Former Police Chief Norm Stamper Criticizes "Occupation Mentality" Of Today's Police

McClatchy DC
Dec. 10, 2014

"...There is a preoccupation with officer safety. We want our police to make it home at the end of every shift, but their purpose in life shouldn’t be self-preservation, as understandable as that may be. These officers were not drafted into police service. They elected to become cops, and in carrying out the police function, they need to understand they’ve been hired in part to take risks – wise, prudent risks – and to de-escalate situations and diffuse tension. But if their major goal at end of each shift is to make it home, then they really shouldn’t be cops.

There is much more emphasis on officer survival training today, more emphasis on weaponry and tactics at the expense of what I would call a more humanistic approach to policing, where you get by on your wits, your personal communication style, your sense of humor. Are you able to laugh at yourself, or are you taking yourself altogether too seriously? Are you coming across as an automaton, as a soldier?

I think there is more fear in policing today. It operates on a sublimated level. Police officers don’t really talk about fear. . . .

But if you have this occupational force mentality – and I’m afraid that has happened in many police departments – then you’re going to be perceived as a soldier, not a cop. You’re going to be seen as an enemy and you’re going to treat others as the enemy."

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