PREFACE
The scenes of this story, as the title indicates, involve decisions human beings make that have sad moral consequences. It is never one decision alone that is responsible for the creation of unjust leaders but the slow genesis of choices—one mistake compounded by the next, coupled with the belief that one can never look back in order to correct it—and the permission by submission of those people they rule.
Police departments all over
Police departments are based on the hierarchy system, with one Chief at the top making local government political decisions based upon window-dressing and not the actual needs or concerns of the police officer. If officers were left alone to do the job they are trained to do, they would develop the most workable system for everyone, but that is not happening today. Police officers are trained to handle critical situations on the street but they are ill equipped to handle the politics within.
It is this dichotomy—between police supervisors who make their decisions based on politics and the police officers who deal with the public—that causes abuse of power and the creation of tyrannical leaders today. It is about dishonest people whose positions of power say "trust me."
Moral cowards are ruled by fear. They say, "I don't want to lose my job" or "I have a family to support" or "It will never change…It is the same at the corner UDF store as it is in the presidency," and they stand idly by. They are afraid and that fear is what those tyrants rely upon to keep the people down. That is how they thrive unchecked.
We are all part of the problem. We let indifference grow lethal when we say nothing. No one should be afraid to stand up against what they know to be wrong, whether it is a detective who puts a felony packet in front of a prosecutor without sufficient evidence, or a supervisor who is manipulating the rules to punish a subordinate…but we are afraid.
I have decided that the message of what signs to look for is more important than pointing at the people who made the decisions that caused the destruction of a unit whose purpose was to protect children. By telling you this true story about what happened to a female juvenile bureau detective as it painfully evolved, it exemplifies my point, which is—why is it so bad to be good?
The solution is within each one of us. Once we recognize that what happens to others can happen to us, we will see the worth of preventing tyrants and power freaks from becoming our rulers, not only in the civilian's life but also in policing.
We are raised to believe that being moral, ethical, and virtuous is commendable but are we raised that way so that unscrupulous leaders can suck the life out of us in their voracious rise to the top? I believe these ideals should be for everyone so that our leaders will also become commendable.
This story is about selfish choices made and their equally bad consequences. It is about normally brave people who say nothing because they do not want to lose their job. It is the true story of moral cowards within policing.
No comments:
Post a Comment