How should we treat police officers who make a mistake in their personal lives?
Clearly, it depends on the severity of the mistake. For the moment, though, let’s talk about something that’s a misdemeanor. Something like driving while intoxicated.
Should that officer lose his job? Does it make a difference if this was a first offense, or if there was a repeated pattern of DWI offenses? (For our purposes, we’re assuming that there were no injuries or property damage involved.)
Do the circumstances matter? Does it make a difference if the officer was out all night drinking at a “gentlemen’s club”? Does it make a difference if he turned down an offer to sleep it off at someone else’s house, and decided to drive home with a women he picked up?
Does it matter that he was carrying a weapon at the time he was arrested? Does it matter that he initially refused blood and breath tests; and when he was tested an unspecified number of hours later, he still tested over the limit?
Does it matter that he capped a guy last year, and was suspended for 15 days because he didn’t turn on the camera in his squad car?
I’m hesitant to take away someone’s rice bowl because of one mistake in their personal life. On the other hand, he’s a cop. We give him the power to carry a gun, to forcibly detain people, and even to shoot them. Don’t we have a right to expect “the highest levels of ethical conduct” from those people? Doesn’t DWI, even a first offense with no injuries, violate that expectation?
Or is the chief of police taking advantage of one mistake to get rid of an already controversial officer?
