Abhijit Naskar's Blog - Posts Tagged "cops"
COP means Caretaker of People
Bow not, my brave officer of the law, before the soul-crunching pressure of corruption – light up the nuclear furnace of responsibility and justice that sleeps dormant within you and crush all corruption to ashes – only then you’ll become the very embodiment of courage, conscience and order in the human society. You are not to live for yourself, as a labor of law – you are to live in the service of humans, as the very life-force of law in the human society. You are to exist as a living, breathing incarnate of order, harmony and civilization.
Rise and act – and corruption will be afraid of you – injustice will be afraid of you – inequality will be afraid of you. And remember, you must be a friend to the people – a guide to the people – a guardian to the people – and this means, not only protecting the people against obvious anti-social activity, but more importantly it means defending the rights of the people against all forms of anti-social and corrupt behavior even if it comes from your own department or from the government officials controlling the department.
Yours is not like any other profession – upon your duty depends whether a little child in a corner of your neighborhood will sleep sound – upon your duty depends whether a woman can return home safe from work at night – upon your duty depends whether an elderly person can reach home from the bank without being mugged. You matter – your duty matters – not merely for you mark you, but for those countless civilians who rely on your individual sense of responsibility with their very life. You are to be the lion that keeps all vicious predators away when it roams the neighborhood.
You are not just a police officer, you are the caretaker of hundreds of lives. Do you feel this, my friend? Do you feel it in your bones. If you do, then simply act in the line of duty with a purifying force of conscience flowing through your veins, and justice will follow – safety will follow – order will follow. You can’t maintain the law, for you are the law – you can’t maintain order, for you are the order – so put on the uniform and be what you are supposed to be – the vanguard of society. The law and order within you will outpour into the society through your duty, once you become one with your duty. So, be one with your duty – be one with the society – be one with the people – and all will be well.
When a burning sense of duty flows through the veins of a police officer like blood, it turns the very word police into an emblem of hope – an emblem of righteousness – an emblem of integrity, dignity and morality. Be an officer my friend, an officer with the guts to do right to the right and right to the wrong. Knowing what’s wrong changes nothing, what does is our action to make things right. And remember, politics is not your business – bureaucracy is not your business – corporate interest is not your business – in this whole wide world, your interest is only one – and that is, protection of the people. Mark this my friend, a COP means Caretaker Of People – not of the selfish and authoritarian interests of politicians and bureaucrats.
Rise and act – and corruption will be afraid of you – injustice will be afraid of you – inequality will be afraid of you. And remember, you must be a friend to the people – a guide to the people – a guardian to the people – and this means, not only protecting the people against obvious anti-social activity, but more importantly it means defending the rights of the people against all forms of anti-social and corrupt behavior even if it comes from your own department or from the government officials controlling the department.
Yours is not like any other profession – upon your duty depends whether a little child in a corner of your neighborhood will sleep sound – upon your duty depends whether a woman can return home safe from work at night – upon your duty depends whether an elderly person can reach home from the bank without being mugged. You matter – your duty matters – not merely for you mark you, but for those countless civilians who rely on your individual sense of responsibility with their very life. You are to be the lion that keeps all vicious predators away when it roams the neighborhood.
You are not just a police officer, you are the caretaker of hundreds of lives. Do you feel this, my friend? Do you feel it in your bones. If you do, then simply act in the line of duty with a purifying force of conscience flowing through your veins, and justice will follow – safety will follow – order will follow. You can’t maintain the law, for you are the law – you can’t maintain order, for you are the order – so put on the uniform and be what you are supposed to be – the vanguard of society. The law and order within you will outpour into the society through your duty, once you become one with your duty. So, be one with your duty – be one with the society – be one with the people – and all will be well.
When a burning sense of duty flows through the veins of a police officer like blood, it turns the very word police into an emblem of hope – an emblem of righteousness – an emblem of integrity, dignity and morality. Be an officer my friend, an officer with the guts to do right to the right and right to the wrong. Knowing what’s wrong changes nothing, what does is our action to make things right. And remember, politics is not your business – bureaucracy is not your business – corporate interest is not your business – in this whole wide world, your interest is only one – and that is, protection of the people. Mark this my friend, a COP means Caretaker Of People – not of the selfish and authoritarian interests of politicians and bureaucrats.
Letter to Law Enforcement
Every field of human endeavor has its own unique problem. The problem with science is lack of warmth. The problem with philosophy is lack of empathy. The problem with religion is lack of reason. The problem with politics is lack of expertise. And the problem with law enforcement is not corruption, but an absolute denial of that corruption, and until you acknowledge that many of your officers are corrupt and prejudiced to the neck, you can never in a million years build a healthy relationship with the people.
Prejudices thrive on biases, and biases are a part of our psyche - of the human psyche, and no matter what we do, we cannot erase them from our mind - but we do have the ability to be aware of them, and only when we are aware of them, can we choose whether or not to be driven by them. However, when you don't even acknowledge that you have biases, that you are filled with prejudice, then you are inadvertently choosing not to accept the root of all the mistakes committed by you and your fellow officers in the line of duty.
A civilian may choose to stay biased and prejudiced all their life, but you as a defender of the people - as a defender of their rights, their security, their serenity - do not have the luxury to let your biases, to let your prejudices come in the way of your duty, for the moment they do, you the keeper of law and order, turn into the very cause of disorder.
Therefore, it's not enough for an officer of the law to have combat training and legal knowledge, it is also imperative that you learn about biases, that you learn about the fears, insecurities and instinctual tendencies of the human mind. An officer of the law without an understanding of biases, is like a ten year old with a knife - they may feel that they have power, but they have no clue as to the real life implications of that power. Remember my friend, power that doesn't help the people, is not power but pandemic.
Your combat training doesn't make you a police officer, for when enraged even an ordinary civilian can take down ten police officers - your knowledge of law doesn't make you an officer of the law, for when pushed even a mediocre college student can defeat an army of elite legal minds - what makes you a police officer is your absolute acceptance of your role in society - the role of selfless servants. Once you accept the role of selfless servants wholeheartedly, people are bound to trust you.
My brave, conscientious officers of the law, if you want people to trust you, don't use the phrase "police are your friends", for it only makes you sound authoritarian, egotistical and condescending - instead, remind them "police are humans too" - acknowledge your mistakes and work towards correcting them, so that you can truly become the Caretaker of People, which is the very definition of COP.
(Excerpt from "Boldly Comes Justice: Sentient not Silent")
Prejudices thrive on biases, and biases are a part of our psyche - of the human psyche, and no matter what we do, we cannot erase them from our mind - but we do have the ability to be aware of them, and only when we are aware of them, can we choose whether or not to be driven by them. However, when you don't even acknowledge that you have biases, that you are filled with prejudice, then you are inadvertently choosing not to accept the root of all the mistakes committed by you and your fellow officers in the line of duty.
A civilian may choose to stay biased and prejudiced all their life, but you as a defender of the people - as a defender of their rights, their security, their serenity - do not have the luxury to let your biases, to let your prejudices come in the way of your duty, for the moment they do, you the keeper of law and order, turn into the very cause of disorder.
Therefore, it's not enough for an officer of the law to have combat training and legal knowledge, it is also imperative that you learn about biases, that you learn about the fears, insecurities and instinctual tendencies of the human mind. An officer of the law without an understanding of biases, is like a ten year old with a knife - they may feel that they have power, but they have no clue as to the real life implications of that power. Remember my friend, power that doesn't help the people, is not power but pandemic.
Your combat training doesn't make you a police officer, for when enraged even an ordinary civilian can take down ten police officers - your knowledge of law doesn't make you an officer of the law, for when pushed even a mediocre college student can defeat an army of elite legal minds - what makes you a police officer is your absolute acceptance of your role in society - the role of selfless servants. Once you accept the role of selfless servants wholeheartedly, people are bound to trust you.
My brave, conscientious officers of the law, if you want people to trust you, don't use the phrase "police are your friends", for it only makes you sound authoritarian, egotistical and condescending - instead, remind them "police are humans too" - acknowledge your mistakes and work towards correcting them, so that you can truly become the Caretaker of People, which is the very definition of COP.
(Excerpt from "Boldly Comes Justice: Sentient not Silent")
Police Sonnet
Police is not a profession,
But a promise of protection.
So long as you carry the badge,
You must discard self-preservation.
The thin blue line of service,
Is not for self-serving narcissists.
When your sole concern is society,
Only then can you uphold justice.
You mustn't become manikins of politics,
Nor of bureaucratic brutality.
Your allegiance is only to the people,
Their welfare will rescue your humanity.
In the sea of selfishness be the selfless drop,
Taking care of people you become a real cop.
But a promise of protection.
So long as you carry the badge,
You must discard self-preservation.
The thin blue line of service,
Is not for self-serving narcissists.
When your sole concern is society,
Only then can you uphold justice.
You mustn't become manikins of politics,
Nor of bureaucratic brutality.
Your allegiance is only to the people,
Their welfare will rescue your humanity.
In the sea of selfishness be the selfless drop,
Taking care of people you become a real cop.
