New Perspectives in Policing JuNe 2014 

V E R I TAS

HARVARD Kennedy School

Program in Criminal Justice

Policy and Management National Institute of Justice

 

 

Executive Session on Policing and
 

Public Safety
 

This is one in a series of papers that will be published as a result of the Executive Session on 

Policing and Public Safety. 

Har vard’s Executive Sessions are a convening 

of individuals of independent standing who take 

joint responsibility for rethinking and improving 

society’s responses to an issue. Members are 

selected based on their experiences, their reputation for thoughtfulness and their potential for 

helping to disseminate the work of the Session. 

In the early 1980s, an Executive Session on Policing 

helped resolve many law enforcement issues of 

the day. It produced a number of papers and 

concepts that revolutionized policing. Thirty years 

later, law enforcement has changed and NIJ and 

Har vard’s Kennedy School of Government are 

again collaborating to help resolve law enforcement issues of the day. 

Learn more about the E xecutive Session on 

Policing and Public Safety at: 

NIJ’s website: ht tp:// w w w.nij.gov/ topics/ lawenforcement/administration/executive-sessions/ 

welcome.htm 

Harvard’s website: http://www.hks.harvard.edu/ 

criminaljustice/executive_sessions/policing.htm 

The Challenge of Policing in a Democratic Society: 

A Personal Journey Toward Understanding 

Charles H. Ramsey 

The Code 

“As a law en forcement officer my f unda menta l 

dut y is to ser ve mank ind; to safeg uard lives and 

propert y; to protect the innocent against deception, t he weak aga inst oppression or int imidat ion, 

t he peaceful against v iolence and disorder; and 

to protect the Const itut ional rights of all people 

to libert y, equalit y and justice.” 

Th is parag raph is par t of t he Law En forcement 

Code of Et hics (author unk now n). I believe it captures t he essence of what it means to be a police 

of f icer in a democrat ic societ y. Un for t u nately, 

t he policing profession sometimes loses sight of 

what I believe is t he most challenging element: 

“to protect the Constitutional rights of all people 

to libert y, equalit y and justice.” 

Police leaders must ensure t hat their officers fully 

u ndersta nd t he nat u re a nd sig n ificance of t he 

commitment t his brief phrase suggests. It commits us to a pact w ith t he communit ies we ser ve. 

We make t his commitment standing before God, 

swearing allegiance to t he principles, values and 

ethics of the law enforcement profession. 
 

It took me almost 30 years and a v isit to t he United 

States Holocaust Memorial Museum to fully comprehend t he role police play in protect i ng t he 

freedoms t hat we, as Americans, hold dear. Today, 

I st r ive to sha re i mpor ta nt lessons about t hese 

obligat ions w it h my officers — i n par t t h roug h 

t he use of sy mbolism and ceremonies and in part 

by tel li ng cer ta in stor ies. Th is paper descr ibes 

some of t he most va luable lessons I bel ie ve I 

learned through reflect ing on the ex hibits at the 

Holocaust Museum. It also describes some of t he 

ways in which I have sought to convey t hose lessons to other officers. 

The Badge 

A t t h e Me t r o p ol it a n Pol i c e D e pa r t m e n t i n 

Washington, D.C., I established a new ceremony 

t hat we conducted for ever y graduat ing class of 

new recr u its. Each g raduate has a fa m ily member attend the ceremony, and that family member 

pins the badge on the graduating officer’s uniform 

for the fi rst time. The recruits therefore share t hat 

moment w it h t he people whom they most care 

about and who care most about t hem. They learn 

to regard t he badge as a sy mbol — a bright and 

highly v isible sy mbol — of the aut horit y and the 

t r ust t hat t he publ ic places i n t hem. T he communit y does not place t hat level of authorit y and 

trust in many people, but it has placed it in t hem, 

in us, the police. Ever y day we wear t he badge, we 

must do ever y t hing we can to use our authorit y 

w isely and to earn t he trust that the communit y 

places in us. 

The badge ident i f ies each of f icer not on ly as a 

member of a pa r t icu la r police depa r t ment but 

also as a member of t he policing profession. The 

badge represents our oat h of office, ser v ing as a 

constant reminder of t he values and principles 

we hold dear. Hav ing family members share in 

t he ceremony, we believe, makes it less likely that 

officers w ill tarnish that badge, more likely that 

they w ill remember and stay true to their oath. 

Inev itably, some do go ast ray. In Ph i ladelph ia, 

if an officer is found to be corrupt, t hat badge is 

taken away and destroyed. That tarnished badge 

w i l l ne ver be wor n aga i n by a member of ou r 

depa r t ment. A new badge is m i nted, w it h t he 

same nu mber, to ta ke its place. W hen recr uits 

receive t heir badge, t hey are given t he names of 

ever y officer who has wor n t hat badge nu mber 

before them and worn it w it h honor. The names 

of of f icers w ho t a r n ished t hei r badge a re not 

included in t hat list. 

2 | New Perspec tives in Policing 

Cite this paper as: Ramsey, Charles, The Challenge of Policing in a Democratic 

Society: A Personal Journey Toward Understanding. New Perspectives in 

Policing Bulletin. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Justice, National 

Institute of Justice, 2014. NCJ 245992.

We want all officers to k now that by wearing the 

badge they inherit an honorable tradition. They 

w i l l wea r t he badge on l y for a t i me. But, du ri ng t he t i me when t hey do have t hat badge, it 

is incumbent on each of t hem to keep it u nta rnished — as a sy mbol not just of aut hor it y but 

also of pride and integrit y. Each officer becomes 

a part of a legacy of ser v ice connecting all of t hose 

who wore t hat badge before them and all t hose 

who w ill wear it af ter t hem. 
The Challenge of Policing in a Democratic Society: A Personal Journey Toward understanding | 3 

Instilling Values 

The law enforcement profession is good at training 

new recruits. I use the word “t raining” deliberately. 

We offer defined curricula in t he police academy; 

we teach sk i l ls i n sel f-defense, cer t i f y f i rea r m s 

proficienc y, a nd g ive out mu lt iple d irect ives t hat 

ex plain what to do and what not to do in t he line 

of dut y. We ca n teach of f icers to be tech n ic a l ly 

proficient, ex per t ma rk smen, a nd wel l-versed in 

criminal law and procedure. But it is much more 

challenging to teach t hem how to be compassionate, 

civil and just human beings; how to think, how to 

feel, how to judge, and how to connect w ith members of t he public whom they w ill encounter when 

those people are at their most v ulnerable. 

A s a profession, we i nst it ute al l k i nds of policies 

a nd procedu res to t r y to shape t he behav ior of 

police officers. A nd yet many of t he same undesirable behav ior problems persist, year af ter year. In 

my v iew, we w ill not change behav ior if we do not 

change attitude, and we w ill not change attitude if 

we do not change a person’s heart. We need to affect 

the way in which officers see themselves and t heir 

role in societ y. We need to cha nge what is inside 

them and help them see t hings differently. 

Teach ing our officers to respect t he i ntent of t he 

Constitution and the Bill of Rights — not just the 

techn ica l aspects of cr im ina l procedu re — is a n 

emot iona l, spi r it ua l and mora l ex per ience. They 

need to understa nd t he impor ta nce of a nd commit ment to both t he oat h they swore and t he code 

of et hics they obligated t hemselves to live by. 

A Visit to the Holocaust Museum 

E a r l y i n m y t e nu r e a s C o m m i s s ioner of t h e 

Washing ton, D.C., Metropolitan Police Department, 

i n 19 9 8 , I r e c ei ve d a n i nv it at ion f r om Dav id 

F r i e d m a n , E x e c u t i v e D i r e c t o r o f t h e A n t i -

Defa mat ion L eag ue i n Wash i ng ton, to v isit t he 

Un ited States Holocaust Museum a nd meet t he 

museum’s director, Sara Bloomfield. I took up t he 

inv itat ion and v isited the museum one afternoon 

on my way to the airport. For me it was a powerf ul 

and totally unexpected experience. I spent a good 

part of t hat first tour walk ing and talk ing w ith Irene 

Weiss, a Holocaust sur v ivor. To hear her tell her own 

ex periences and memories was remarkable. A ll of 

us st ud y t he Holocau st i n school a nd f rom tex tbooks, but few of us have t he opportunit y to hear 

about it first hand from those who lived through it. 

I lef t t he museu m over whel med w it h emot ion. 

Somet h i ng t here — pa r t ic u la rly i n some of t he 

images — haunted me. I lef t w it h a st rong sense 

that there were important lessons to be learned, for 

myself and for ever y ot her police officer. But I was 

not clear at that point what t hose lessons were. So 

I went back a few weeks later, unannounced, and 

tou red t he museu m aga in on my ow n. I spent a 

considerable amount of t ime t here on that second 

visit, and t hat is when I started noticing the pictures 

of police officers and bega n to u ndersta nd t heir 

involvement in t his t ragedy. 

Hav ing had many years since to contemplate t he 

various ex hibits, I now point to three photographs 

t hat cont i nue to hold specia l sig nificance for me. 

Let me tell you about t hem and about my reflections 

on what they have taught me. 
 

4 | New Perspectives in Policing 

Photograph 1: Complicity 

The first is a photo on the top floor of t he ex hibition that shows a police officer and a Nazi militia 

soldier flank ing a muzzled dog. 

I wou ld g uess t hat most f i rst-t i me v isitors to 

t he museu m mista ken ly believe t hat t he Na zi 

atrocities were carried out almost exclusively by 

the militar y, by the infamous SA and SS troops. 

Most people simply do not rea lize t he i nteg ra l 

role t hat local police played — not just passively 

per mit t ing at rocit ies to ta ke place but act ively 

pa r t icipat i ng in many of t hem. O ver t ime, t he 

d ist inct ions bet ween loca l pol ice and t he Nazi 

militar y became so blurred t hat the t wo became 

sy nony mous. Even in t he early days of t he Nazi 

reg ime, soldiers and police, t hough organizat ionally separate, of ten worked hand in hand. 

A t t he t i me of t he Holoc au s t , at le a s t a fe w 

A mer ica ns began ask ing t he quest ion, “W here 

were t he police?” One of t he newspaper blowups on display in the museum is from the Dallas 

Morning News of November 11, 1938. Its banner 

headline, reporting on t he Kristallnacht rampage 

of t wo days earlier, reads as follows: “Hysterical 

Na zis Wreck Hu nd reds of Jew ish Shops, Bur n 

Sy nagogues in Wild Org y of Looting and Terror.” 

W hat is pa r t ic u la rly d ist u rbi ng is t he “k icker ” 

(subheadline) to t he stor y: “Policemen Refuse to 

Halt Organized Riots in Germany.” 

W hat is revealing about that newspaper stor y is 

t hat it ex presses t he long-held t rad it ion in our 

ow n cou nt r y t hat i f people are riot ing a nd looti ng and dest roy ing proper t y, it is t he job of t he 

police to i nter vene. It is just so f u nda menta l to 

Photo cred it: Bundesa rch iv, Bild 102-14381 / photo: Georg 

Pahl 

our v iew of t he police mission: the protection of 

life and propert y. 

How then, in Germany in t he 1930s, did things get 

so out of whack that people could loot and destroy 

in an organized and w idespread manner wit hout 

t he police even tr y ing to inter vene? In our modern policing paradigm, such complacenc y on the 

part of the police seems almost impossible. But it 

was a realit y then, as well as an obv ious paradox. 

The historical explanations point out a trend at 

the time toward a nationalization and politicization of policing. The stated reasons for t hat t rend, 

and for t he increasing ly repressive tact ics t he 

police employed, have an all-too-familiar ring to 

them. Crime was out of control. Mobsters were 

in control. Enforcement across different jurisdictions was difficult. The Depression was breeding 
 

The Challenge of Policing in a Democratic Societ y: A Personal Journey Toward understanding | 5 

cr ime, a nd t his lawlessness demanded a sw if t 

and certain response. 

The Na zis did not ca l l it “zero tolera nce” at t he
 

t i me, but t he bra nd of cr ime cont rol t hey pract ic e d w a s “z ero toler a nc e” t a ken to it s mos t
 

horrific extreme. The concept quick ly moved from
 

“zero tolera nce” for cr im ina l behav ior to “zero
 

tolerance” for t hose people believed responsible
 

for crime, disorder and ot her forms of hardship —
 

in t his case, Jews, gays and lesbians, people w ith
 

mental illness, t hose w ith physical and cognitive
 

disabilit ies, t he “Roma” and many, many others.
 

Of course, t he term “zero tolera nce” is quite in 

vog ue today. Some people even suggest (quite 

m ista ken ly, I wou ld a rg ue) t hat zero tolerance 

and communit y policing are one and t he same, 

or at least closely related. W hat worries me most 

about this is that t he ideals of democracy are all 

about tolerance — tolerance for different people, 

di fferent cu lt ures, d ifferent v iew points. In t he 

name of zero tolerance, many police departments 

today crack dow n on nu isa nce cr imes such as 

drink ing in public and other minor misdemeanors and almost always choose underpriv ileged 

neighborhoods for t his strateg y. I certainly do not 

advocate dri n k i ng in publ ic or a ny ot her d isorderly or criminal behav ior. But how many of us 

ask the questions: W hy is this person an alcoholic 

to begin w it h? And why doesn’t he or she have a 

home to live in? 

If we are to stand for any t y pe of zero tolerance, it 

should be zero tolerance for t he causes of crime 

a nd z ero tolera nce for t he t y pes of rac ist at t itudes that led to t he Holocaust 70 years ago and 

continue to feed hate crimes in our communities 

today. That is t he t y pe of “zero tolerance” we, as 

police officers, should be focusing on. 

W hat followed from t he zero tolerance policies 

in Nazi Germany was t he denial of basic human 

rights and indiv idual freedoms. A lmost from the 

beginning, local police were intimately involved, 

and t hey soon became par t and parcel of the Nazi 

reig n of repression and terror. 

Cou ld t he Holoc au st have happened w it hout 

the active cooperation and participat ion of t he 

loca l pol ice i n Ger ma ny? We may never k now 

t he a nswer to t hat quest ion. But one t hi ng we 

do k now for cer ta in: loca l police forces bega n 

to operate i n accorda nce w it h a set of va lues 

totally contrar y to their oath of office and totally 

cont ra r y to t he m ission of t he police i n a f ree, 

democratic and pluralist ic societ y. 

T he Holocaust is probably t he most ex t reme 

example of just how horrific and far-reaching t he 

consequences can be when police officers v iolate 

their oath and fail to protect t he basic rights and 

liberties of citizens. But even small ethical v iolat ions on t he pa r t of police officers ca n resu lt in 

people’s rights being denied, t heir confidence in 

t he police being eroded and their communities 

becoming less safe. 

I have ment ioned my reser v at ions about t he 

concept of “zero tolera nce.” I a lso have ser ious 

reser vations about t he notion of a “t hin blue line.” 

The idea is decades old and suggests a fragile but 

necessar y demarcation bet ween good and ev il 

in our communit ies. The histor y of the Holocaust 
shows us t hat in Nazi Ger ma ny t he police d id 

become a line, helping to separate the people that 

Hit ler and his political allies defined as good from 

those they defi ned as ev il. 

The problem w ith reinforcing any k ind of line is 

t hat you have to put each a nd ever y indiv idua l 

you encou nter on one side or t he ot her of t hat 

line — eit her t he good side or the ev il side. That 

requires police officers to make snap judgments 

about people based not always on their behav ior 

but somet imes on t heir appearance, t heir backg rou nd, where t hey live, whom t hey associate 

w ith or other factors. 

I believe t hat much of the tension t hat surrounds 

perceived profi l i ng by police based on race or 

et hn icit y stems f rom t h is v iew point. Today, i n 

communities across A merica, we still face painf u l issues relat ing to t he perceived profi l ing by 

police based on race and ethnicit y. The “t hin blue 

line” metaphor does damage. Tr ue com mun it y 

policing does not define police officers as a line 

— t hin, blue or ot her w ise. We a re not now, nor 

shou ld we e ver be, somet h i ng t hat d iv ides or 

separates communities. 

How t hen shou ld we help t he pol ice officers of 

today understand t heir role as defenders of the 

const it ut iona l r ights of a l l people? How do we 

help t hem recog ni ze t hei r ow n biases a nd prevent prejudice from influencing their decisions? 

Unfortunately, the issue of race in our societ y still 

div ides us. It is difficult to have a discussion on 

t he topic or to get people to see the world through 

t he e yes of someone of a not her r ac e w it hout 

a va r iet y of defensive react ions get t ing in t he 

way. It was my at tempt to a ns wer t hose questions t hat led me to reflect more caref ully on t he 

Holocaust. The events leading up to and including 

t he Holocaust powerfully demonstrate t he dangers t hat can materialize when police offer their 

allegiance to a person or to a political part y rather 

t han holding true to t he ethics of their profession. 

In cooperat ion w it h t he Holocaust museum and 

the A nti-Defamat ion Leag ue, t he Met ropolitan 

Police Depa r t ment established a one-day educational program (which has been running now for 

more t han a decade) called t he “Law Enforcement 

& Societ y Program.”1 It gives officers a chance to 

spend a day at the Holocaust museum and reflect 

on t he role of pol ice in a democrat ic societ y. I 

am told that more than 90,000 law enforcement 

officers f rom a ra nge of federa l, state a nd loca l 

agencies have been through this program. I hope 

t heir v isit to t he museum was as profound a n 

experience for t hem as it was for me. 

6 | New Perspectives in Policing 

1

 The day begins with a guided tour of the museum’s permanent collection, which traces the histor y of the Holocaust from 

the Nazi rise to power through the end of World War II and its 

af termath. The tour is followed by a group discussion among 

the police officers, museum historians and educators on the 

abuse of power under the Nazis and the role of police within 

the Nazi state. Finally, the session concludes with an interactive conversation between Anti-Defamation League educators 

and police par ticipants, who are encouraged to discuss their 

personal reactions and feelings in response to what they have 

seen. They are prompted to explore in greater depth the role 

that local police played in the genocide. They discuss how the 

lessons of the Holocaust can be applied to their own work as 

police officers today. 

Th is t ra in ing remi nds officers t hat loca l police 

must never become so pol it ic i z ed — a s t hey 

were in Nazi Germany — t hat they regard their 

primar y role as carr y ing out t he w ill of political 

leaders or simply look ing t he ot her way when 

political agendas that deny fundamental rights 
The Challenge of Policing in a Democratic Society: A Personal Journey Toward understanding | 7 

are pushed for ward. Our power — our authorit y 

as police officers — comes not f rom t he pol it icians. Our power and aut horit y come from the 

people. Above all else, our role as police officers 

is to protect and preser ve the rights of t he people: 

the right to assemble, the right to speak, the right 

to petition and criticize one’s government, and 

t he r ig ht to be secu re in one’s home a nd w it h 

one’s ow n possessions a nd beliefs. Defending 

t hese r ig hts for a l l people, a l l of t he t i me, u lt imately defines us as police officers. 

One of t he lessons police recr uits pick up f rom 

the day they spend at t he museum is much more 

intimate and personal. It is a lesson in how to deal 

w ith t heir ow n personal prejudices — which are 

normally ver y private — while they carr y out t heir 

ver y public role as police officers. 

Nobod y enters t h is profession w it hout some 

prejudices. That is just human nature, and police 

officers are human beings too. We all come to t his 

job w it h cer ta in preconcept ions about people, 

certain stereot y pes and even certain prejudices. 

Exposure to the histor y of t he Holocaust forces our 

recr uits to con f ront t hose high ly persona l feelings in a compelling but supportive way. Nobody 

is asked to publicly confess any prejudices he or 

she may hold. We do not call it “sensitiv it y t raining” or any thing like t hat, as such labels seem to 

accuse. But I do believe a ny person who wa lk s 

through the Holocaust museum or goes through 

ou r t ra in i ng wou ld be ha rd-pressed not to go 

home and take a deep look inside t hemselves, at 

t heir ow n at t it udes a nd va lues. That is exact ly 

the effect it had on me. Because our recruits take 

this introspective journey early in their careers, I 

am conv inced t hey start off being more aware of 

ot her people’s circumstances, more sy mpathetic 

to t heir predicaments and more tolerant of differences t han they might have been ot her w ise. 

Photograph 2: Resignation 

A not her photo t hat made a profou nd i mpression on me is one of t he fi rst you see when you 

get off t he elevator to begin t he tour. It is a 1945 

photograph of a lone prisoner who has just been 

liberated from Buchenwald. He is sitt ing, eating 

rice from a bowl, and you look at him and he is 

look ing up at whoever took t he photograph, and 

you ca n look into h is eyes a nd tel l t hat he w i l l 

never really be liberated because of the immensit y a nd i ntensit y of t he su ffer i ng he has been 

t hroug h. 

Photo c re d it: Un ited St ates Holoc au st Memor ia l Mu s eu m, 

courtesy of Nat ional A rchives and Records Admi nistrat ion, 

College Park, Mar yland. Photo used by permission. 

Usua l l y, t he idea of “l iberat ion” conju res up 

images of pa r t ies and t icker tape parades a nd 

w ild celebrat ions in t he st reets. There were certa i nly ma ny such images a mong t he museu m 

ex h ibits, capt ured by photog raphers as World 

War II came to a close. But t his liberation photo 
8 | New Perspectives in Policing 

is obv iously qu ite different. The subject’s eyes 

tell t he stor y of much more t ha n just physica l 

discomfort and ex haustion. They show intense 

emotional pain, ang uish and resignation. Given 

what t his man has been t hrough, there seems to 

be no room for relief, excitement or joy. 

Look ing into t his man’s eyes, I began to wonder 

what message t hey held for today’s police officers. 

W hen we come into a distressed or crime-ridden 

communit y to execute a search warrant, make 

an arrest or board up an abandoned building, are 

t he eyes of t he residents a l l t hat d ifferent f rom 

the eyes of t his prisoner? Do our residents really 

v iew police as “liberators”? Or a re we seen as 

something else, perhaps as a part of the problem, 

maybe because we did not do enough to prevent 

t hei r neig hborhood f rom deter iorat i ng i n t he 

fi rst place? 

Part of the anguish I see in t he Buchenwald prisoner’s eyes is t he conv iction that all of t his human 

tragedy and suffering was so unnecessar y. It did 

not have to happen, if only t he people who were 

supposed to protect t he r ig hts and liber t ies of 

t he Jew ish people had stood up and done something early on, when they could have, when t hey 

shou ld have. 

That is part of the anguish that many of our ow n 

resident s feel today. It is g reat t hat t he pol ice 

are here now, tr y ing to clean up the problems of 

crime and disorder that have developed over the 

years in t heir communities. But where were t he 

police when t hese problems were tak ing hold? 

O f c ou r s e, t her e a re i mp or t a nt d i f ferenc e s 

bet ween t he t wo sc ena r ios. I n t he 1930 s a nd 

1940s, local police officers in the Nazi empire not 

only failed to prevent atrocities from tak ing place, 

t hey actively participated in many of t hose atrocit ies, includ i ng t he mu rder of innocent people. 

That t y pe of blata nt cri m ina l behav ior is not to 

be found among t he vast majorit y of our police 

officers today. But the question — t hen and now 

— is still t he same: W here were t he police? 

W here were the police when libraries were being 

looted a nd book s bu r ned? W hen Jew ish bu sinesses were being illegally targeted? W hen people 

were being classified and publicly harassed, and 

ultimately imprisoned and slaughtered? W here 

were the police? 

A nd where was t he rest of the communit y — the 

local politicians, other government officials, civ ic 

leaders and ever yday citizens — most of whom 

stood by silent ly and watched it all happen? 

In A merica we might similarly ask: W here were 

t he p ol ic e w hen pe ople wer e bei ng l y nc he d 

because of t he color of t heir sk i n, and seg regation was the law in states across t he Sout h? 

Fast-for w a rd i ng severa l dec ades, w here were 

the police when crack cocaine and ot her drugs 

invaded our communities? W hen gangs armed 

w it h power f u l automat ic a nd sem iautomat ic 

weapon s took cont rol of ma ny of ou r st reet s? 

W hen shootings and homicides became ever yday 

occurrences in far too many of our communities? 

W here were the police? And, once again, where 

was t he rest of the communit y when crime was 
 

The Challenge of Policing in a Democratic Society: A Personal Journey Toward understanding | 9 

gaining its stranglehold on many of our communities? Do residents’ expressions and behav iors 

toward police in our countr y’s most beleaguered 

communities now reflect a similar resignat ion? 

Is t he d iscon nec t ion bet ween resident s a nd 

police exacerbated by feelings of abandonment 

and mist rust? 

W hether they pertain to the 1930s or to our times, 

t hese a re compelling quest ions. They are quest ions I t hink all police officers should be t hink ing 

about and talk ing about. 

In our daily routines as police officers, we spend 

the vast majorit y of our time w ith t he most v ulnerable in ou r societ y — people who a re poor 

a nd u ndereducated; people who may be newly 

arrived in our countr y and may speak a different 

lang uage; people who are afraid and sometimes 

hopeless; people who may not appreciate, understand or t r ust the police. W ho but these people 

have t he g reatest need of ou r help? In ser v ing 

these and other people, we must show compassion a nd a lways be m i nd f u l of a n obv ious but 

sometimes forgotten fact — we are dealing w it h 

fel low hu man beings, not icons on a computergenerated map or numbers in a statistical report. 

W hen we start to look at crime v ictims, w itnesses 

and ot hers as statistics and stop seeing them as 

hu ma n beings, as people i n t rouble or in need, 

then we have lost our way. 

To ser ve w it h compassion mea ns u nderstanding that when someone is t he v ict im of a robber y, 

burglar y, sexual assault or any other crime, his or 

her life may ver y well have been changed forever. 

It mea ns t reat ing each a nd ever y one of t hese 

i nd iv idua ls w it h empat hy, d ig nit y a nd respect. 

It mea ns work ing t i relessly to help br ing some 

sense of closure to the v ictims of crime. It means 

doing ever y t h ing in our power to ensure t hat 

ot hers do not suffer the same fate. And it means 

understanding t hat we should never judge others. 

It means recognizing that fate and circumstance 

a re t he only t h i ngs t hat sepa rate us f rom one 

anot her as human beings. 

I learned a powerful lesson about t he importance 

of respect from a member of my squad when I was 

a sergeant in the Chicago Police Department. I 

was having difficult y understanding why some 

people i n ou r most cha l lenged neig hborhoods 

v iewed pol ice negat ively rat her t ha n seeing us 

as protectors. T h is of f icer told me it a l l boiled 

dow n to the lack of respect some officers showed 

toward t he communit y. He ex pressed this trut h 

in a somewhat unusual and compelling way. His 

ex pla nat ion went l i ke t his: “At t he moment of 

birt h ever yone is a perfect 10, but once you enter 

t his world, deduct 3 because li fe is on ly temporar y. If you are born into a dysfunctional family, 

deduct another 3 because you w ill have ver y few 

posit ive role models in you r l i fe t hat w i l l help 

keep you on the straight and narrow. If you are 

poor or a member of a m i nor it y g roup, deduct 

another 3 because many doors t hat lead to success may not be open to you. That takes t he person 

that was once a perfect 10 dow n to 1. The 1 represents t hat person’s dignit y and self-respect.” He 

said to me, “As a police officer, do what you have 

to do to make an arrest or def use a situation but 

never do any t hing that takes away that person’s 

1 because that is all t hey have left and they w ill 

fight you to hold on to it.” 
 

 

10 | New Perspectives in Policing 

A s pol ice officers we must respect t he com mun it ies t hat we ser ve. It is by show i ng respec t 

and compassion toward others that we develop 

leg it i mac y i n t he hea r t s a nd m i nd s of t hese 

communities. 

Photograph 3: Bystanders 

The third photograph that haunts me shows about 

15 soldiers standing around a man who is on his 

k nees, about to get shot in t he back of the head. 

He has dug h is ow n g rave a nd is about to fa ll 

into it. 

Photo c re d it: Un ited St ates Holoc au st Memor ia l Mu s eu m, 

cou rtesy of Sha ron Paquette. 

Out of t he 15 soldiers, maybe 14 of t hem appear 

to be look ing on to see what is happening. Some 

of t hem a re act ua lly sm i l ing. But one sold ier is 

look ing away. Now, t he photographer might just 

have snapped t hat pic t u re at t hat t i me w hen 

t hat par t icula r soldier happened to look away. 

But I have wondered, a nd I wou ld li ke to t h in k 

that this soldier k new right from w rong and was 

say i ng to h i msel f somet h i ng l ike, “Ma n, t his is 

messed up. I don’t even want to be here.” It makes 

me wonder what would have happened if five of 

those soldiers out of the 15 had said, “W hoa, wait 

a minute, we are not doing this.” Would t hat have 

changed t hings a little bit? It would surely have 

taken considerable courage to speak up in t hose 

circumstances. 

Let us bring this up to date. W hat about the ot her 

officers, t he bystanders, when a suspect takes a 

beating? W hat is running through t hose officers’ 

heads? I would guess that there are some w it h a 

per verted sense of justice who t hink ever y thing 

is fi ne a nd t hat t h is person deser ves t his t reatment, and I suspect a considerable number k now 

it is not fine and t hey are deeply uncomfortable. 

But what w i l l t hey do? Wi ll t hey have t he courage to i nter vene, to step for wa rd, to cha l lenge 

t heir col leag ues, to do t he r ight t h ing? Feeli ng 

u ncomfor table w i l l never be enough. This is a 

call to action. 

We look at courage i n our business as going up 

against an armed g unman, into a dangerous situation or facing physical danger. We think less 

about courage as sta ndi ng up for what is rig ht. 

W hat is more, ou r systems and orga n izat iona l 

cultures of ten fail to support or reward t hat k ind 

of courage. W hen an officer reports misconduct 

to internal affairs, what k ind of reward does he or 

she get for such courage? Too of ten, it seems as if 

the incent ives and reward structures are stacked 
 

The Challenge of Policing in a Democratic Society: A Personal Journey Toward understanding | 11 

agai nst t hose who a re on t he side of r ight. Too 

of ten, t hose who spea k up or say “no” end up 

ost raci zed a nd decide never to do t hat aga in — 

because of the way t he department treats t hem, 

because of the cost t hat the system imposes on 

them. At some point t hat has got to change if we 

ex pect realit y to be different in 10 or 20 years. 

I believe t hat f unda menta l cha nge in at t it udes 

a nd in pol ice cu lt u re is possible. Of cou rse, it 

is ha rd, a nd I a m not suggest ing for a m inute it 

is not. But it takes a different k ind of courage, a 

cou rage t hat ma ny people simply do not have 

a s i nd iv idua ls. Col lec t ively, we have to f i nd 

the strength. 

First Responders 

Since 9/11, and again in the wake of the Boston 

Marathon bombing, we hear police (among others) described as fi rst responders. Ever yone was 

st ruck by the images in Boston of police officers 

at t he scene of t he bombing rushing in w ithout 

hesitat ion to help the wounded w it h little or no 

regard for t heir ow n safet y. 

If we really understand our oath — and the role 

pol ice mu st play i n protec t i ng hu ma n r ig ht s, 

civ il liberties and democratic values — t hen we 

also have to be the first responders when basic 

human and civ il rights are threatened or denied. 

Not bystanders. Will we rush in t hen to inter vene, 

w it hout regard for t he persona l consequences, 

just as we do at a bomb scene? Of cou rse, ot hers shou ld fol low us a nd have t heir role to play, 

too, but police need to be fi rst, the ver y fi rst. Our 

oat h as police officers demands t hat we take t his 

leadership role. 

W hen I went t h roug h t he ac ademy, I lea r ned 

about t he Fi r st A mend ment a nd t he Fou r t h 

A mend ment, not f rom t he sta ndpoi nt of how 

impor ta nt it was for me to protect t hem but so 

that I would k now how to get around them to do 

my job. 

I remember w hen we had t he “Oc c upy ” demonstrations in Philadelphia as in so many ot her 

major cit ies in the U.S. and abroad. During our 

department’s planning sessions, I was astonished 

at how quick ly and nat ura l ly t he conversat ion 

t u r ned to ma ss a r rest proc edu res, t he i mport a nc e of h a v i ng a r r est pro c e du re s r ead y for 

various eventualities and check ing t hat we were 

ready to deploy them at short notice. So I raised 

the question, “W hat is Plan B? W hy do we always 

go to mass arrest procedures? We should have as 

our goal not to arrest anyone. W hether we agree 

w it h the demonstrators or not, t hese folks have 

a legit imate right to protest and to air and voice 

their concerns. Our job is to make sure they can 

do that, peacefully.” 

We reminded ourselves t hat Philadelphia was t he 

birt hplace of democracy in t he free world. For as 

long as t he demonst rat ion lasted, ever y day at 

roll call the sergeant read the First A mendment 

out loud. Ever y day! This went on for mont hs, 

and maybe some people got a bit tired of it; never t heless, we st uck w it h it a nd read t he Fi rst 

A mendment each a nd ever y day at roll ca l l to 

remind the officers at t he beginning of their shif t 

what t heir job was. 

In my office at police headquar ters, I have one 

pic t u re t hat ma kes me pa r t ic u la rly proud. It 
12 | New Perspec tives in Policing 

s ho w s a g r oup of ou r bic y c le of f ic er s at t he 

National Constitut ion Center, where a huge stone 

tablet has t he First Amendment engraved on it. 

These officers chose to take their ow n picture, as 

a g roup, su r rounding t hat tablet. That mea ns a 

great deal to me. 

The publ ic has come to k now t hat we w i l l r ush 

headlong toward danger and w ill put ourselves 

in harm’s way to protect total strangers. Even if 

some of our ow n should fall in the process, the 

publ ic k nows t hat t here w i l l be ot hers to fi l l in. 

The heroes who responded to t he terror attacks of 

9/11 w ill forever ser ve as shining examples of t his 

t y pe of ser v ice: ser v ice w it h purpose and ser v ice 

w ith courage. 

But our oath to “ser ve and protect” means much 

more than protect ing life and propert y. Our oat h 

a lso c a r r ies w it h it t he u n ique a nd awesome 

responsibi lit y of protect i ng t he const it ut iona l 

rights of all A mericans — of safeguarding t he ver y 

f reedoms t hat we cher ish a nd t hat set us apa r t 

from so many other nat ions on ear th. 

I n recent yea rs, whenever we see t he esc a lat ion of crime, drug abuse, youth v iolence, child 

abuse, sec u r it y t h reat s or ot her ser ious problems, we hear various calls for t he rela xat ion of 

t he exclusionar y rule, t he reversal of other Fourt h 

A mendment rights and, most recently, the overhau l of pol ice Miranda wa r n ings. A l l of t hese 

suggestions have been made in the name of more 

effective law enforcement and safer communit ies. 

Yes, the police need to work harder and smarter 

in cont rol li ng cr i me. But in doing so, we must 

never comprom ise ou r stau nch defense of t he 

Const itution and the bedrock freedoms it g uarantees. We must never buy into the notion — as the 

police in Nazi Germany did — that tak ing away 

indiv idua l r ights is somehow t he way to solve 

our crime problems and create safer communities. If our officers leave their day at t he Holocaust 

museum w it h only one lesson learned, I hope it 

is t hat one. 

Our Legacy 

The ultimate goal of the police is to create a societ y 

that is free of crime and where ever yone’s rights 

are safe and secure. That is the ideal, somet hing 

to reach for, but something t hat we w ill probably 

never f u lly achieve. There w i l l a lways be cha llenges and obstacles that get in the way. 

Today, the threat of terrorism creates challenges 

to our physical safet y and securit y as well as to 

ou r t rad it ions of fa i r ness, equa lit y a nd liber t y. 

Faced w ith such threats, we w ill increasingly be 

forced to weigh t he issues of indiv idual privac y 

against t he issues of public securit y. We w ill be 

tempted to use new a nd powerf u l sur vei l la nce 

technolog ies just because we ca n. But shou ld 

we? Mov i ng for wa rd, we w i l l have to be more 

t houg ht f ul about which tech nolog ies to deploy. 

Technolog y is somet imes a benefit, somet imes a 

curse. Of course, we should pursue effective and 

appropriate technological solutions to our problems. But we must also consciously decide where 

the limits lie and do so before we cross those lines. 

As police weigh conflict ing obligations, we need 

to remind ourselves constantly t hat our first priorit y is t he protect ion of const it ut ional r ights. 
 

The Challenge of Policing in a Democratic Society: A Personal Journey Toward understanding | 13 

In closi ng, let me ret u r n to t he issue of how we, 

as police officers, v iew ou rselves a nd how, as a 

consequence, others might v iew us. Earlier in this 

paper, I expressed my reser vations concerning 

the metaphor of t he “thin blue line.” As a result 

of my per sona l jou r ne y, I no longer buy i nto 

t hat metaphor at a l l. I wou ld prefer t hat pol ice 

see t hemselves as a t hread woven t hroug h t he 

communities t hey ser ve. That metaphor makes 

police an integral part of the ver y fabric t hat holds 

commu n it ies toget her in a democrat ic societ y. 

Our part nerships and collaborations w ill mean 

much more when we v iew ourselves as a part of 

t he fabr ic rat her t ha n as a sepa rate inst it ut ion 

t r y i ng to engage t he publ ic. A s a t hin blue li ne, 

we might suppress crime in some neighborhoods, 

but as part of the fabric of societ y, we are already 

joined w it h ot hers in t he task of creating safe and 

healt hy places to live and work. 

Policing is a noble profession. We always meet t he 

challenges of our time, overcome t he obstacles 

and continue mov ing for ward, all the while staying true to our values and principles. Our legac y 

is precious and deser ves our constant care and 

at tent ion. One hu ndred yea rs f rom now, most 

people are unlikely to remember any of us as indiv iduals. Our indiv idual names w ill be on the list 

of those who wore t he badge. But collectively, w ill 

we have made an imprint? W hat w ill t hat imprint 

look l ike? W hat legac y w i l l we leave behind, as 

indiv iduals and as a profession? 

I have ever y confidence t hat we w ill be remembere d po s it i ve l y — a nd ou r i mpr i nt w i l l be 

honorable, memorable and lasting; that is, so long 

as we remain true to our calling of ser v ice to others, to our oat h of office, and to the principles and 

et hics of our profession.

 Photo credit: Phi ladelphia Pol ice Depar t ment. 
Author Note: Charles H. Ramsey is Commissioner 

of t he Philadelphia Police Depar t ment, President 

of t he Major Cities Chiefs Associat ion, President 

of t he Police E xecut ive Resea rch For u m a nd a 

member of t he Ha r va rd/NIJ E xecut ive Session 

on Policing and Public Safet y. Th is paper draws 

in par t f rom a speech ent it led “The Lessons of 

t he Holoc au s t : Helpi ng C re ate B e t ter Pol ic e 

Officers for Today and Tomorrow” delivered by 

Com m i ssioner Ra mse y at t he U. S. Holoc au st 

Memor ia l Mu seu m/A nt i-Defa mat ion L eag ue 

Symposium on April 12, 2000, from other more 

recent speeches del ivered by Com m issioner 

R a m se y rega rd i ng t he cha rac ter of pol ic e serv ice, and from remarks made by him during the 

Executive Sessions. 

U.S. Department of Justice

Office of Justice Programs

National Institute of Justice

Washington, DC 20531

Official Business

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DOJ/NIJ

Permit No. G­–91

NCJ 245992

Members of the Executive Session on Policing and Public Safety

Chief Edward Flynn, Milwaukee 

Police Department 

Colonel Rick Fuentes, Superintendent, New Jersey State Police 

District Attorney George Gascón, San 

Francisco District Attorney’s Office 

Mr. Gil Kerlikowske, Director, Office of 

National Drug Control Policy 

Professor John H. Laub, Distinguished 

University Professor, Department of 

Criminology and Criminal Justice, College of 

Behavioral and Social Sciences, University 

of Maryland

Chief Susan Manheimer, San Mateo 

Police Department 

Superintendent Garry McCarthy, Chicago 

Police Department

Professor Tracey Meares, Walton Hale 

Hamilton Professor of Law, Yale Law School 

Dr. Bernard K. Melekian, Director, Office 

of Community Oriented Policing Services 

(retired), United States Department of 

Justice

Ms. Sue Rahr, Director, Washington State Criminal Justice Training Commission

Commissioner Charles Ramsey,

Philadelphia Police Department

Dr. Greg Ridgeway, Acting Director, 

National Institute of Justice

Professor David Sklansky, Yosef 

Osheawich Professor of Law, University of California, Berkeley, School of Law 

Mr. Sean Smoot, Director and Chief Legal Counsel, Police Benevolent and Protective 

Association of Illinois 

Professor Malcolm Sparrow, Professor 

of Practice of Public Management, John F. 

Kennedy School of Government, Harvard 

University 

Mr. Darrel Stephens, Executive Director, 

Major Cities Chiefs Association 

Mr. Christopher Stone, President, Open Society Foundations

Mr. Richard Van Houten, President, Fort 

Worth Police Officers Association

Lieutenant Paul M. Weber, Los Angeles 

Police Department

Professor David Weisburd, Walter E. Meyer Professor of Law and Criminal Justice, 

Faculty of Law, The Hebrew University; 

and Distinguished Professor, Department 

of Criminology, Law and Society, George 

Mason University

Dr. Chuck Wexler, Executive Director, 

Police Executive Research Forum

Commissioner Anthony Batts, Baltimore 

Police Department

Professor David Bayley, Distinguished Professor (Emeritus), School of Criminal 

Justice, State University of New York at 

Albany 

Professor Anthony Braga, Senior Research 

Fellow, Program in Criminal Justice Policy 

and Management, John F. Kennedy School 

of Government, Harvard University; and 

Don M. Gottfredson Professor of EvidenceBased Criminology, School of Criminal 

Justice, Rutgers University

Chief Jane Castor, Tampa Police Department

Ms. Christine Cole (Facilitator), Executive Director, Program in Criminal Justice Policy 

and Management, John F. Kennedy School 

of Government, Harvard University 

Commissioner Edward Davis, Boston 

Police Department (retired)

Chief Michael Davis, Director, Public Safety 

Division, Northeastern University

Mr. Ronald Davis, Director, Office of 

Community Oriented Policing Services, 

United States Department of Justice

Ms. Madeline deLone, Executive Director, 

The Innocence Project

Dr. Richard Dudley, Clinical and Forensic 

Psychiatrist

Learn more about the Executive Session at: 

NIJ’s website: http://www.nij.gov/topics/law-enforcement/administration/executive-sessions/welcome.htm

Harvard’s website: http://www.hks.harvard.edu/criminaljustice/executive_sessions/policing.htm

*NCJ~245992*