The following post is by Anarcho Ali and originally appeared on
her site.
Considering the extent of precautions government officials take to reportedly ensure the safety of law enforcers, it is surprising to find out that the US Department of Labor Statistics of 2007 ranks police and sheriff patrol officers low on the list of top 20 most dangerous jobs at #18. In 2010 the fatality rate, or number of fatalities per 100,000 workers, was 18 for sheriffs and police officers. Loggers in the US have an average rate of 88 fatalities per 100,000 a year, but you won’t hear about cities getting federal grants for Ballistic Engineered Armored Response Vehicles to protect the loggers in their “line of duty”.
What about other occupations the government admits are far more dangerous than police work?: fishers, aircraft pilots and flight engineers, farmers (Safety first, Dad!) and ranchers, and mining machine operators. Those brave soles work in far more hazardous conditions, not to mention the valuable labor they provide to society results in real wealth and an increase in prosperity. What kind of backwards society would devote so many resources to protect those in a relatively safe occupation that produces nothing, while expecting the producers that work in much more dangerous conditions to fend for themselves? Do the priorities of law makers and bill signers reflect reality? Why do the police and ex-police that attended the City Council Meeting on the City of Keene’s acquisition of a Lenco Bearcat feel that police need more protection?
Law Enforcement officers seem to be very deeply concerned with safety. That is, their own safety. This is not a critique of the officers, since wanting to live and avoid bodily harm is a natural evolutionary trait, although law enforcement suicide rates (17 per 100,000) are higher than the general population in the US (11 per 100,000).
When an officer feels like his or her safety is in jeopardy, it is normal for the officer to react. But even when officers over-react, as long as they claim to have felt threatened, they are exonerated for their unprofessional behavior. But if one is sincerely concerned about officer safety, the question must be: what factors make the occupation of law enforcer dangerous?
Is it the brutish,uncivilized, aggressive populace that lashes out against peace enforcers?
As William Norman Grigg from Republic Magazine writes:
“That’s how police are trained to perceive the world: They see the public as an undifferentiated mass of menace, an all-encompassing threat to that most important of all human considerations, “officer safety.” This is why they are prepared to employ potentially lethal force at the first sign of non-cooperation, and escalate the encounter until the Mundane either submits or is killed. They are prepared to shoot first in the serene confidence that the questions asked later will be intended to exonerate the officer.”
If training employees to view customers as the biggest threat to said employee’s safety is an effective model for providing quality customer service, why haven’t I ever received such training at any of my jobs? Is it really so honorable to work for an agency that trains its employees first and foremost to protect themselves against agitated customers?
It seems the real dangers are associated with the alleged “duties” that come along with being a cop. The few laws that are routinely enforced relative to the thousands on the books, are typically ones in which the state is the supposed victim (e.g. the drug war). This atmosphere created by people in the government and carried out by uniformed enforcers breeds feelings of intimidation from ordinary peaceful folk in a community. In what other sense would the average honest person describe the initial emotion evoked after seeing blue lights flashing behind one’s vehicle? Is it really any surprise to anyone that raiding people’s private property is dangerous? What about separating children from their mothers? And of course summoning traveling people to the shoulder of the already-very-dangerous, government-owned roads is risky business. Turns out, when one is the aggressor in many of his daily interactions with people, he risks that there may be an attempt by one of those people to defend themselves (typically to the defender’s own detriment…or murder, so I advise against it!).
I personally don’t expect by giving law enforcers a lecture about the immorality of their actions that they will miraculously hear the truth in my words and be moved to quit their jobs. I’d rather appeal to the self-interest they have in protecting their own lives. While it’s difficult not to roll one’s eyes when officers who are able to exercise almost complete legal immunity complain about how difficult their jobs are, think of what it would be like to work for a gang that expected you to rob houses, make examples out of innocent people, and hold people on the highway captive just for the health of the gang. Imagine doing all the law makers’ dirty work. You probably can’t imagine, because most people would not be fit for such a job. Most people would find that kind of work to be stressful, unfulfilling, and dangerous not only to their health but personal relationships. Maybe that explains why alcoholism affects 1 in 4 police officers in the United States.
To be clear, officers are still personally responsible for the acts of aggression they commit. Blaming the aggression on the law makers belittles law enforcement officers to inanimate robots with no ability to make decisions. As many times we hear them say, “I am just following orders” or “I am just doing my job,” it is suggested to us that they have no respect themselves for their own decision making abilities. What they do not fundamentally understand is that by holding them accountable we are showing them respect. Those that attempt to hold them to the same standards as ordinary people are treating them as conscious, affective beings. We must not listen when they insist on being treated as gears in the state’s war machine. We ought to respect them as humans, and let the aggressors know that their job is not only dangerous to themselves, but it directly disrupts the peaceful actions of everyday people.
Resources:
Featured photo from Getty Images
my brain
William Norman Gigg’s Article on LewRockwell.com: http://lewrockwell.com/grigg/grigg-w248.html
Up-to-date US officer fatalities: http://www.odmp.org/search/year/2012?ref=sidebar
Bureau of Labor Statistics: http://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/cfoi.pdf
Police suicide statistics: http://www.policesuicideprevention.com/id48.html
