Like boiling potatoes, stories of police misconduct remain at the surface of the news cauldron. Every so often, current events boil up and over, resulting in rushed efforts of attention to contain the situation. We’ve seen our fair share of “peaceful protests” triggered by accusations of police misconduct. Whether or not the accusations were accurate doesn’t matter. The media-political machine doesn’t care about accuracy. It’s after attention. Live drama, with it’s full ensemble of victims and perpetrators, is the perfect story. It’s the product that keeps on giving. Commercializing police misconduct drives ad sales. A perception of perpetrators and victims creates a platform for politicians to save the day. It’s a win-win. If it’s true that incentives drive behavior, the operating procedure of our cultural kitchen includes keeping the lid on the pot, and turning up the heat. The kitchen managers want the pots boiling over.
The pressure for police departments to self-police is real. And, some of it is good. It’s a good idea to maintain accountability in the ranks of authority. Wickedness thrives in the dark. Keeping the lights on in every room of the house may not be what climate activists advise, but it’s what’s good for them. So yes, police departments should be kept in check.
However, it’s good to celebrate the success of our authorities, not be eager for their failure. Pressure for failure is real in all instances of leadership, including police departments. On that note, below is a little something I wrote for a local publication here in Sunny Marysville – The Marysville Sun.
Whatever the current political upheaval, police departments respond in different capacities. Some fold to whatever the machine demands. Like chaff in the wind, they are tossed to-and-fro. In the hands of gubernatorial puppet-masters, we’ve seen police officers used like political pawns. Whether the voices cry against police brutality in light of BLM resistance, or cry for stronger police enforcement of “health and safety” mandates, police departments around the country can’t catch a break.
Although the pressure to fold can be severe, some departments do demonstrate unwavering nerve when it comes to protecting citizens and upholding the Constitution. Even under critical scrutiny, we have examples of police officers showing integrity in their work. Accusations of racism be damned, these police officers do what must be done. State government can try to play tyrant, these police officers submit to a higher law. Karens can karen behind their masks, these police officers waver not under pressure. The Marysville Police Department is this kind of example of excellence, resoluteness, and professionalism. The citizens of Marysville are blessed to be under the caring and competent watch of our officers.
Police work is difficult and dangerous apart from any additional pressure from the people. Protecting a community and putting yourself first in the line of danger is a calling worthy of respect. It’s not a job everybody would sign up for. Fighting what’s in front of you is one thing. It requires aggression and competence. But mercenaries can do that. Fighting for what’s behind you is not the same thing. That requires more than aggression and competence. It requires compassion and nerve. Protecting a community is an extension of the work of fathers. And it’s not easy by any means.
What makes it more challenging, however, is when the community a police department is devoted to serve and protect is sabotaging their efforts – when pressure is coming not from the enemy, but from within your ranks. It’s difficult when the people you’re trying to lead are undermining your effort, and being critical, not just of your failures, but of your success in leadership. That is what we’re seeing in the attacks on police departments across the nation.
Sure, there are cases – multiple cases – of wrongful behavior by police officers. But much of the critical accusations that we see are thrown when police officers are doing their job correctly. Officers successfully restrain a threat, and get accused of racism because the threat happened to be coming from a black man. What would you have them do? Fail at protecting their community? Officers protect citizens’ 1st Amendment rights, and get accused of being lax on enforcing “health” mandates. What would you have them do? Enforce tyranny? It’s when police departments have been successful at their work, that saboteurs have turned their microphones on the loudest.
But the Marysville Police Department, under the leadership of Chief Erik Scairpon, have understood that leadership demands nerve in the face of criticism. Whether it’s with their measures on public drug use, homelessness, or other endeavors, Marysville PD has strived for success in its mission, refusing to cave under the pressure. Yes, the City of Marysville does have citizens who are critical of our Police Department’s tough stance on public drug use and homelessness, but the Department wavers not in their mission to keep our community safe.
They’ve done a marvelous job in mostly all areas. I say mostly because of the Department’s recent social media post taking pride in hitting a “diversity milestone” of having nearly 1 in 4 commissioned police officers be women. In the Facebook post, the Department claimed that diversity – as characterized by women on the front lines of policing – leads to “overall success.” But what does success in policing mean?
According to the Marysville PD Policy Manual, the mission of the department is to “enhance our City’s safety, growth, and livability.” Success is demonstrated in protecting the community in such a way that it’s people feel safe to live and grow within it. Does promoting diversity quotas of women on the front lines of the police force really lead to “overall success” in that endeavor? When we see a ruffian ignore the commands of a woman officer half his size and continue on his merry way, does that enhance the “safety, growth, and livability” of the city? The objective is safety, not diversity.
Courts could demand gender-normed PAT scores all they want – where physical requirements differ between men and women – and the Department’s public relations team could be proud of their so-called milestones. But the criminal doesn’t have “gender-normed” aggression, and couldn’t care less about the Department’s milestones. The male and female biological reality is what it is. No court-ruling or diversity quota can subsidize for that. This kind of political virtue signaling is presented as some sort of progress, when in reality it puts the entire mission of keeping a community safe at risk.
Apart from risking the safety of the community, trying to proactively meet diversity quotas by advertising “milestones” of women on the front lines also puts future women in danger. In calling more girls to join the front lines in the name of diversity, the Department is essentially saying, “We love women so much we make them go first into battle!” That kind of message is appalling and scary. Fathers are given to daughters for protection, not for using them as a shield against danger. Inviting more girls to participate as officers in the police force is working against the mission of the Police Department.
Perhaps there’s federal and state funding connected to meeting diversity quotas. Perhaps it’s pressure from the cultural mobs that the Police Department is trying to appease. Or perhaps there are other internal reasons why the Department believes it’s important to set, meet, and advertise “diversity milestones.” Whatever the reason is, a failure of nerve within the force to effectively protect Marysville’s community and future women is working against its own mission. Caving on this point undermines the Department’s pursuit of success. I am truly blessed and thankful for the work of Marysville officers and that of Chief Scairpon. And, “enhancing our City’s safety, growth, and livability” demands ongoing nerve to stay the course, not wavering under demands for so-called diversity.
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