police cannot address all social disorder issues independent of citizen involvement. We must instead accept the responsibility for our individual actions for the safety and security of our own persons and property, and for the collective welfare of our communities.
“We’ve been locked in a system of pure law enforcement for several decades now. Some of us have forgotten there’s a difference between policing and enforcing the law. Our emphasis is on catching the bad guys and putting them in jail. That’s a position regularly evidenced by the rallying and backslapping among officers when a cop makes a ‘good collar.’ Police officers readily recognize, as does the public, significant acts of heroism or the high profile criminal arrest. But officers who, in the absence of a fortuitous circumstance, dedicate themselves to solving community problems, helping a family in crisis, working with a misdirected young person or taking the time to attend a neighborhood meeting, rarely receive the same peer applause or community recognition. Action-and-adventure policing is glorified while officers demonstrating compassion, commitment, and altruism go largely unnoticed. Officers displaying such qualities are often ridiculed and accused of not doing ‘real’ police work.”
I found myself enjoying this immensely, but I had to keep shifting from leg to leg and repositioning myself against the wall to keep my extremities from falling asleep. I didn’t want to miss a word. The community was in turmoil because people held the perception that the police were insensitive and overly prone to violence. It looked as if that might be about to change.
I quickly scanned the room. It appeared that everyone was as into this as I was. People were generally nodding in affirmation and whispering their agreement to one another. The intensity in the room was palpable.
“Unfortunately, too few of us demonstrate any understanding of the complexity and connectivity of our social systems and our community relationships,” Chief Dylan went on, drawing the room in with every word. “It’s time to embrace our interdependence and recognize the significance each individual has in relationship to the whole. The more we acknowledge the complexity and interconnectedness of the events taking place around us, the greater will be our appreciation for the need to alter the nature and role of the police. Our willingness to work in concert with our criminal justice representatives to eliminate or mitigate circumstances conducive to crime and social disorder is our best hope to more effectively manage crime and to cultivate a more tranquil society.”
You could’ve heard a pin drop. Every eye in the place followed the chief’s every move. Heads continued nodding and people kept glancing toward one another with smiles of approval. It felt as if someone had turned up the heat in the auditorium. It was really warm and a bit uncomfortable. You know the feeling you get when you’ve been caught doing something you aren’t supposed to do? I felt as if the chief knew I was in the room and was directing everything he said right at me.
“Did you know that there’s been an increase in the use of alcohol and illicit substances over the past several years? There has also been a corresponding increase in the occurrence and severity of physical and psychological disorders affecting our nation’s young people. Did you know that?” he asked.
“No,” I thought to myself, “I didn’t know that.”
“I didn’t think so,” he said.
Now I knew he was talking to me.
“Our children are killing one another. They’re having babies and they’re no more than babies themselves. They’re using drugs, drinking alcohol and doing everything adults do without the benefit of having matured beyond their adolescence. In many cases, they haven’t even reached puberty yet.” Dylan paused, lowering his eyes as if he were lamenting some great personal loss. When he went on, his voice was different. It was soft, soothing, and measured as if he were reciting a gentle prayer.
“There was a time,” he said, “when the most important ideal in American society was family. We worked hard to take care of the family. We studied hard in school, not necessarily for ourselves, but so we wouldn’t embarrass the family or bring disrepute to the family name, but mostly to make our parents proud. Children were careful not to do things that would discredit themselves. Our behavior and that of our children was important because of the significance it bore to the respectability and maintenance of our good family name.
“It was also important that we respected and looked out for our friends and neighbors. It was a secondary ideal to family, but we cared deeply about our neighbors. We were willing to alter our behavior so that our neighbors wouldn’t feel compelled to tell our parents of some misdeed we’d engaged in. We felt a deep caring and a responsibility for our friends and neighbors. As we matured, we watched out for the neighbors’ children, providing them with a place to stay if their parents were late getting home. We scolded them for exhibiting behaviors we knew wouldn’t meet with their parents’ approval. We naturally watched each other’s homes and regularly talked to one another over the backyard fence. It wasn’t a burden, but rather a pleasure, to help a friend or neighbor. And it was an honorable thing to do.
“Lastly,” Dylan’s voice began to rise and change in timbre ever so slightly, “we thought of self. We did things for ourselves that we knew wouldn’t hurt others and were consistent with the values of the community. We had an awareness of the significance and importance of the rights of others and did everything we could to ensure we didn’t infringe on those rights.” He began to speak more forcefully, with greater passion and conviction. “Our happiness was dependent, to some degree at least, upon the happiness of our family, friends and neighbors. As children, we felt a sense of pride when someone said, ‘that’s So-and-So’s child.’ As parents, we enjoyed having someone comment on how well-behaved and well-mannered our children were.” He spoke as if he were talking to his closest friend. “There seemed to be an understanding regarding the importance of discipline,” he said, “not merely the punitive interpretation, but the concept of self-control and self-regulation. We seemed to be more giving, less selfish and more selfless.
“Over the years, we’ve witnessed an inversion of that model.” His voice rose in volume and intensity. “We no longer view family as the most important ideal. I fear we’re seeing shades of the sixties. You see, we now generally view the self as most important, followed by friends and neighbors. And now, peer relationships have emerged as a distinctly separate phenomenon that allows for the imposition of an external group’s values on others. This is particularly true for adolescents, and it affects them in ways that have had a dramatic and deleterious impact on our young people.” The chief’s voice thundered off the walls and he pounded his point home with his fist into an open palm.
“We’re preoccupied with self-interests. Our overriding concern is how what we’re doing makes us feel. What’s in it for me? If someone else benefits from what I do, how do I ensure I get my cut? Now, I’m not suggesting that this is reflective of all of society. Not everyone has become so hedonistic. There are exceptions, although not nearly as many as may be necessary, to once again reverse this destructive tendency.
“We must once again recognize and revere our families as important structures for building a healthy society. The family communicates, in a variety of ways, the values and expectations that help mold an individual’s sense of conscience. I’m not making any statement nor am I implying anything about the form ‘family’ must take. I’m merely asserting the importance of family to the building of a healthy community.
“You see, approximately 70 percent of the women in this country are working mothers with school-age children. More than twelve million of those are single and the heads of households. While the number of men who are single parents is smaller—only about three million—it’s the fastest growing family unit in America. More than three-quarters of the single working parents in this country experience conflicting demands between work and home. But what’s important
