A Thin Line: Violent Cops and Violent Criminals
By James Quadra
A lifetime ago, I was a young lawyer representing law enforcement officers in civil rights litigation. My work ranged from false arrests to wrongful death cases. While doing this work, I met many dedicated police officers committed to protecting and serving their communities. I also met officers who I believe should never have been given a badge, and most certainly, never handed a gun. Decades later, it is still hard to believe that those officers were ever given permission to use force, including deadly force, under the guise of enforcing the law.
Answering the question of how such officers were hired in the first place lies at the heart of police reform. Eliminating law enforcement immunities, and changing how law enforcement departments are funded, may help hold governments accountable, and thereby reduce officer misconduct, but it will certainly not end it. Based on my experience, real change lies in exploring the minds of officers who use excessive force and making sure others like them are disqualified from serving before they are ever handed a gun.
With the growing availability of video recording due to mobile phone technology, it is now commonplace across the country to see videos, throughout the media, of officers using what most of us would agree is excessive force. Such videos, which largely involve male officers using force against people of color, often garner millions of views on social media platforms, which are then also accompanied by countless comments calling for the officers involved to be punished. That notwithstanding, the reality is that despite a few notable exceptions, most of these cases rarely succeed in court. As a result, even though more videos surface daily, some officers, throughout the United States, continue to engage in misconduct with impunity. For society to stop this epidemic, we need to first understand exactly what makes these officers tick.
While defending civil rights cases, I had the opportunity to come in contact with the supposed other side of the coin; convicted criminals. The first time I met one such individual, I deposed him in a conference room at a county jail. Sheriff deputies were also in the room, for my protection, I assumed. This individual had been convicted of a violent crime and was suing over his jail conditions. He was a good-looking man, highly educated and well spoken. His manner was pleasant. But he also had a long history of violence, and I had no doubt the sheriff deputies were in the room for good reason. It is hard to describe what being across a conference table from such a person feels like. The energy in the room was dark. His mere presence triggered my flight or fight response because I knew he was dangerous. I left that deposition troubled by the interaction with somebody – that in my non-expert opinion – I could only describe as a sociopath.
To my surprise, the next time I had a similar experience was while I was interviewing a police officer involved in a wrongful death case. That officer had shot and killed an alleged perpetrator. He spoke with a flat affect about pulling the trigger. He did not show a hint of remorse or compassion for the life he had ended. His version of events was simply not credible, yet he never backed away from it. As I listened to him, I knew he was dangerous. I pictured him walking the streets ready to use deadly force despite law enforcement policies to the contrary. Again, the energy in the room was dark and I wondered how similar this officer’s psychological makeup was to the violent convicted criminal I had deposed in that county jail. At most, a thin line divided them. I was willing to bet that they could easily trade places.
In my experience, people who crave power often equate being feared with obtaining respect. Add to that a willingness to use force to impose their will, and you have all the wrong reasons for being attracted to a law enforcement career. For most people, knowing each morning that your work might require you to use force and hurt another human being – even taking a life – would be daunting, but for some people, it is the opposite, particularly for those who crave that kind of power. For them, using that power might become addictive. That is the reason that law enforcement agencies need to radically increase their efforts to prevent people with that type of psychological profile from ever being in a position where they can abuse the power that comes with being a member of law enforcement.
Law enforcement agencies conduct psychological evaluations of prospective officers, but there are no national standards, and in many jurisdictions, this testing is largely perfunctory. Moreover, psychological screening during the selection process is simply not enough. Regular and rigorous psychological evaluations should be mandatory throughout an officer’s career. If officers refuse these evaluations, they should lose their jobs. This process, at the very least, could identify unfit officers who somehow slipped through the hiring process, as well as those officers whose mental health has deteriorated.
Why not evaluate whether an officer is fit for duty as often as we test whether airline pilots, who are checked at least yearly, to ensure that they are fit to fly? The costs associated with regular psychological evaluations are miniscule when compared with the societal benefit of not empowering individuals that are prone to violence with a badge and a gun.
Officer Derek Chauvin knelt on George Floyd’s neck for over nine minutes and watched Mr. Floyd slowly die. Chauvin reportedly showed no reaction when he was found guilty of murdering Mr. Floyd. He has never expressed regret for killing Mr. Floyd, either. I have been in a room with an officer who did not express regret at the taking of a life. It is terrifying.
What would regular psychological evaluations of Chauvin have shown before he killed Mr. Floyd? In the best-case scenario, it would show a man with hateful ideas, who was also prone to violence. Would Mr. Floyd still be alive today if the Minneapolis Police Department had regularly evaluated Chauvin’s fitness for duty? We will never know, but it is possible. Why wait for yet another high-profile murder by a police officer to push for change?
The time is now.
Back to Main Page
Jim Quadra’s day job is representing plaintiffs in civil rights, catastrophic injury and complex business litigation. He moonlights as a would-be poet. He was inspired to start writing by his father Jaime Quadra, a poet from a prolific family of writers that includes the renowned Nicaraguan poet Pablo Antonio Cuadra. Jim has now passed on his love of writing to his children Roberto and Antonio. Learn more about Jim and his family at:
https://www.quadracoll.com/james.html
https://www.avvo.com/attorneys/94105-ca-james-quadra-132189.html