Another sort of cop

Reason - Hundreds of protesters marched into downtown Nashville in November, upset, as were some people in other cities, that Ferguson, Missouri, Police Officer Darren Wilson would not be indicted for shooting and killing Michael Brown. The protest was peaceful, but did block some streets for a while, including Interstate 24.

The Nashville police and its chief, Steve Anderson, decided not to respond with militarized force and orders to disperse. Police closed the affected streets to keep the protesters safe and offered coffee and hot cocoa to marchers who arrived in front of the downtown police station.

Local African-American church leaders were pleased with how Anderson responded, but not everybody was happy that the Nashville Police didn't show these rabble-rousers who was in charge. As part of his Christmas message to his officers, Anderson shared with them an angry e-mail from a citizen who wanted to know why the police didn't knock some heads to keep the community "safe," as well as his response to the writer. The exchange, as well as Anderson's Christmas letter was picked up by The Tennesseean....


Here's how Anderson responds to the writer's demand for a zero tolerance policy toward the citizenry:

Although this is unlikely, given your zero tolerance stance, suppose that, by accident or perhaps inattention, you found yourself going 40 miles per hour in a 30 miles per hour zone and that you were stopped by a police officer. Then, after making assurances that licenses were in order and that there were no outstanding warrants, the officer asked you not to speed again and did not issue a citation, but merely sent you on your way.

As you have suggested, a question may come to you from the back seat, "How can I respect the police if they will not enforce the law?" In the event this does occur, here are some facts that might help you answer that question.

In the year 2013, our officers made over four hundred thousand vehicle stops, mostly for traffic violations. A citation was issued in only about one in six of those stops. Five of the six received warnings. This is the police exercising discretion for minor violations of the law. Few, if any, persons would argue that the police should have no discretion.

Read the rest of the letter here, as well as the chief's Christmas letter to his officers.