The Crime Report welcomes our newest blogger: Philosophical Cop . As an officer in one of America's largest cities for over a decade, he has spent time in various police assignments, from patrol to the fight against terrorism. For the purposes of this blog, TheCrimeReport has allowed this cop to remain anonymous, so readers can get a true and honest view of policing. This blog will appear ever other Monday.
It's moving day!
I truly enjoy the thrill of a new place, and I am pleased and honored to be contributing to the Crime Report. Before we start our law enforcement conversation, though, I think it is appropriate that I introduce myself and orient you to my mission.
I am a cop. At my core that is what I am, what I do, and how I feel. As we converse in this space, I bring an irrefutable bias to the table. Try as I might to temper this lens to a degree, I will not apologize for it or attempt to eliminate it completely. In fact, it is my police perspective, and the fact that very few are willing to consider our view, that keep me inspired to write.
Fifteen years into my career, I also fancy myself an amateur philosopher. Not in the academic sense, although that stuff is interesting too, but more in the “real life” sort of way. I realized early on that my uniform was a front row seat to the human condition and an all-access pass to the raw human animal. I have spent most of my career patrolling the varied neighborhoods of a large city. In the slums and in paradise, I have served welfare recipients and millionaires, responding to their 9-1-1 calls, and investigating their murders. Mostly, I have watched and learned.
If this all sounds like I am going to tell tales of violence and victimization, you will be sorely disappointed. To be sure I have tragedies to spare. And there are tenfold more tales of compassion, charity, and caring – each of them equally unfiltered and pure. Many excellent sites tell, “cop stories,” and I do not endeavor to compete. I am here to talk to you about a philosophical cop's view of police work and people.
My mission is delightfully simple, yet seems to be a grail unattainable; I want to have an honest, open, fair conversation about police work. That is it. Nothing more!
I hope you will join me in this pursuit of equilibrium between the uneducated anti-police noise on the one hand, and the blind allegiance to the uniform on the other. Both are useless to our quest, and equally harmful to the rule of law. Most of all, I plead with you to read with an open mind, participate in the conversation, and always let me know what you are thinking.
Read more from Philosophical Cop at his blog.