On Police and their Employers

by Trey Holcomb

Poor police work has become an epidemic aggravated by the destructive and nearly diabolical practices of police unions and professional organizations. These institutionalized practices and policies have created our presently existing situation, and necessary changes must be made to avoid the inevitable disaster we are otherwise heading for.

The trust between the public at large and police has been damaged. The trust between police and the black community has almost been destroyed.

I'm a teacher. When a person in my profession has harmed a child through malice or negligence, that person's career as a teacher is over.

It should be.

Why is the same not true when a police officer harms a civilian through malice or negligence?

One reason is because professional police organizations will jump to the defense of an officer who has committed such an act, regardless of whether the officer's actions are defensible in any way or not. Who do you think posted Roy Oliver's bond?

It is difficult for me to even imagine a professional teacher’s organization or union defending a teacher who has harmed a child.

Fortunately, this can all be repaired with the right reforms, better training policies, and serious reform of the function and purpose of professional Police organizations.

Police work must always be approached with the attitude of a servant. Like all other public servants, police are the employees of the public they serve and NOT their masters. The public are the masters.

Officers must therefore be trained in de-escalation techniques and a professional demeanor that reflects the subservient nature of their proper role in encounters with the public.

Their professional organizations must abandon the horrendous practice of defending the indefensible, and the "Code of Silence" that forces so many officers to become bad cops through their silence, must end forever.

Finally, police officers should earn a lot more money than they do. Their job is one of the most difficult that exists and the sacrifices required to do that job correctly are tremendous.

Failure to do these things will only result in a further deterioration of the relationship between police and the public at large until circumstances resemble a full-blown insurrection. That can't happen. The cost in blood is too high to pay.