Life's a Stage

When I first started in law enforcement I was told, that to be a good officer it was helpful to be a good actor.  The longer I was in the field the more I realized the importance of that ideology.  In interviews and interrogations making you someone the person being questioned can relate to and be comfortable with, usually assists the officer in obtaining more information.

You ask, what am I talking about? When you are interviewing someone in their home or office, you should look around for pictures, awards, trophies, posters etc. to see what the person’s interests are.  However, the officer should not lie and make conversation about topics they cannot adequately discuss.

I have seen pictures of children playing instruments inside a home. I would ask if that person was one of their children, then I would mention that in Junior high and high school I played an instrument and was in band. It helps make the officer human.  In domestic situations an officer could mention that they have had disagreements with their spouse, or partner.  The officer can emphasize, that it was only after they could calmly sit down and discuss the matter that things could be worked out. The officer doesn’t need to be specific because it’s not their life that is being dissected and that the officer is attempting to control and manage.

Another time acting is beneficial, is when an officer is interviewing or interrogating a suspect. The officer may down play the crime the suspect may have committed. The interviewer might not even call it a crime. You know what you suspect the person of doing is most definitely a crime but you call it an “incident’ a “situation” etc. An officer might also tell the suspect he understands, that anyone in the same situation would do the same. The officer knows he would not do the same nor would most law abiding citizens, but the officer says this in an attempt to make the suspect feel better about himself and his behavior The longer you work in the field you learn how to “read” people. What motivates them, what makes them tick, what their conscious can and cannot handle. I have found that almost everyone has a conscience; the difference is what is acceptable to their conscience and uses that to your advantage and to their disadvantage. I’ve used that approach quite often in theft cases. I have said that it was understandable because they needed to feed their children. Or that because their jerk boss fired them and they were out of work, it wasn’t their fault the boss had it out for them and so on.

Also at a time of crisis, the police do not want to release every detail, which could cause a panic and ultimately result in people being injured. In death or murder of a loved one, all the graphic details do not need to be supplied unless asked for. Quite often the fact that the person is dead or seriously injured is devastating enough.

One of my favorite personal examples of acting was in the area of officer safety. I was on patrol in one of my jurisdictions and was dispatched to a convenience store concerning persons loitering in their parking lot. This had been a problem for convenience stores in the area that summer. When I arrived at the convenience store I parked my patrol car in a parking spot and observed about 20 black males between the ages of 16- 20 standing around in the lot talking. I walked inside the store and asked the manager if he wanted the subjects to leave. He said he did and that he had asked them a couple times to do so.

I walked outside and told the group that the management wanted them to leave, that they were loitering which was against city ordinance. I told them they needed to leave. No one appeared to move. I told them again they needed to leave or they would be arrested. They looked at me like I “had rocks in my head” and “who does this bitch lady cop think she is?” I knew I couldn’t physically fight all of them and win. I knew I could not get aggressive with my use of force regarding the misdemeanor arrest. But… I did not want to lose face in the community, especially being a woman.  I only carried two pairs of handcuffs on my belt, which they could see. I picked up my portable radio and transmitted to my dispatcher and other officers on patrol in the city that I was getting ready to make multiple arrests and would need additional pairs of handcuffs. That radio transmission served the purposes of telling the dispatcher and other officers on patrol listening that I had a serious situation and to come help me. In doing it in that way I “saved face”, the crowd knew they could not intimidate me which would help me out in the future, and encouraged them to leave when they knew additional officers were on their way. The crowd walked away from the lot. My intent was never to arrest all those people; both the store manager and I merely wanted them to leave.

Is lying, omitting facts, and altering facts justified?  In what situations? Where do we draw the line?

Until Tomorrow,

Sally S