The Simple Mission of Policing

The true mission of effective, community-supported policing is simple: Make good people feel safe. Detecting criminal activity and arresting offenders is a noble and important function of policing, but it is only a small objective in the much more grandiose and critical mission for 21st century law enforcement professionals.

The overwhelming majority of the U.S. population is composed of law-abiding, good natured people. During the course of a law officer’s career, it can become more difficult for that officer to believe that most of society’s members are good people because the bulk of their time is spent dealing with 1) good people at their lowest moments and 2) the small fraction of the population that intentionally seeks to prey on others. Failing to recognize that more people are good than are bad, is a precursor to the degenerating disease of cynicism, which plagues many criminal justice professionals. When officers focus all their attention on detecting and apprehending the criminal element, they will miss golden opportunities to engage in activities that make honest citizens feel safe. 

Officers have as much of an obligation to make the good appreciate them as they do in making the wicked worrisome of their presence. For every minute officers spend arresting a crook, a comparable amount of effort should be spent befriending a business owner, conversing with a homeowner or acting as a community ambassador to a visitor.

As often as criminals communicate among their unscrupulous brethren about police activities, so do the finer people in society. Let the topic of neighborhood banter be the increased number of friendly police officers patrolling the street or the interest a sheriff's deputy took to inquire from a resident about concerns they have about crime or other nuisances in their neighborhood. Not only will the public's confidence in law enforcement be escalated and contribute to an improved sense of security, but officers will also be taking positive steps in countering the corruption of cynical thoughts, the worst enemy they will battle throughout a career.

There is no suggestion that a blind eye be turned to criminals, but rather, ensuring officers focus on the benefits of making the good people of society feel safe. Once plagued with cynicism, the high stature that law enforcement deserves begins to deteriorate.