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Prejudice
and Stress
and Stress
Webster's Dictionary defines Prejudice as: "1. a judgement or
opinion formed before the facts are known; preconceived
idea, favorable or, more usually, unfavorable."
opinion formed before the facts are known; preconceived
idea, favorable or, more usually, unfavorable."
That's the first, and most benign, definition of prejudice. Whether
favorable or unfavorable, you'll never, as a police officer, have any
constructive use for prejudice of any kind. Forget, for just a moment, the
word itself. When you make a judgement or form an opinion before the
facts are known, your prejudice will frequently lead you to wrong
conclusions. For a police officer, frequently reaching wrong conclusions
will, without any doubt whatsoever, result in stress for the police officer as
well as others affected by the police officer's prejudice.
Even though you're a police officer, you're still just an imperfect human
being, and you will have prejudices. Make no mistake, your prejudices will
cause you stress if you let those prejudices affect the outcome of anything
you do. The really beautiful thing about being a fact finder and enforcer of
laws is your ability, as a police officer, to reach conclusions based on facts
devoid of prejudice.
As a police officer, you are the first, and most important, cog in the wheel
of criminal justice. People often view judges and lawyers as the supreme
defenders against prejudice. Sometimes that's true; sometimes it's not.
Remember, judges and lawyers have a lot of time to insert their own
prejudices into outcomes through arguments that are sometimes
reasonable and sometimes unreasonable. You, on the other hand, will not
have time to finesse your prejudices into a desired outcome without
exposing your prejudices.
Here's a sad fact. You're going to work with police officers who let their
prejudices influence their fact finding activities. I once worked with a
police officer of above average intelligence, but his slavish devotion to his
own prejudices made any association with him, or his investigative
activities, a stressful experience for me and others. If you find yourself
working with a police officer, or for a supervisor, who has no appreciation
for facts and truth in general, you should do exactly what I learned to
do...you call that person on each and every false or outrageous conclusion
that person attempts to render as factual.
Facts are facts, and it's very easy to reach conclusions based on facts
alone. As you go about an investigation, you're going to have a
preconceived outcome in mind...it's only natural. As your investigation
continues, your desired outcome looks promising as emerging facts seems
to support your initial conclusion. Then...you uncover a very strong and
verifiable fact that simply blows away your initial idea of how your
investigation would conclude. If your prejudice(s) is strong enough, you
might be tempted to ignore a fact(s) which does not fit with what is now
your prejudicial conclusion. If you ever feel such temptation, take a
moment to reflect on who and what you are...a police officer.
Everyone has prejudices, and that's a universal truth. While many people
can express their prejudices in a variety of ways with little or no
consequences, a police officer does not have that luxury. You'll be accused
-- many times -- of acting out of prejudice whether or not there's any basis
for the accusations. Whether true or false, any accusation of prejudicial
wrongdoing is a stressful experience to endure. However, a false
accusation is far less stressful than a truthful one.
It is what it is...a simple phrase that every police officer should never
forget. Even simpler is your ability, as a police officer and fact finder, to
avoid stress by never letting your prejudices overshadow or influence the
factual simplicity of...it is what it is.
favorable or unfavorable, you'll never, as a police officer, have any
constructive use for prejudice of any kind. Forget, for just a moment, the
word itself. When you make a judgement or form an opinion before the
facts are known, your prejudice will frequently lead you to wrong
conclusions. For a police officer, frequently reaching wrong conclusions
will, without any doubt whatsoever, result in stress for the police officer as
well as others affected by the police officer's prejudice.
Even though you're a police officer, you're still just an imperfect human
being, and you will have prejudices. Make no mistake, your prejudices will
cause you stress if you let those prejudices affect the outcome of anything
you do. The really beautiful thing about being a fact finder and enforcer of
laws is your ability, as a police officer, to reach conclusions based on facts
devoid of prejudice.
As a police officer, you are the first, and most important, cog in the wheel
of criminal justice. People often view judges and lawyers as the supreme
defenders against prejudice. Sometimes that's true; sometimes it's not.
Remember, judges and lawyers have a lot of time to insert their own
prejudices into outcomes through arguments that are sometimes
reasonable and sometimes unreasonable. You, on the other hand, will not
have time to finesse your prejudices into a desired outcome without
exposing your prejudices.
Here's a sad fact. You're going to work with police officers who let their
prejudices influence their fact finding activities. I once worked with a
police officer of above average intelligence, but his slavish devotion to his
own prejudices made any association with him, or his investigative
activities, a stressful experience for me and others. If you find yourself
working with a police officer, or for a supervisor, who has no appreciation
for facts and truth in general, you should do exactly what I learned to
do...you call that person on each and every false or outrageous conclusion
that person attempts to render as factual.
Facts are facts, and it's very easy to reach conclusions based on facts
alone. As you go about an investigation, you're going to have a
preconceived outcome in mind...it's only natural. As your investigation
continues, your desired outcome looks promising as emerging facts seems
to support your initial conclusion. Then...you uncover a very strong and
verifiable fact that simply blows away your initial idea of how your
investigation would conclude. If your prejudice(s) is strong enough, you
might be tempted to ignore a fact(s) which does not fit with what is now
your prejudicial conclusion. If you ever feel such temptation, take a
moment to reflect on who and what you are...a police officer.
Everyone has prejudices, and that's a universal truth. While many people
can express their prejudices in a variety of ways with little or no
consequences, a police officer does not have that luxury. You'll be accused
-- many times -- of acting out of prejudice whether or not there's any basis
for the accusations. Whether true or false, any accusation of prejudicial
wrongdoing is a stressful experience to endure. However, a false
accusation is far less stressful than a truthful one.
It is what it is...a simple phrase that every police officer should never
forget. Even simpler is your ability, as a police officer and fact finder, to
avoid stress by never letting your prejudices overshadow or influence the
factual simplicity of...it is what it is.
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