tom Selleck is a shooter, good man, and true American; that line carries some heavy weight.

Absolutely, a true cop (and I refer to Deputy Sheriff’s, Peace Officers, Police Officers, State Troopers, and a host of other lawmen) does in fact deserve the benefit of the doubt. Not a free pass, not a blind eye, not a good ol’ boy; but simply, the benefit of the doubt.

When a man (or woman) has pinned on a badge, and strapped on a gun for any length of time, when they try as hard as a human can to live up to the oath, when they sacrifice for strangers who hate them; these men and women become cops, and they will carry that spirit inside them long after they move on from the profession. It is a word that some use as a slur, others use as common vernacular, and then as a title of pride by those who earned it.

It is one of the few professions that can and will kill you. It is one of only two professions where people you don’t know actively want to murder you. It is the only profession that has those attributes, along with low pay, substandard working conditions, not enough training, low bid or someone who doesn’t know any better choice of minimal standard equipment, and the only one where you live in or close to the community you serve. The lucky ones have decent pay (but still nowhere what they are worth), a reasoned and balanced work schedule with a high level of retention, are sent to or provided with world class training, and have someone in charge that has the interest of the cops at heart over low bid or their personal pet gear. They also have the support and admiration of their community, and their crime is transient or imported for the vast majority of the time. There are not many of those places around.

A cop knows they may have to use the bullet in the chamber in a blood confrontation before the end of watch, every single time they walk out the door. They know they may never see their loved ones again because of an ambush, a wreck, a drunk driver, a freak accident, or that they may voluntarily swap their lives for someone they had never met before the call.

A cop knows they are hated by strangers, it is proven every time they are spit on, threatened, and cursed at. That they will be lied to about mundane and heinous crimes, they will have lies told on them, that they will be fought, that they will have to drive in erratic conditions with others on the road paying no attention, that every single interaction they have involves a gun – their gun, which can be taken away by someone faster, stronger, meaner, or just crazy out of their minds on some sort of mind altering concoction.

A cop knows what it is like to hold a parent, insane with grief due to the death of a child, feeling their pain inside their very heart and gut. They know the feeling of holding a child that has turned blue from drowning – having tried as hard as they could to save them, and just not being there in time. They know what it feels like to hold the hand of a young person, entrapped in a car, bleeding out with the paramedics just a little too far away. They know what the murder of children look like, and rapes of children and the elderly. They know the absolute horrors of what other humans are capable of; and a cop will carry those horrors, for the rest of their lives.

That is why a cop deserves the benefit of the doubt. As long as the cop tells the truth, even if they mess up and admit it – as long as they were not heinous and punitive in their actions, as long as a cop tries their very best – they deserve the benefit of the doubt.

Think of a training class you went to with a new instructor, or an instructor that has been one for years, but hasn’t been able to teach much. Maybe they were awkward, maybe they were nervous, maybe they occasionally mispronounced words. Maybe they stuttered or got a few words out of order. If you haven’t been through the ITC, you do not know what they went through to earn that title. If you did, you should be double understanding of the challenges brought forth when teaching other cops. Remember when you were a rookie? Did you mess up? Did the other cops joke about it, but still help and mentor you? Give the instructors time to hone their craft. Most are doing it because they want to help, they believe they can offer something to help others – kind of like why most of us became a cop in the first place. Even in the classroom, the certified officer instructor is still a cop, and they deserve the benefit of the doubt.

We work with each other. We work with the citizens in the community. We are humans and we will fall short sometimes, but we try so very hard. We have empathy, compassion, understanding, honor, integrity, morals, values, loved ones, goals, and dreams. We need to give each other the benefit of the doubt as well.

So next time you hear the streets talking, the media trying to grab some ratings, some office gossip; take a minute and remember the wisdom of Chief Jesse Stone: “I think a cop deserves the benefit of the doubt.” I do too, Chief, I do too.

This article is dedicated to the memory of James A. Green, Chief of Police. More than once, he gave a Cop the Benefit of the Doubt; and Chief, you are missed.