A Man of Conviction

Over the last few months/years, there has been an ever growing controversy surrounding law enforcement.  There are populations across the United States that believe they are continually persecuted by law enforcement, which has been responded to by protests, and have led to further division and violence.  All anyone has to do to witness evidence of this division and resulting violence first hand, is to turn on the TV.  What must the rest of the world think when they look to the United States?  I don’t want to write about this violence and contribute to the ongoing division of beliefs that are plaguing our people.  Instead, I would like to tell you about a law enforcement officer, that I respect, who hopefully a lesson or two can be learned from.  For the sake of anonymity, for the time being, I will leave out names and locations.

This man is one of conviction, with a steadfast belief in the law, that I believe in his mind exists without question.  I won’t say that he is a good officer, as that is a whole other conversation, but he is without doubt good at his job.  He is given a task, and he does it efficiently, and without question, as would a dedicated soldier.  What's more, he likes his work.

Within his jurisdiction, there is a great deal of unrest.  Tensions are always running well above what most would consider to be safe for law officers and the citizens served alike.  Conflict occurs nearly every day.  As a result, this man has become hardened over time.  He exists in a world of black and white, right and wrong, and those that break the code of conduct set forth are persecuted to the full extent of the law.  

Admittedly, there is a level of violence associated with his work, and given his experience and training, violence now comes easy.  Anyone who has studied or been around combat, knows that on some level you end up almost liking violence as you become more experienced in using it.  There is a sense of power that is addictive.  This officer likes violence and he is good at it.  Anybody who stands up to him quickly regrets it, as he is able to put them down quickly and without much fuss.  The law is his religion, and he is an avid devote.  He is so good at his work and inflicting violence against law breakers, he has been chosen for a special unit that hunts down specific populations; individuals and groups alike.

There are those that would call what he does unethical at times.  The persons he is charged with pursuing, do after all belong to specific groups.  He doesn’t seem to mind though, or frankly even care, as he knows what he is doing is for the benefit of his home and State, as these individuals refuse to assimilate and do in fact break the law on a regular basis.  Regardless of their ethnicity, they are criminals and the law is very specific on the natural consequences of breaking it.  He believes in the law, and so he believes in the threat these individuals pose to it, to his very way of life, and he has no qualms about targeting the responsible parties to make sure the threat is taken care of.

This officer's story presents a contradiction of values, or at a minimum a moral quagmire which I would like to discuss.  Many who are not police officers will read about this individual and will begin to, or have begun to, form opinions about this person's intentions. For some, this man represents a very serious problem facing this County, in which law enforcement is perceived as being aggressive to specific groups of people simply because of the color of their skin.  Others will recognize that in some very specific areas, a majority of crime is caused by specific groups, and so statistically it is nearly impossible for their not to be racial differences in arrests.  

There are very likely individuals who are reading this, that have either stopped by this point, or have continued simply because this man’s story has made them so angry, that they want to finish so they know exactly how to respond when they later comment.  Either way, I would like to take a moment to thank those still reading.

Social Disorganization Theory of Criminology, suggests that the “where” is more important than the “who”.  For example, youths from disadvantaged neighborhoods might participate in a subculture which approves of delinquency, and so these young individuals will acquire traits consistent with becoming criminal, and will exist successfully within those social and cultural settings.

Because neighborhoods are traditionally made up of ethnic groups, these areas have a disproportionate number of criminals who fall into that category.  This does not make a cop racist.  It only means that the officer is doing his or her job.  This is evident in the fact that this phenomenon is by no means specific to a single ethnic population;  Western Baltimore, South-Central Los Angeles, South Boston, Western Phoenix, South Manhattan, and countless other neighborhoods all have various concentrations of ethnicities, and all have above average violent crime rates.  A cop in any of these neighborhoods could be looked upon as being racist, simply because of where he or she is assigned to patrol, regardless if they are actually racist or not.

All that being said, there are absolutely cops out there who are dangerous, racist, drunk with power, and should without hesitation be relieved of duty.  The same can be said for teachers, counselors, doctors, accountants, or any other profession.  This is because people are inherently flawed, and as Social Disorganization Theory shows, where and how a person grows up and is taught, easily leads to socially accepted behavior, within specific contexts, that for many of us is completely unethical, and frankly scary.  The man from the beginning of this piece of writing, is one of those scary individuals.

By the end of his career in law enforcement, this officer was more enforcer than he was law.  As described, he was good at his job and did it with a cold efficiency that was scarily fierce.  He crossed the line from being a man driven by the ideals of justice and service, to a man driven by a lust for violence and persecution.  

So who was he?

You might be surprised to learn that you very likely know who this person is, if not by name, then certainly by his Acts.  His given name is Sha'ul ha-Tarsi‎.  He was Turkish born and as a law enforcement officer, he persecuted and jailed a population of people because of their beliefs and his intense hatred of them.  A near terrorist  to some of his time, and certainly by modern standards.  

Most today simply remember him by the name he took on after he quite miraculously had a change of heart, and began advocating for those he had once been sent to harm, defending their faith as fiercely as he had before tried to destroy it.  The name you might recognize, is Paul, and he wrote at least seven, perhaps as many as fourteen, of the twenty-seven books of the New Testament.  

Paul’s letter to the Roman’s, is among my favorites.