Reader Responses to Rotten Culture

In response to Steve Maricic’s attack on Nicole Gonzalez Van Cleve’s claim that “It’s not just one bad apple, it’s the barrel”: I understand the metaphor as an indictment not of the police officers themselves (the apples) but of the institution shaping them (the barrel) (“Policing Questions,” “What Do You Think?” November-December). When we talk about institutional reform, we’re talking about fixing a system that is failing to serve the communities it’s designed for, in this case the community of law enforcement officers as well as the community of people those officers have sworn to serve and protect. Here’s another metaphor: I want a strong safety net for our communities. A healthy and effective police force is part of that safety net. If the net is designed to catch the wrong fish and harm the innocent, then it’s the net that needs fixing, not the fishermen. I applaud the advocates who insist on mending torn institutions. I hope we find leaders who have the courage to reshape the institutions that need reforming.

Professor Van Cleve’s claim “It’s not just one bad apple, it’s the barrel” does a disservice to the many professional and competent law enforcement officers in the U.S. (“Rotten Culture,” September/October). I spent 37 years and my wife 30 years in law enforcement; my father was a career law enforcement officer; so are two of our children. Instead of mass condemnation, give credit to those who do the job professionally and help make it easier to recruit good people. My daughter, a college graduate, is studying to get her master’s in international security affairs at American University and makes about $55,000 per year as a uniformed officer. She is, in many respects, what law enforcement needs. She is in “the barrel” and doesn’t deserve the criticism of Professor Van Cleve.

This entire issue is about racism? We can target two things: the social chaos in poor neighborhoods, and drug lords who now control many areas and draft our youths as troops to maintain and extend their control. Every neighborhood needs basic infrastructure, supposedly supplied by local government: utilities, clean streets, street lights, public transit, and police protection. Without police protection, the other five cannot be provided.

If Professor Van Cleve had the experience of returning to her home to see a window broken or a door jimmied open, she would call the police and an officer would arrive and enter her home, hand on firearm. Upon finding no culprit, the officer would help her file a theft report. After thanking the officer, she would realize that yes, there are many good officers. Were she to experience a traffic accident in which she or others were injured, were she to be assaulted, she would again conclude that there are many good officers. I hope she may never experience these situations; yet she should realize that millions of Americans do and, more often than not, appreciate the assistance they receive. Professor Van Cleve has made a fine contribution to a better understanding of the implicit, and sometimes explicit, racism in the criminal justice system. Had she responded to the question of whether there are good officers by saying “yes”—rather than “yes, perhaps”—she would have made an even stronger contribution.

Nicole Gonzalez Van Cleve claims, “It’s not just one bad apple, it’s the barrel.” There are 800,000 law enforcement officers in the U.S. Is she saying that all of them are “bad apples,” or is it just 400,000? Does she have proof that all police officers participate in the “code of silence” and “code of violence”? Twelve percent of America’s cops are Black; 17 percent are Hispanic; 1.5 percent are Asian. Is the professor saying that most of them are willing to turn a blind eye to racial oppression? A Gallup survey released in August found that 81 percent of Black Americans “want police to spend the same amount of or more time in their area.” God bless them and the police who protect them.

Missing from the anti-police invective is any insight on hiring “better” officers. Andre McGregor ’04 said “police should maintain hiring practices similar to that of the FBI, where they are selecting top talent.” How should we do that? While enticing top talent might be easy for the FBI and its six-figure salaries, police departments across the United States do not have such largess. In fact, when I was in the police academy 15 years ago, my family missed qualifying for reduced-price public school lunches by just $1,500. 

Why would anyone want to be a police officer? My agency likely will be unable to find the 60 suitable candidates desired for an upcoming academy class—suitable, not “top talent.” This is not from lack of trying. It’s a lack of interest from twenty-somethings in taking on a job with miserable hours, grueling schedules, mediocre to poor pay, the regular risk of physical confrontation and, as evidenced in this edition of BAM, animosity from large segments of society.

A truly excellent piece of writing, making the flaws in our justice system, or injustice system, so crystal clear (“Rotten Culture,” Under the Elms, Sept./Oct. ’20). It’s also, unfortunately, very depressing. Will it ever get better?