Community Relationships
A major priority for any police agency must be to mend community fences to develop trusting relationships. The more such a trust-based relationship can be built, the less the "us-against-them" mentality will prevail. Without that trusting relationship, things can too easily devolve into an "us-against-them" mentality. And the more the police tend to retreat into such a defensive shell, the community response is likely to mirror the same approach. That kind of standoff undoes any sense of a professional police force which will abide by its oath, and too easily turns into a willingness to accept warlike conditions as a norm. That approach is ultimately a dead end, and often, a deadly end. We must remember that the police are the professionals in this situation and therefore they must take the lead in finding resolution to these issues. In the process of finding workable solutions there is no room for politics or prejudice, and such solutions are, almost never, simply more police officers and/or more force.
Police Unions
And then there is the older concepts of a brotherhood of police (even that term is outdated, not to be replaced by a sisterhood, but perhaps by family). But that has a defensiveness implied, to protect their family against outside threats. That is, to a large extent, what a union is for; to be that family to be sure that its members are treated fairly and afforded due process. If the union is to be really effective and provide a real service to the profession, an important part of its role must be to monitor the actions of its membership and hold those who break the community or professional code accountable; to insist on remedial training or to counsel them out of policing. In certain cases, they must allow their members to be brought to trial while protecting their rights to due process. To the degree that the union becomes merely defensive, protecting its members regardless of the merits of the case, the union defeats its entire purpose as a professional organization within the society.
Protect and Serve
Another issue that arises is: Who do those police officers, their departments and their unions really protect and serve? The politics of policing within this society have historically tilted the police toward the socioeconomic elite and the political groups in power at the time. That bias was clear to most people who were not in those groups, who therefore looked at the police with some degree of wariness. As time went on and as the police became more professional, more and more of the elements of neutrality began to emerge within police forces. However, the politically powerful and the socioeconomic elite have never lost all of their influence, nor are they likely to.
A police officers' priority cannot be to solely protect and serve themselves or their unions or their departments, or their political ends. Their priority cannot be to serve only certain elements of society. Their priority must be to service all elements of the community and the nation equally and justly, in order for the entire process to work as it should and their access to authority really be justified.
Worldview and Attitude
Perhaps the greatest hurtle at this time is the sense of serving some version of what has been put forward as the true American; basically, being a white, Christian, male dominated society. This is also deeply connected to the capitalist economic mantra even though the current version of that mantra no longer much supports ordinary people. It is also a view of the world that supports a brand of militarism as a paramount principle. This also includes a version of American history and culture that is heavily edited to fit the prescriptions of that worldview.
All of these elements, or any of them, cause social friction within the society and especially incommunities who see the world differently and experience a very different version of America on a daily basis.
Conclusions
In conclusion police forces should not exist to support any particular group, worldview, ideology or agenda. They must exist within some zone of neutrality in which the professional police officers can accomplish their duties and responsibilities as the police oath prescribes. To the degree any of them stray from that path their protection and service become suspect and counterproductive.
An oath is a sacred pledge to the society and must be kept for community life to have a sense of coherence, unity, and security: to become a civil society once again.
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