Downfall

The bureaucratic machine that drives most business is an absolute necessity.  Whether it's a financial business looking for consistency among their book keepers or a police force looking for consistency amongst the ranks of enforcement, the bureaucratic machine has in place certain guidelines that are best suited for the machine as a whole.  However, creating a bureaucratic environment is much harder when the environment in which it operates is a fluid environment that allows only fractions of a second to make life altering decisions of enforcement.

As a police officer, there are guidelines set in place; rules, regulations, general orders, operating procedures, laws, and interpretation of those guidelines.  Each officer has their morals, but each place of business or department expects and demands ethical behavior.  This is where interpretation becomes the hardest part of the job.  Not because an officer is expected to judge the world in black in white, but because the world is so gray that either black or white is the wrong thing to do. 

There are so many different ways to get from point A to point B.  There is the long way, short way, short cut, back door, side window, dirt road, paved road, physical, and easy way; depending on the situation, each one of those paths are both right and wrong.  The majority of decisions made by officers are based on the ethics, but can sometimes become clouded by their morals or lack of.  It's important to realize that it's never as easy as black and white.

Every situation as at least two sides.  Each encounter has a good guy and a bad guy and it's imperative to realize that if the perspective is reversed, the good guy becomes the bad guy and the bad guy becomes the good guy.  With that said, there is usually a winner and loser,  but there are some cases where there are no winners.  Every officer has faced the challenge of alleviating problems and have come face to face with the fact that at this particular moment, no one wins.  This particular situation is the hardest for an officer, who is human, to alleviate.

In most cases, the officer will make a decision that they feel is the ethical and moral sound decision.  What happens when this particular decision is reviewed by the bureaucrats that were not there?  What happens when the bureaucrats forget what its like to be faced with these decisions?  The bureaucratic machine, which sees the gray world as black and white, is now placed in a position to make their own ethical decision; void of emotion and void of allegiance.

The days where a supervisor does his best to keep situations handled on the lowest level of the chain of command are over.  The days where a supervisor protects their subordinates from the punishing arm of bureaucratic justice and themselves are done.  Leadership has taken a back seat to Management and the perception of protection no longer lies within the blue wall of silence, but within silence alone.  There is no blue wall nor a code of silence.  The coined phrase of "Don't ask; don't tell" has become "Tell, so they won't ask". 

I've been told, "The pendulum swings both ways...things will become they way the used to be."  I do not see that happening at all.  At my five year mark, I can tell rookie police officers about the way 'we' used to handle certain situations.  In amazement, they can't believe it.  The sad part; when these rookies get to their five year mark, they will tell rookies the same thing and be looked at with dumbfounded curiosity and disbelief.

I'm aware that things will never be as they were.  I'm aware that trust among officers go only as far as the fear of repercussions.  However, it's disappointing to realize that doing the moral and ethical thing is also punishable.  It's even more disappointing to realize that the very thing you may get punished for is the very thing that was once considered the norm by the ones doling out your punishment.  What's even more disappointing is realizing that the very thing you may be getting punished for has resulted in a punishment that is usually reserved for a much more egregious offense that was committed by the ones demanding such penance for you.

To keep things in perspective, I tell myself that no matter what happens, my integrity is what matters.  The values and morals that were passed to me from my parents and the community that raised me are the goal.  Despite the changes that the world makes and despite the decline in the world's moral fiber, I find solace.  If I keep in mind that my integrity is not based on ethics, but my values and morals; I can go home every day of my life and smile.  When the time comes for me to be the supervisor, it is my goal to be a leader.  I want to be the leader that sets a high standard of excellence that is desired to be followed.  I want to be a leader that earns respect and never demands it.  I do not want to be the bureaucratic manager that forgets the road I traveled and caters to media or public opinion.  I want to be a man of integrity and that fact alone will be my downfall.