During my law enforcement career
I have always enjoyed and respected the
attention and fascination kids seem to have
toward law enforcement officers. I have never
taken this “stardom” lightly and tried at every
opportunity to return the attention and to
interact. Kids seem to appreciate these
efforts and I feel that a trust and bond is
being built between future citizens and by the
example I set for those who will follow in my
shoes. I share the following true story with
the hopes that the reader will gain some
insight or at least give some thought as to
their interaction with children.
As a police captain I was attending a
community relations function at one of our
local elementary schools. Several of the
officers under my command were there to meet
and interact with the kids. The area in which
the school was located was near several public
housing developments and a good number of the
kids were from one of these development. My
experience had taught me that these kids were a
little afraid and skeptical of uniformed police
officers. Understanding how young kids might
feel about police officers and wanting to
change the negative perception, I would always
advocate things to bring about a change. When
dealing with kids, such thing as getting down
to the child’s level, face to face, smiling,
being friendly and approachable are techniques
which are tried and true and work well.
During this particular event I noticed one of
my young officers interacting with a young
boy. From appearances, the officer seemed to
be doing well with the child but then things
went bad. During the interaction the little
boy reached out and touched the officer’s
badge. In reaction, the officer jerked away
from the child, brought himself back to a full
standing position admonishing the child for
touching his shining badge. Seeing this, my
immediate emotion was one of anger, however I
knew better than to react at that time; however
react I most definitely would.
What had just occurred was a big deal, not only
to me but for that little boy. First, in all
probability it had reinforced any negative
thoughts that this child might have had about
police officers. It had destroyed whatever
degree of trust the officer might have built
with this child. Secondly, that young
officer failed to realize what it took for that
young boy to feel comfortable enough to reach
out and touch that badge. The officer had
obviously made some headway in making the child
feel comfortable enough to touch the badge;
then he abruptly destroyed that progress. In
a very real sense that small fingerprint on the
badge was a symbol of honor yet the officer
failed to realize that. This was going to be a
learning moment, a golden learning opportunity
for a young law enforcement officer; one much
too important to pass over.
Once the event ended and I collected my
thoughts, I called the officer and had him meet
me at a nearby coffee shop. Over a cup of
coffee I began to critique the incident which
had occurred at the school. To my surprise,
the incident had not registered with this
officer as anything approaching significant; I
had to detail with him what I had observed.
The officer was generally concerned with the
appearance of his uniform and a fingerprint
left on his badge. He had totally missed both
the importance of our purpose at the school and
what effect his reaction had on the child.
My approach to having this officer to
understand was to get him to see things as the
child saw them. We talked about police
responses to the child’s neighborhood and what
little eyes might interpret and the impression
left with the child. We talked about how and
why a child might develop a skepticism or fear
of police. We talked about the importance of
changing attitudes of children so they would
not grow into adults disliking police. We
talked about the importance of community
support now and in the future on how we do our
job.
I asked this young officer to tell me some of
the things he recalled about police officers
from when he was a young child. He had no
shortage of things to tell that he remembered
both good and bad. He told of a time when a
deputy came to visit his 5th grade class and
how the class went outside to the playground
where the deputy displayed his patrol car,
letting him and others sit behind the wheel and
operate the lights and siren. He recalled
trying on the deputy’s large brown hat and
seeing all of the equipment in the trunk of the
car. When he finished, I reminded him of how
well and detailed he recalled his encounters
and how the little boy at school would long
remember his encounter today.
It was just then when the “bell rang” as to
what he had done. “Captain I screwed up an
opportunity I had to create a positive
impression with that child.” I concurred and
advised him he could have handled it better
then commended him for his actions up to the
point of the badge touching. He obviously did
something right to make the child want to touch
the badge. I commended him for wanting to keep
his uniform appearance pristine while reminding
him of the saying that “all that glitters is
not gold”
The message I intended the officer to carry
away from this learning moment is this:
The badge that you wear is a symbol of the
authority granted you by the people you serve.
You have the authority to enforce laws, detain
and arrest, use force, etc. What a powerful
ornament! A child’s fingerprint on that
symbol is a worthy endorsement of what you do
and of your chosen profession.
For many years to follow that officer would
always greet me with “Captain, I’ve got
fingerprints on my badge.” Lesson learned!
©Kent Fletcher
November 2012
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Kent Fletcher retired as Deputy Chief of the Durham NC
Police Dept. He served with that department for 301/2 years. He is a graduate
of the 162nd session of the FBI National Academy and has an AA and BS degree in
Justice Administration from Guilford College. Writing short stories and poetry
has become a part-time hobby. He can be reached at
hkfletcher@nc.rr.com
