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Victim
Classification
Classification
Police
and
and the
Art of
Self-Deception
Self-Deception
Victims
Imagine yourself as a detective investigating multiple rapes of street
prostitutes by the same suspect. You send a flier to the sex offense
units of police departments in surrounding jurisdictions. Your flier
describes the suspect, his vehicle, and his identical method used in each
crime. A couple of days later, you arrive at your office to find a message
on your answering machine. The message is from a detective in a
neighboring police department. After the detective identifies himself, he
states, "I got a woman here who was with your guy. Mine [this case] is
unfounded, so your's probably are too."
It takes you a while, but you finally locate the prostitute to whom the
seemingly clairvoyant detective referred. She's reluctant to discuss the
rape and sodomy committed against her since the other detective
threatened to arrest her for making a false report. You finally convince
her to describe her incident with the suspect, and you're quickly
convinced she had become your suspect's fifth victim. She gives you
some additional information by providing you with two numbers from
the suspect's car license plate. There's more…two days following her
release from the hospital, she saw the suspect driving his car. She
describes how she threw a brick at the suspect striking the roof of the
car just above the driver's side of the windshield.
A few days later, a detective from your unit arrests a prostitute for
soliciting him. During her post arrest interview, she's asked if she's
ever been raped, or assaulted, by a John. She replies, "Yea…just last
night." As she describes the sexual assault on her, it quickly becomes
evident to the detective that she's a new victim in your investigation.
The only difference between the assault on her and the others was the
level of violence. She explains that she realized the guy would have
probably killed her if she resisted, so she complied totally with his
demands. You can only imagine how this investigation would have
transpired if she would have ended up in the hospital, and she'd been
interviewed by Detective Clairvoyant. The real bombshell comes when
she's ask to describe the suspect. She looks at the detective and simply
says, "You already know who he is."
When the detective asks her why he should know the suspect, the
victim replies, "He wrote down his stuff." In a quizzical tone, the
detective asks, "Who wrote down what stuff?" She replies, "The cop
who stopped us." A little stunned, the detective pauses as others in the
room crowd around the victim. She goes on to explain that just seconds
after she entered the suspect's car, and they pulled from the curb, a
familiar flashing blue light illuminated the interior of the car. "The cop
knew what was going on," she said, "but neither of us would admit to
anything. So, he [officer] just took the guy's license and went back to
his car." The amount of time the victim estimated the police officer was
in his car, before returning the driver's license to the suspect, indicated
the police officer had recorded the license information.
After the patrol officer released them, the victim describes how the
suspect drove across the city line, and into an industrial park, where he
pulled a knife and raped her. Now, everyone is stunned. What kind of a
man would rape a woman right after being seen with her by a police
officer? He had to know the officer probably wrote down his name from
the license. Of course, the license could be fake, and the car could have
been recently stolen. What would Detective Clairvoyant think about this
bizarre string of events? Then again, Detective Clairvoyant would have
never gotten this far in the interview.
You set out to locate the car stop information you hope exists. You soon
determine that the information is not in the station house, but the
police officer who was working the post, where the car stop allegedly
occurred, is currently working. You locate the patrol officer who
validates the car stop described by the victim. The patrol officer reaches
for his clip board and flips through the papers. He pulls one from the
board and hands it to you. It's a departmental car stop form listing the
suspect's complete driver's license and vehicle registration information.
Now, you've really got something with which to work. You soon learn
that all of the information the patrol officer recorded is real, and you
answer the question as to what kind of man would be so bold to commit
such a crime under those circumstances. Your prime suspect is a
convicted rapist who recently finished a ten year prison sentence. It was
obvious he hadn't done well in prison, for he'd served every day of his
sentence with no parole or any accumulated good time.
You begin tracking down your victims. Each one identifies the suspect
from photo arrays. When you get to number five, she tells you the
suspect is in the photo array, but she refuses to identify him. She
explains that Detective Clairvoyant made her write a statement saying
she'd lied about the rape, because the suspect refused to pay her. Her
fear of the detective proves to be stronger than your assurances that
she has nothing to fear.
You get your arrest and search and seizure warrants and off you go.
You get the suspect, the knife, and the car. Aside from victim number
five's two numbers in the license plate being correct, you find a big dent
in the roof of the car just above the driver's side of the windshield.
There's other, more ominous, evidence of the violence that had occurred
inside that car…blood stains…a lot of blood stains. The right side of the
back seat is covered in blood. There's blood on the inside of the right
rear passenger door, and on the roof of the car. You speculate that
someone stepped from the car and stood leaning over the top of the car
as he or she bled. Your suspect admits to forcibly raping as many as
thirty prostitutes over a short period of time. He tells you he'd pick up a
prostitute every couple of days. He denies killing anyone, and he won't
give you an explanation for the blood stains.
As for this rapist, the only mistake he made was crossing that city line.
Had he stayed in Detective Clairvoyant's jurisdiction, he would have
never been brought to justice.
I suppose you know, by now, that you conducted a real investigation.
The only thing imaginary was your detective status. In case there is a
detective somewhere named Clairvoyant, it should be noted that, in this
investigation, the name is an alias used to protect the incompetent.
You hear a lot about sex offender registration. A lot of people feel
really good about knowing where sex offenders live. Police departments
and governments promote the registrations, because they know it
makes people feel good. There is an irony here…while police
departments are under reporting sex crimes, they're depending on the
public to keep their eyes on the sex offenders.
Everyone knows, or should know, that most sex offenders, particularly
the really dangerous ones, will re-offend. While police departments
pretty much ignore the rapes and sexual assaults of street prostitutes,
these women provide the serial rapist with a comfort zone. While the
serial rapist finds street prostitutes to be easy prey and relatively risk
free, depending upon time, place, and opportunity, any woman,
regardless of social status, can, and will, become his victim.
Prostitutes come in at the very lowest level on the victim scale. When a
prostitute is the victim of a crime of violence, she's likely to receive
little attention from police. Prostitutes are often raped, or otherwise
assaulted, but they rarely report these crimes to police. In fact, most
are reported only after the prostitutes are admitted to hospitals for
emergency medical treatment, and police are notified by hospital
personnel.
The prostitute will usually cooperate with the police investigation;
however, she will almost always lie about the initial contact between her
and the suspect. She'll report that she only accepted a ride from the
suspect, or the suspect forced her into his car. Of course, the truth is
that she entered the suspect's car voluntarily either immediately before,
or after, a verbal money for sex transaction was completed. She'll give
one of these two versions to police, because she fears she'll be
prosecuted for soliciting prostitution. There is a second reason as well.
Even though she regularly engages in prostitution, she is ashamed of
her conduct, and she believes her solicitation will justify the crime
committed against her.
While she's wrong on the first reason, she's not too far off on the
second one. The initial police interview can end even before it gets
started. Far too many police officers, as well as detectives supposedly
trained to conduct sex crimes' investigations, believe a prostitute can't
be raped. Whenever a victim prostitute utters one of those obvious lies
to an inexperienced, incompetent, or biased investigator, the quality of
the interview deteriorates rapidly. A good investigator will calmly
explain, to the victim, the importance of her total truthfulness. The poor
investigator will seize on that first, universal lie to humiliate the victim
with her obvious act of solicitation. The victim will immediately become
defensive, and her cooperation will evaporate.
When you begin your police career, just remember that you're being
paid to do a job. You can't do that job if you classify victims in order of
importance. You will, for certain, come under pressure at some point to
downgrade or ignore certain types of crime. The pressure can be overt,
or it can be subtle. When it comes to sex crimes, the victim
classification phenomenon is pervasive, and it should be immediately
obvious to you. If you take your police career seriously, you'll go
against the flow, and you'll treat every victim as a…victim.
prostitutes by the same suspect. You send a flier to the sex offense
units of police departments in surrounding jurisdictions. Your flier
describes the suspect, his vehicle, and his identical method used in each
crime. A couple of days later, you arrive at your office to find a message
on your answering machine. The message is from a detective in a
neighboring police department. After the detective identifies himself, he
states, "I got a woman here who was with your guy. Mine [this case] is
unfounded, so your's probably are too."
It takes you a while, but you finally locate the prostitute to whom the
seemingly clairvoyant detective referred. She's reluctant to discuss the
rape and sodomy committed against her since the other detective
threatened to arrest her for making a false report. You finally convince
her to describe her incident with the suspect, and you're quickly
convinced she had become your suspect's fifth victim. She gives you
some additional information by providing you with two numbers from
the suspect's car license plate. There's more…two days following her
release from the hospital, she saw the suspect driving his car. She
describes how she threw a brick at the suspect striking the roof of the
car just above the driver's side of the windshield.
A few days later, a detective from your unit arrests a prostitute for
soliciting him. During her post arrest interview, she's asked if she's
ever been raped, or assaulted, by a John. She replies, "Yea…just last
night." As she describes the sexual assault on her, it quickly becomes
evident to the detective that she's a new victim in your investigation.
The only difference between the assault on her and the others was the
level of violence. She explains that she realized the guy would have
probably killed her if she resisted, so she complied totally with his
demands. You can only imagine how this investigation would have
transpired if she would have ended up in the hospital, and she'd been
interviewed by Detective Clairvoyant. The real bombshell comes when
she's ask to describe the suspect. She looks at the detective and simply
says, "You already know who he is."
When the detective asks her why he should know the suspect, the
victim replies, "He wrote down his stuff." In a quizzical tone, the
detective asks, "Who wrote down what stuff?" She replies, "The cop
who stopped us." A little stunned, the detective pauses as others in the
room crowd around the victim. She goes on to explain that just seconds
after she entered the suspect's car, and they pulled from the curb, a
familiar flashing blue light illuminated the interior of the car. "The cop
knew what was going on," she said, "but neither of us would admit to
anything. So, he [officer] just took the guy's license and went back to
his car." The amount of time the victim estimated the police officer was
in his car, before returning the driver's license to the suspect, indicated
the police officer had recorded the license information.
After the patrol officer released them, the victim describes how the
suspect drove across the city line, and into an industrial park, where he
pulled a knife and raped her. Now, everyone is stunned. What kind of a
man would rape a woman right after being seen with her by a police
officer? He had to know the officer probably wrote down his name from
the license. Of course, the license could be fake, and the car could have
been recently stolen. What would Detective Clairvoyant think about this
bizarre string of events? Then again, Detective Clairvoyant would have
never gotten this far in the interview.
You set out to locate the car stop information you hope exists. You soon
determine that the information is not in the station house, but the
police officer who was working the post, where the car stop allegedly
occurred, is currently working. You locate the patrol officer who
validates the car stop described by the victim. The patrol officer reaches
for his clip board and flips through the papers. He pulls one from the
board and hands it to you. It's a departmental car stop form listing the
suspect's complete driver's license and vehicle registration information.
Now, you've really got something with which to work. You soon learn
that all of the information the patrol officer recorded is real, and you
answer the question as to what kind of man would be so bold to commit
such a crime under those circumstances. Your prime suspect is a
convicted rapist who recently finished a ten year prison sentence. It was
obvious he hadn't done well in prison, for he'd served every day of his
sentence with no parole or any accumulated good time.
You begin tracking down your victims. Each one identifies the suspect
from photo arrays. When you get to number five, she tells you the
suspect is in the photo array, but she refuses to identify him. She
explains that Detective Clairvoyant made her write a statement saying
she'd lied about the rape, because the suspect refused to pay her. Her
fear of the detective proves to be stronger than your assurances that
she has nothing to fear.
You get your arrest and search and seizure warrants and off you go.
You get the suspect, the knife, and the car. Aside from victim number
five's two numbers in the license plate being correct, you find a big dent
in the roof of the car just above the driver's side of the windshield.
There's other, more ominous, evidence of the violence that had occurred
inside that car…blood stains…a lot of blood stains. The right side of the
back seat is covered in blood. There's blood on the inside of the right
rear passenger door, and on the roof of the car. You speculate that
someone stepped from the car and stood leaning over the top of the car
as he or she bled. Your suspect admits to forcibly raping as many as
thirty prostitutes over a short period of time. He tells you he'd pick up a
prostitute every couple of days. He denies killing anyone, and he won't
give you an explanation for the blood stains.
As for this rapist, the only mistake he made was crossing that city line.
Had he stayed in Detective Clairvoyant's jurisdiction, he would have
never been brought to justice.
I suppose you know, by now, that you conducted a real investigation.
The only thing imaginary was your detective status. In case there is a
detective somewhere named Clairvoyant, it should be noted that, in this
investigation, the name is an alias used to protect the incompetent.
You hear a lot about sex offender registration. A lot of people feel
really good about knowing where sex offenders live. Police departments
and governments promote the registrations, because they know it
makes people feel good. There is an irony here…while police
departments are under reporting sex crimes, they're depending on the
public to keep their eyes on the sex offenders.
Everyone knows, or should know, that most sex offenders, particularly
the really dangerous ones, will re-offend. While police departments
pretty much ignore the rapes and sexual assaults of street prostitutes,
these women provide the serial rapist with a comfort zone. While the
serial rapist finds street prostitutes to be easy prey and relatively risk
free, depending upon time, place, and opportunity, any woman,
regardless of social status, can, and will, become his victim.
Prostitutes come in at the very lowest level on the victim scale. When a
prostitute is the victim of a crime of violence, she's likely to receive
little attention from police. Prostitutes are often raped, or otherwise
assaulted, but they rarely report these crimes to police. In fact, most
are reported only after the prostitutes are admitted to hospitals for
emergency medical treatment, and police are notified by hospital
personnel.
The prostitute will usually cooperate with the police investigation;
however, she will almost always lie about the initial contact between her
and the suspect. She'll report that she only accepted a ride from the
suspect, or the suspect forced her into his car. Of course, the truth is
that she entered the suspect's car voluntarily either immediately before,
or after, a verbal money for sex transaction was completed. She'll give
one of these two versions to police, because she fears she'll be
prosecuted for soliciting prostitution. There is a second reason as well.
Even though she regularly engages in prostitution, she is ashamed of
her conduct, and she believes her solicitation will justify the crime
committed against her.
While she's wrong on the first reason, she's not too far off on the
second one. The initial police interview can end even before it gets
started. Far too many police officers, as well as detectives supposedly
trained to conduct sex crimes' investigations, believe a prostitute can't
be raped. Whenever a victim prostitute utters one of those obvious lies
to an inexperienced, incompetent, or biased investigator, the quality of
the interview deteriorates rapidly. A good investigator will calmly
explain, to the victim, the importance of her total truthfulness. The poor
investigator will seize on that first, universal lie to humiliate the victim
with her obvious act of solicitation. The victim will immediately become
defensive, and her cooperation will evaporate.
When you begin your police career, just remember that you're being
paid to do a job. You can't do that job if you classify victims in order of
importance. You will, for certain, come under pressure at some point to
downgrade or ignore certain types of crime. The pressure can be overt,
or it can be subtle. When it comes to sex crimes, the victim
classification phenomenon is pervasive, and it should be immediately
obvious to you. If you take your police career seriously, you'll go
against the flow, and you'll treat every victim as a…victim.
| Detective Clairvoyant |
| …used to protect the incompetent |
| ...sex offender registration |
| …rarely report these crimes |
| …fears she'll be prosecuted |
| …a prostitute can't be raped |
| ...paid to do a job |
As a police officer, you'll learn very quickly that if you don't report a
crime via the official police report, that crime never occurred. From
time to time you'll hear about police departments under reporting
crime…you have no idea.
Police officers can get into the habit of substituting their own criteria
for what constitutes a crime. Sex crimes are particularly susceptible to
this ad hoc way of doing things. While rape is a vastly under reported
crime due to a number of reasons unique to the victims, police officers
do their share in keeping rape, and other sexual assaults, as under
reported crimes.
Police officers don't operate in a vacuum. Police leadership and
prosecutors aren't any better. The first group loves to maintain low
crime numbers, and the second group doesn't need the extra work. A
rapist only becomes of importance when he rapes too many, or he rapes
the wrong woman. Murder does get attention. A rapist will quickly get
the attention of the media and authorities, usually in that order, when
he murders his victims following the rapes or sexual assaults.
While rape is a unique crime, it is totally similar to other crimes as to
its relationship to its victim. In the eyes of society, all victims are not
the same. Sure…politicians, top cops, and everybody else in positions of
authority and responsibility will deny this reality until their last
breath. Think about this. How many times have you seen a prosecutor
spending vast amounts of time and resources prosecuting a Date Rape?
I love that term…another creation from the dictionary of political
correctness. It's amazing how date rape seems to be most prevalent
among people in the higher levels of the socioeconomic scale. Oh,
well…what do I know?
Here's what I do know. There are a lot of serial rapists running around
raping at will with little being done to apprehend them. As long as these
rapists attack and brutalize, or even murder, the right women, they
have little to fear. When the rapist murders, he does get some
attention since governments are so preoccupied with their murder
rates. But, as long as he doesn't make a habit of it, he can return to his
serial raping without too much worry.
crime via the official police report, that crime never occurred. From
time to time you'll hear about police departments under reporting
crime…you have no idea.
Police officers can get into the habit of substituting their own criteria
for what constitutes a crime. Sex crimes are particularly susceptible to
this ad hoc way of doing things. While rape is a vastly under reported
crime due to a number of reasons unique to the victims, police officers
do their share in keeping rape, and other sexual assaults, as under
reported crimes.
Police officers don't operate in a vacuum. Police leadership and
prosecutors aren't any better. The first group loves to maintain low
crime numbers, and the second group doesn't need the extra work. A
rapist only becomes of importance when he rapes too many, or he rapes
the wrong woman. Murder does get attention. A rapist will quickly get
the attention of the media and authorities, usually in that order, when
he murders his victims following the rapes or sexual assaults.
While rape is a unique crime, it is totally similar to other crimes as to
its relationship to its victim. In the eyes of society, all victims are not
the same. Sure…politicians, top cops, and everybody else in positions of
authority and responsibility will deny this reality until their last
breath. Think about this. How many times have you seen a prosecutor
spending vast amounts of time and resources prosecuting a Date Rape?
I love that term…another creation from the dictionary of political
correctness. It's amazing how date rape seems to be most prevalent
among people in the higher levels of the socioeconomic scale. Oh,
well…what do I know?
Here's what I do know. There are a lot of serial rapists running around
raping at will with little being done to apprehend them. As long as these
rapists attack and brutalize, or even murder, the right women, they
have little to fear. When the rapist murders, he does get some
attention since governments are so preoccupied with their murder
rates. But, as long as he doesn't make a habit of it, he can return to his
serial raping without too much worry.
| ...all victims are not the same |
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| Copyright © 2006 - 2008 - Barry M. Baker - CareerPoliceOfficer.com |
| Disclaimer |
| CareerPoliceOfficer.com is not responsible for the contents of any linked site or any link contained in a linked site, or any changes or updates to such sites. Links are provided only as a convenience, and the inclusion of any link does not imply endorsement by this site. |
| ...hard time dealing with Detective Baltz |
While you might view the comments in the following e-mail from this
sex crimes investigator as criticism of views expressed by me – and you
certainly could – I didn't take the comments in that context.
sex crimes investigator as criticism of views expressed by me – and you
certainly could – I didn't take the comments in that context.
Hello Lt. Baker,
I visited your web site careerpoliceofficer.com and found it
extremely detailed and thorough. However, I hope you consider
revising one very important part of the "Police and Victims"
section. I am a Sex Crimes Detective at a major metropolitan
police department, and only handle sex crimes specific cases of
both children and adults. We have 17 detectives in our unit on two
shifts. The section of your site I have an objection to is the
following:
"While rape is a vastly under reported crime due to a number of
reasons unique to the victims, police officers do their share in
keeping rape, and other sexual assaults, as under reported
crimes.
Police officers don't operate in a vacuum. Police leadership and
prosecutors aren't any better. The first group loves to maintain
low crime numbers, and the second group doesn't need the extra
work. A rapist only becomes of importance when he rapes too
many, or he rapes the wrong woman."
It may have been like this in Baltimore, but it certainly is NOT like
that here. We have absolutely no option in whether to take a
report, even if there is little evidence to support a claim of sexual
assault. No matter what the victim is saying, it is documented and
reported. It is then up to a detective to investigate and determine
if prosecution is appropriate. We have several checks and
balances in place to ensure accurate investigation and fair
prosecutorial determinations. I could NOT BELIEVE the part of
your narrative that says "A rapist only becomes of importance
when he rapes too many or rapes the wrong woman." Are you
kidding me??? That is a huge slap in the face of competent sex
crimes investigators who pour 100 percent of their time and effort
into getting EVERY rapist locked up. I prosecuted several cases
last year where the victim was a known prostitute or had a criminal
history of prostitution. YES, we do prosecute men who rape
prostitutes. Those cases do present some complications in front
of a jury, but it can be done and IS being done.
PLEASE don't give people the impression that cops don't care
about rape victims or that we don't take reports if we don't believe
a victim! This is absolutely not the case in our unit, where every
day I deal with rape and sexual assault.
Thanks,
H. Baltz
I visited your web site careerpoliceofficer.com and found it
extremely detailed and thorough. However, I hope you consider
revising one very important part of the "Police and Victims"
section. I am a Sex Crimes Detective at a major metropolitan
police department, and only handle sex crimes specific cases of
both children and adults. We have 17 detectives in our unit on two
shifts. The section of your site I have an objection to is the
following:
"While rape is a vastly under reported crime due to a number of
reasons unique to the victims, police officers do their share in
keeping rape, and other sexual assaults, as under reported
crimes.
Police officers don't operate in a vacuum. Police leadership and
prosecutors aren't any better. The first group loves to maintain
low crime numbers, and the second group doesn't need the extra
work. A rapist only becomes of importance when he rapes too
many, or he rapes the wrong woman."
It may have been like this in Baltimore, but it certainly is NOT like
that here. We have absolutely no option in whether to take a
report, even if there is little evidence to support a claim of sexual
assault. No matter what the victim is saying, it is documented and
reported. It is then up to a detective to investigate and determine
if prosecution is appropriate. We have several checks and
balances in place to ensure accurate investigation and fair
prosecutorial determinations. I could NOT BELIEVE the part of
your narrative that says "A rapist only becomes of importance
when he rapes too many or rapes the wrong woman." Are you
kidding me??? That is a huge slap in the face of competent sex
crimes investigators who pour 100 percent of their time and effort
into getting EVERY rapist locked up. I prosecuted several cases
last year where the victim was a known prostitute or had a criminal
history of prostitution. YES, we do prosecute men who rape
prostitutes. Those cases do present some complications in front
of a jury, but it can be done and IS being done.
PLEASE don't give people the impression that cops don't care
about rape victims or that we don't take reports if we don't believe
a victim! This is absolutely not the case in our unit, where every
day I deal with rape and sexual assault.
Thanks,
H. Baltz
You should note that the frustration expressed by this investigator is
the same kind of frustration you'll be faced with on a daily basis. As a
group, police officers are the most closely scrutinized and criticized
people on the planet. Scrutiny and criticism are not bad things; unless,
they become disruptive, excessive or simply unfounded. You'll soon
learn that becoming a police officer will bring you plenty of disruptive,
excessive and unfounded scrutiny and criticism.
While there's absolutely nothing you can due to assuage those who
simply dislike, or even hate, police officers for any number of reasons,
it only takes a few lazy, incompetent, or corrupt police officers to allow
normally unfounded criticisms from hitting their marks from time to
time.
While unfair and unfounded criticism will always be a part of your job,
your best response is the same as Detective Baltz, the author of the
above e-mail. No... I'm not referring to the detective's criticism of me.
I'm referring to this detective's obvious dedication to his/her job. In
this case, it involves the investigation of sex crimes, but the same
dedication applies to every aspect of police work.
When you become a police officer, you'll probably be young, and you will
be impressionable. Peer pressure, good or bad, is a tremendous force.
If you join a police department where the leadership is demanding high
levels of performance through well managed policies and procedures
(note that Detective Baltz articulated some of those policies),
supervisory and peer influences will be on a positive and parallel course.
When those policies and procedures deteriorate, you'll see police
officers around you succumb to the lower expectations for performance.
Just remember that you'll always have the ability to recognize the
proper way of doing things. While Detective Baltz is currently working
in an environment of high expectations, that environment could change.
However, I have the feeling that the crowd for lower expectations would
have... a hard time dealing with Detective Baltz.
the same kind of frustration you'll be faced with on a daily basis. As a
group, police officers are the most closely scrutinized and criticized
people on the planet. Scrutiny and criticism are not bad things; unless,
they become disruptive, excessive or simply unfounded. You'll soon
learn that becoming a police officer will bring you plenty of disruptive,
excessive and unfounded scrutiny and criticism.
While there's absolutely nothing you can due to assuage those who
simply dislike, or even hate, police officers for any number of reasons,
it only takes a few lazy, incompetent, or corrupt police officers to allow
normally unfounded criticisms from hitting their marks from time to
time.
While unfair and unfounded criticism will always be a part of your job,
your best response is the same as Detective Baltz, the author of the
above e-mail. No... I'm not referring to the detective's criticism of me.
I'm referring to this detective's obvious dedication to his/her job. In
this case, it involves the investigation of sex crimes, but the same
dedication applies to every aspect of police work.
When you become a police officer, you'll probably be young, and you will
be impressionable. Peer pressure, good or bad, is a tremendous force.
If you join a police department where the leadership is demanding high
levels of performance through well managed policies and procedures
(note that Detective Baltz articulated some of those policies),
supervisory and peer influences will be on a positive and parallel course.
When those policies and procedures deteriorate, you'll see police
officers around you succumb to the lower expectations for performance.
Just remember that you'll always have the ability to recognize the
proper way of doing things. While Detective Baltz is currently working
in an environment of high expectations, that environment could change.
However, I have the feeling that the crowd for lower expectations would
have... a hard time dealing with Detective Baltz.