Some would say the topic of police officers' emotions is a short one. Cops?--scoff!--What emotions? Behind the starched blue uniforms, mirrored glasses, bulletproof vests, and swaggers, there's no room left for feelings. Cops' hearts bleed blue, not red with compassion. This stereotype came from the cops themselves, of course. Cops want the world to believe that the boys (and girls) in blue always have that Almighty Control. But, having spent several years behind the badge, I'm here to tell you it's a façade--a necessary façade in a career field where oftentimes the only thing an officer can control is his or her emotional reaction to a situation.
Newsflash:inside, cops really are human, emotions and all. To understand the barrel-chested bravado we so often associate with police officers, it's imperative to step into their steel-toed boots for a moment and look at the world from their perspective. Here are some of the basic truths:
Truth #1:If You Can't Control Yourself, You Can't Control Anything. The very worst feeling when you are working the street is that things are spiraling out of your control. You're losing a fight, cover is too far away, things are happening too fast, an arrest isn't going down as planned. Trust me, feeling in control and acting in control originate with an officer's innate desire for safety. Bottom line, cops want to go home at night. Behind the guns, arrests, nightsticks, and authority, officers are regular Joes with families, dogs, and plans for their futures. Officer safety--and the omnipresent danger of the job-- dictate 99.9 percent of an officer's actions and reactions. From day one in the academy, it is drummed into your brain:
Is it any wonder police officers can come off as aloof and uncaring? The wary, stiff mannerisms associated with cops are merely the trappings of self-preservation. Cops care, or they wouldn't dedicate themselves to a career with small pay, long hours, and short respect. They just show their caring in a different way than, perhaps, that social worker would. They may not hold your hand, but they'll work long hours to build your case. Words of sympathy may be scarce, but they'll sacrifice their own safety to chase down your bad guy. They may not cry for your pain, but they'll set their jaws and try to vindicate you with dogged determination. Once you're in their boots, you'll realize just how much they care.
Truth #2:Acknowledge Your Fear And Move On. Guess what? Cops clench up with fear just the same as anyone else. Individuals are afraid of different things, of course, but just about anyone with a brain is fearful when danger looms. The only distinction between the average person and an officer is that the officer must act despite the fear. Acknowledge it and move on, because that is what you are paid to do, not because you are fearless. One of the errors I see in fiction most frequently is the superhero officer, boldly charging in to fight crime. Yes, the officers charge in, so to speak, but it isn't boldly, it is with the utmost caution and respect for the fact that any one can die at any moment. I'd worry about the officer who wasn't afraid, because he'd be the one getting everyone else hurt. Another thing pounded into your head in the police academy is to hang onto that healthy fear, even if you don't let it show.
Truth #3:Don't Get Emotionally Involved. Emotional involvement distorts objectivity. An officer's role in investigating an incident is to (1) contain the situation, and (2) gather the facts to support the charge of a given crime or crimes. He must assess the situation from all sides, compile details without value judgements, and show the court that all elements of the crime are present. Period. Yes, it's terrible to see hurt people, abused children, macabre scenes, but to put in bluntly, as a cop, that's not the point. You can wail for hours to your grocer that your tooth aches, but he's not going to extract your tooth, because that's not the point of being a grocer. Make sense? Not only can focusing on the senselessness of crime skew the officer's objectivity and damage the case, from a human perspective, it's just too hard. Cops see terrible things daily. Let it affect you and you'd last about six months on the job. You learn to compartmentalize. I don't know how many times, after telling my sister about a particularly horrid scene, she would ask me, "How can you stand to see stuff like that day after day?" It struck me as an odd question. I did it because it was my job. Because someone has to do it. Because I didn't let myself get emotionally involved.
Knowing why cops do certain things helps you better understand the cops themselves. That "Just the facts, Ma'am" attitude may be a stereotype, but at its core lies a kernel of truth. Cops are cool, calm, collected, and controlled--most of the time. Remembering that every stereotype has a flip-side, every character has a quirk, and every cop really does bleed red, will help you create wonderfully true, human police officers. And, no, that isn't an oxymoron.
Lynda Sue Cooper's book True Blue: An Insider's Guide to Street Cops--for writers is available from Gryphon Books for Writers. Visit them on the web at www.gryphonbooksforwriters.com, or access them through Lynda's website, http://members.aol.com/PRLynda. Lynda is also the author of Unguarded Hearts, Zebra Bouquet. As Lynda Sandoval, Look of Love, Kensington Encanto.
©1998, San Antonio Romance Authors, all rights reserved, articles may not be reprinted without permission.
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