Does the danger of police work exempt officers from criticism?

July 29, 2:27 PMCivil Liberties ExaminerJ.D. Tuccille

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My grandfather worked an often-vilified job. His work frequently put him in dangerous situations and brought him into contact with the dregs of society. Try as he might to do the job right, anybody could take his number and file a complaint that might result in unpleasant consequences. My grandfather was, of course, a New York City taxi driver. I point this out as I get yet another earful from a police officer ticked off by criticism I've leveled at one of his colleagues.

The comment to which I refer came in response to a personal blog post I wrote last July about a decal I spotted on a car saying "Sworn To Protect Your Ass, Not Kiss It." The words circled a stylized tin star emblazoned with "Deputy Sheriff."

In response to my criticism of the attitude the decal represented, Deputy F.O. wrote:

Hey, J.D.......Until you've walked a mile in a Deputies' boots, do the world a favor, and shut the hell up!! You will never know what it is ike to have to tip-toe around the public to keep some hippie like you from filing complaints on us on an everyday basis. You are exactly the kind of Police hater that makes our job so stressful, which translates into everyone else around us having a bad day, too. I guess if it weren't for retards like you, stupidity would be an endangered species.

I'll close by saying this......You don't like Law Enforcement?? Next time you're in trouble....Call a damn drug dealer!!!!!!!!!

Damn Hippie!!

I don't doubt that police work is a stressful job -- it's inherently confrontational, after all. Patrolling the streets at all hours means not just arguments with members of the public, but dangers, too. There's no doubt that to put on a badge is to face a greater chance of not coming home at night (PDF) than most dentists or office workers will ever know -- but a lesser danger, after all, than that faced by fishermen, loggers, aircraft pilots and, of course, taxi drivers.

But fishermen and loggers aren't often shot at and stabbed. It's one thing to know that nature and dumb statistics are against you. But what about the evil intent of the people you encounter every day? Yes, it has to be stressful knowing that the next fare you pick up may rob and murder you.

Oh, I tipped my hand there, didn't I? Yes, taxi drivers face not only a higher fatality rate, but also a higher homicide rate than police officers.

I don't point out the figures compiled by the Bureau of Labor Statistics to minimize the risks and stresses faced by police officers, but to emphasize that law-enforcement work doesn't stand so exceptionally apart from the world of occupations that people choose as Deputy F.O. would have us believe.

Let me repeat that word: choose. Police work is a choice. Cops aren't conscripted -- they apply for the jobs they take, and stay in those jobs as a matter of preference.

So do taxi drivers. And the dangers cabbies face don't immunize them from criticism. My grandfather, for instance, was a ... colorful character. He left plenty of interesting stories behind him, but to know him was to not necessarily mourn his passing.

Then again, taxi drivers don't pull together like some kind of tribe. I'm not going to hear that I'm a cabbie-hater because I wrote the words above about my grandfather. Taxi drivers tend to treat their work as a job, and criticism of another cabbie as harsh words directed at another guy, not as an attack on some sort of extended family.

But police officers always have back up. When they're under fire, they can call upon other armed members of their force, and when they're criticized, men and women wearing badges a thousand miles away will step up to their defense, as officers did when President Obama criticized the arrest of Henry Louis Gates, Jr.

For the record, when, in the course of writing a civil liberties column, I criticize a police officer, I'm criticizing that officer. When I question tactics, like the extensive use of SWAT teams in situations that nobody should expect to be violent, involving even paperwork "crimes," I'm criticizing policy decisions made above most police officers' pay grade.

I do have problems with the way modern law enforcement is often conducted, especially its increasingly paramilitary tone and the frequent expectation of automatic deference from the public. But that's not an attack on every person who chooses that profession.

Then again, I think it'd be nice if more cabbies could acquire a basic mastery of the streets of the cities in which they drive.

And if any given individual takes all that criticism to heart, well ... that reveals a lot about that person, doesn't it?

email J.D.: civilliberties (at) tuccille.com