One of my favorite authors is Michael Connelly of “Dirty Harry” fame. Actually, the real name of Dirty Harry is Hieronymus Bosch. Yes, he is named after the painter from the Netherlands. It does not surprise me that Mr. Connelly used the European painter, Bosch, as the namesake of Dirty Harry. Many of Dirty Harry’s stories take place in the surreal landscape that every law enforcement officer (LEO) encounters. And, it is not merely the surreal landscape of the streets they patrol, but also the surreal landscape of his own partners and superiors. Sometimes, it is his partners and superiors who are more surreal in their thinking and actions than the perpetrators or the victims. The paintings of his namesake are equally surreal, and quite horrifying. No matter how long you look at those paintings, more and more surreal details emerge. No matter how often you read the Connelly stories, the same is true. In passing, do not bother with the movies, you will not catch the surrealism as well.
But, Connelly is also very honest in his portrayal of the realities of being a LEO. Dirty Harry is a complex, conflicted, morally tainted, hero. Yes, a hero. He is convinced that, “everybody matters or nobody matters.” He will do everything necessary in order to solve a case. The problem is that whether he needs to oppose his superiors or whether he needs to break the law in order to catch a perpetrator, he will do what he personally sees as best. His morality is mixed at best. The only thing that saves Dirty Harry from being an evil character is that he is fully and totally committed to finding out who is truly guilty. He will not spin or tolerate a case to be spun in such a way that it makes the guilty appear more guilty or the innocent appear to be tainted. It is only his personal and absolute sense of justice that keeps him from making a mistake that would cause an innocent man to be arrested or a guilty man to go free.
The world that Connelly portrays is a world that is common to many LEOs. They engage a world in which the words “fair” and “just” have no meanings. They constantly engage a world in which power rules more often than right, as in “might makes right.” They work in a world in which they can rarely believe witness statements because the witness may have not seen correctly, may have added to what they have seen because they believe the person is either guilty or innocent, or may have lied for any of several reasons. They often interact with a world which we do not see, a world in which reality appears to be twisted and Alice in Wonderland is more of a guidebook than Blackmun’s law.
But, their danger is that they can get sucked into that surrealism. They can forget moral behavior in their own right. Connelly does a great job in portraying the great temptations to behave as though the surrealism they experience is reality. Various of Connelly’s books portray LEOs that step over the line into criminal behavior. But, they also portray a sincere search for truth on the part of various investigators, but most especially Dirty Harry. His LEOs are neither perfect nor corrupted, but are just as we are, human beings with all the temptations that we have. The difference is that they have the power to act on their temptations and to expect the thin blue line to support them.
It is that power to act that is a siren’s song that calls the LEO to break what is right and act on what is wrong. After all, if you are convinced that the person is guilty, why not break the rules a little? The siren’s song comes in when the LEO hears the whispers in his head that the laws are unfair, that he is shackled by inappropriate judicial rulings, that those politicians do not really understand what he must deal with. And it is that siren’s song that can lead an officer to break the law in his own right, then be surprised if he is caught and brought to trial.
But the same happens with those civilians who fall into the same surrealistic rabbit hole. Those are the ones who can watch a police officer shoot a non-dangerous person in the back while he is running away and yet, without blinking, claim that the LEO was fully justified in breaking the law by murdering someone. Remember, that is not my opinion, that is the opinion of the prosecutor in that county and of the LEO’s companions. That surrealistic rabbit hole is like the “giant sucking sound” to which Ross Perot referred in his lost campaign for the Presidency. Just because 09/11 happened does not mean that LEOs and firemen are automatically all heroes. I was in the Army. I guarantee you that there were many low-lives in the Army during Viet Nam. Those low-lives were not heroes. The low-lives dishonored their calling and their oath.
On the one hand, we were not all heroes. On the other hand, we did not deserve the lack of respect and the insults we received. In the same way, LEOs are not all heroes. Some are horrific lawbreakers who murder people and cover it up, who engage in racism and cover it up, who misuse their power and cover it up. On the other hand, all LEOs do deserve our respect and they deserve not to be insulted, unless it is clear that they have dishonored their calling and their oath.
Why do I not speak about the low-lives in the community? Well, because that is the reason why we have LEOs. Our laws and practices already acknowledge that there are low-lives in the community, law-breakers against whom we need to be protected. I need not speak against them, the laws and the courts have already spoken against them. They have neither calling nor oath that they can break. They are oath-breakers without even taking an oath. But, we expect our LEOs to not be part of the low-lives, to not be oath-breakers. That is the horror of a misbehaving LEO. That one is not simply a law-breaker, but an oath-breaker, the lowest of the low. That one deserves neither support nor excuse.
Yet, those LEOs who behave faithfully, who follow the law, who resist the siren’s song to go down the rabbit hole into misbehavior and surrealistic morals, deserve all our respect and honor. They deserve more respect and honor than the normal citizen (unless they are a veteran of wartime) because they have resisted the siren’s song. They have kept their oath. They are law-keepers. They are truly heroes.
So, as civilians, let us engage in sound judgment. Many LEOs are heroes, but not all are. Many are faithful and good, but some are not. Let us be careful not to say that either all LEOs are bad or that all LEOs are heroes. Each one earns his/her own place. Each one is/is not a hero. Let us honor the heroes and get rid of the oath-breakers.
Hear hear! And Amen.