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Tiani McArthur

Criminal Justice 1010

Do you believe police officers should extend professional courtesy?

Professional Courtesy is a term used when law enforcement officers allow other officers

to engage in traffic violations or crimes without arresting or reporting them. I believe police

officers should not receive special treatment. I believe it does not help practice law enforcement

and public safety. I do not believe police officer should extend what is known as professional

courtesy.

I was driving the other day and seen a police officer in uniform driving their personal

vehicle. This officer was texting and driving. It puzzled me as to why their job duties insist they

pull over drivers texting and driving yet he feels like he should not be entitled to follow this law.

Thousands of people are killed every year due to texting and driving, it is law enforcements

responsibility to enforce the law to help protect the public.

In law enforcement, the public expects their officers to be held to a high ethical

standard. In order to perform their jobs and accomplish their mission of improving public safety,

officers rely on the public's trust. Part of that trust entails an expectation that officers will follow

the law and lead by example. (Timothy Roufa)

I believe if the officer was to be pulled over, he should be given a ticket or a warning

based upon the on duty officers decision to do so, not because professional courtesy or because
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the on duty officers feels like it is the respectable thing to do to a fellow officer who is

committing the traffic violation.

I do not believe professional courtesy helps practice law enforcement and public safety.

In the scenario above if that officer was to be given a warning strictly because of professional

courtesy and he knew that. He would think it is okay for him to continue to text and drive, which

would put himself and the public in harms way. And the possibility of killing himself or another

person. This would also be the on duty officer not enforcing the law.

Professional Courtesy does not help the justice system function effectively. The

responsibility of a police officer is to enforce the law. If they give passes to other police officers,

professions, and their families then everyone will try to think of a tie to get this same type of

treatment.

On two separate occasions in my career, I have arrested suspects who displayed badges

and said, Im a cop. One suspect was a barber, the other a fireman, and both were extremely

intoxicated drivers. They flashed their fake badges, hoping to fraudulently cash in on

professionally courtesy. I was able to ascertain they were not officers and then arrested them

for not only operating while intoxicated, but also impersonating a police officer. These two

claimed their ploy had worked a number of times prior to their arrest. (Lt. Dan Marcou 2012)

I believe professional courtesy raises ethical issue as well. A police officer should know

exactly what right and wrong is. They enforcement the law and every day. If a police officer is

texting and driving they should be held responsible to face the consequences. Why should they
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be allowed to enforce the law to citizens day to day when they think they do not have to follow

the law themselves?

I do believe the theory of professional courtesy should be eliminated. I believe an on duty

police officer should be able to decide when to give anyone cop or not a pass based upon their

violation. They should not feel like they are required to give professional courtesy to their peers

because it is the respectable thing to do.

Police officers who fail to extend professional courtesy to fellow officers can face

ridicule, shaming and other retaliation. Its an extension of the Blue Code of Silence, the

informal admonition that cops refrain from implicating other cops. Several years ago there was

even a Web site called Cops Writing Cops which provided a forum for police officers to

publicly shame fellow cops who had the audacity to ticket them. (Radley Balko, 2014)

I think if professional courtesy continues to exist it can cause fear for the on duty officer

to lose respect from their peer. They will then not know when professional courtesy has gone too

far depending on the crime. Cops will begin to get away with many crimes and continue to break

the law.

I do not believe police officers should extend professional courtesy because they are

obligated to do so, or because it is known as the respectable thing to do within their profession. If

a police officer is going to give a citizen a pass on a traffic violation, they should extend that

same pass to anyone based on the same criteria they decided to give the citizen a pass with. Not

just because the person committing the crime is a police officer and they feel like they have to do

so.
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I believe professional courtesy should be a choice decided by the on duty officer. The

officer committing the crime should not think the professional courtesy needs to be extended to

them based upon their job title.

If a fellow officer stops you because you have made a mistake, instead of flashing your

badge with a sense of entitlement, try this. Present your drivers license and badge to inform the

officer that you are an armed off-duty officer. Add, I am sorry for putting you in this awkward

position. Do what you deem necessary, Officer. This was my mistake. Guess what? In most

cases the officer will run their checks and send you on your way with a warning. If you do

receive a citation, accept it courteously and then take it to court or pay it, but do not malign a

fellow officer doing their job either at the scene or later. If you do that, you are no different than

the citizens who malign you for doing yours. (Lt. Dan Marcou 2012)

I believe professional courtesy should be eliminated from the minds of police officers.

They should not have special treatment when it comes to getting away with breaking the law.

They are held to a higher standards by citizens and should uphold the law. I do believe if a police

officer decides to let anyone go with a warning it should be with their better judgment and not

because the job title the citizen has who is breaking the law.

Citations
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Timothy Roufa (Unknown), Professional Courtesy in Law Enforcement Retrieved from

http://criminologycareers.about.com/od/Career_Trends/a/Professional-Courtesy-for-Police-
Officers.htm

Blue Knights with Lt. Dan Marcou (Oct 12, 2012), Professional courtesy: The badge on the
uniform trumps the badge in the wallet retrieved from http://www.policeone.com/off-
duty/articles/6009787-Professional-courtesy-The-badge-on-the-uniform-trumps-the-badge-in-
the-wallet/
Radley Balko (Feb 18, 2014) A plague of professional courtesy retrieved from
http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-watch/wp/2014/02/18/a-plague-of-professional-
courtesy/