srothstein wrote:I don't think you have anything to worry about. First, as pointed out, even if the CHL numebrs double, it is still not a really significant portion of the public. And that is without taking into account how many will actually meet the police.
I think, if anything, the numbers of CHL's meeting the police growing is a good thing. One of the major problems in police work is remembering that there are good people out there who are not cops. Having a CHL reminds the cops of this very subtly. But it does work to remind cops of this. It has been well documented as a problem for cops that after a certain time period (usually the first couple years), they tend to start seeing the world as a mixture of cops and bad guys. If you are not a cop, you are bad. This comes about because the rookies tend to get assigned to the worst neighborhoods and all they get to deal with are the bad people. The few good people they get to deal with are in a bad situation. Off duty they tend to hang out with other cops. So, it is easy for some cops to develop the cops versus everyone attitudes.
We fight it and try our best to get new cops to develop hobbies and hang around with non-cops when off duty. This keeps them in the real world where there are good guys, bad guys, and the biggest majority (including most cops) are somewhere in between. It helps them remember that the average person is a good person, even if he just made a mistake and did something wrong. It also helps them keep in touch with how the rest of the community sees the crime problem and what makes a bad person bad. When they come up on a CHL, there is a gentle reminder that this is a good person who just made some minor mistake. If they are not yet in the us versus them attitude, this helps them realize that not everyone needs to get a ticket or go to jail. So, I figure the more cops get this quiet reminder, the better they are. After all, in real life, 90% of the people are good people.
I think this quiet reminder is also why so many cops do let CHL's off with minor violations. It is not a hard and fast rule, but it is a reminder that even a good person can make a minor mistake. And for those of us who like guns, it gives us something to talk about with you to be even more person like. I think I am more likely to be easier with you fi I see you as a person, and you are more likely to listen to my wanring and learn from it if you see me as a person and friend, instead of a nameless authority figure.
Excellent post (again).
Thank you for sharing your insights. It really helped me to understand the feelings some LEO may develop after being in service for a period of time.