It's a dangerous time to be in law enforcement, but it was one of the things I wanted to do when I was a small boy- become a cop. As a matter of fact, the last year I remember dressing and going door to door for halloween, my parents helped me look LIKE a cop. Although my educational pursuits took me on a different path, when the opportunity arose to attempt that path, however roundaboutly I attempted it, I pursued the matter and applied for jobs in law enforcement. I know it comes as no surprise that I am not in law enforcement to regular readers who know I work as a chemistry/biology professor instead; every attempt I made was thwarted somehow by either incompetence or collusion. They did not want me among their number, and aside from the pay which is the worst reason to take a job I don't feel cheated. When I was a boy, I respected, admired, looked up to and trusted policemen, but now I see that they are humans too and sometimes even worse than the average. Apparently, uniform officer doesn't refer so much to the dress as much to the behavior, which explains why women I know like a man in uniform. Finally, I am not sure I would have enjoyed a long life as a uniformed officer, and I like the thought of living long AND prospering, not just having a lot of money. I admire those who choose to go into law enforcement; I am also however old enough to know better than to assume they are all virtuous and all worthy of praise.
I believe that the laws apply to everyone. Cops should set the example for others to follow. Last Saturday on Mt. Charleston, I confronted three adults who were cutting trail only to discover that they were Federal Marshals. When one of them said "the laws don't apply to us", I lost it completely and read them the riot act. I told them that since they were not on duty or at work or in uniform or displaying badges that I was the law on the mountain. I was sent to that trail; I was in uniform; I was expected to report back by 3PM. I was the law up there, and they were just as obligated to follow it as everyone else, their concealed weapons and badges notwithstanding. It's the same thing that annoys me when I see cops talking on cell phones while driving or breaking the speed limit or running a red light without their lights on. By the time it escalated to where they exposed their concealed weapons (mine is in a holster on my waist in plain sight), a small crowd had gathered. I told them at that point that people were watching them and that of all people they ought to set a good example for the people to follow. Far too often people preach "do as I say, not as I do" and the attitude towards law and order reflects the attitude of leadership that the law applies only to little people, and of course we all think we're important. His threats didn't bother me; his gun didn't bother me; his dog actually came and stood next to me. I knew that justice and the law were on my side and that the highway patrol and metro officers wouldn't care if he was a marshal. He wasn't looking for a fugitive; he was about to be one. You are not special because you enforce the law; you are under the obligation to set a good example. In my experience however like these marshals on the mountain, I find that all too often bullies become cops in order to get paid to push other people around and maintain the illusion of power. I did not like these men or really respect them, and part of me actually hoped they would push things just so I could stick it to them in the court or with their boss or in the papers; men like this are a stain on everyone else who wears a badge.
In hiring cops, they look for people who can be broken down and rebuilt into what they like. This week, the new class of law enforcement officers started their training on campus. Families lined up with their fresh faced young sons and daughters as seasoned veterans barked orders at them like they were lesser beings or cattle or worse. Some of these people have had real jobs, earned college degrees, and know things, but that doesn't seem to interest them. It's a cookie cutter GOBNet that molds everyone into the same Brotherhood of Blue. Part of this is for efficiency, which I get; the rest is to entrench favors and exempt cops from following the laws mentioned previously. When I applied to be a highway patrolman, they were not impressed that I had an advanced science degree or that I kept my nose clean and never did drugs. In fact, I asked the sergeant leading the interview if it was preferrable to have a criminal justice degree and some ride alongs even if I had done drugs to being a good example. Yes, they like automatons. It's an assembly line process, where you get in line or you get out. When I confronted the marshals, they stuck together like a clique. It was other citizens around me, parents, teachers, hikers, climbers, and children, who actually took my side, stood behind me, and eventually provided the impetus for the cops to back down from their unprincipled position. I understand wanting uniformed officers to be uniform, but the problem is when they are wrong, they are wrong as a unit. The highway patrol didn't seem to see any value in the diversity I offered. My dad saw that I offered something unique as a biochemist, but they wanted people who thought the same way, knew the same things, and behaved the same way. They like order. I get that. However, they talk of diversity and do something else, sort of like young people who want to be "different" which amounts usually to nothing more than outlandishly defying their parents even as they become more uniform with their peers in deviance and decadence. Now I finally understand all the girls I know who wanted to marry cops, marines, firemen, etc., because they wanted a man who knew how to take orders. Clever.
Working as a cop is hazardous to your health. Emergency responders face many risks in their jobs. I don't think many of them understand that's the reason why they are paid so much; it's difficult to live long enough to spend it all. The risks are many, to life, to health, and to quality of living. Of course, obviously, we know of late how many cops have actually been assassinated in the course of their duty. You never know when you respond to a call or confront a driver if your life may be in danger. You don't know who carries a weapon, who carries a grudge, or who carries an outstanding warrant, and you get to find out. You risk your life because you're supposed to go looking for villains, and eventually you probably start to see everyone with suspicion, because you realize that nobody's perfect, most people are lying and everyone makes mistakes. Even if you live long, sometimes it comes at risk to health factors. The NHP trooper in my congregation at church confessed that most older cops get fatter and fatter as they progress in their careers. Many of them do not live very long after they retire. He mentioned some things I didn't think of, like exposure to flares, but I thought of all the hazardous material exposure associated with policemen, firemen, etc., in addition to the weather exposure, the stress, the bad diets, and all the other things that contribute to a piss poor lifestyle for our emergency responders. Add to that diseases, and I think I'd rather work in chemistry where, although I run risks too, everything I encounter is supposedly labeled, so I know what to do when there is a spill. I have one student this term whose boyfriend is a fireman, and I think she actually understands that he will probably die young. Joe told me that any lung health issue is paid for as an NHP Sergeant, because they know there are risks. I don't know if their wives understand that. Maybe that's what they're hoping. Particularly today, it would be frustrating to be a cop. They have body cams, protestors, litigious firms, terrorism, and a whole slew of new enemies to face in doing their job every day that interfere with their ability to do their job well if they get to do it at all. If I had taken the DHS job for which I applied years ago, I would have been ordered to NOT do my own job. Federal law enforcement continues to find itself under greater restriction that prevents or discourages it from doing its job as they refuse to defend officers and take the side of criminals. It would have been hazardous to my health to have that stress and hazardous to my life to have a job I could not do or a boss I could not in good conscience obey, and I would have had to resign in protest. At least local law enforcement in NV have the backing of government leaders.
As attractive as the perks, pay, promotions, and pageantry may be, I am glad I chose another path for my career. I don't think I would enjoy being a first responder. I don't really like people enough to risk my life to save people I don't know who probably hate me just because of my uniform. As attractive as the money may be, I earn enough and would either use it stupidly or just shove more into savings like I do now. I like the flexibility to work extra hours when I like, to go to the gym when I like, to do something for a living that I actually like. Academia affords me the opportunity to tackle the subject with some flexibility as to how, as long as I cover certain specific topics completely and accurately, and so I kind of have my own courses that vary from those of my contemporaries, even within the college. I will never be rich, but I like what I do, and with all due humility, I'm pretty damn good at it too. Lawless individuals among us declared open season on cops, slaughtering them at will and in regular intervals. No excuse is given or needed, and the top cop in America, the President of the United States, stands with the dissidents, miscreants, and malcontents when he ought to defend his own. When you do not stick up for your own, you in essence betray them, and the president has betrayed law enforcement. I didn't like the former Dean because she didn't stick up for me. I think her replacement is 180 degrees opposite in that regard, and so I look forward to better years ahead and a more rewarding experience. Maybe I can teach young people to be the kind of people who no longer need law enforcement except as protection against the rest, and maybe those I teach who become or are partnered with first responders can brush off a little on them and make law enforcement more venerable too.
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