# Avoiding the "Professional Courtesy" Problem



## kwflatbed (Dec 29, 2004)

*TIM DEES, Editor-in-Chief*
_Officer.com_

It Doesn't Have to Be a Problem at All

Professional courtesy is the third rail of police journalism. Touch it and you die. Whenever this issue comes up in our discussion forums, the argument goes on for weeks or months. The spectrum of opinion ranges from one extreme of "a cop _never_ reports another cop" to "cops should be held to an even higher standard of conduct than private citizens."

Those that endorse the practice of professional courtesy usually condemn any police officer that writes a ticket to or otherwise reports a violation of a fellow officer. Those on the other end of the argument contend that cops have to police themselves in order to maintain the public trust, and any officer that fails to make a report is himself culpable.

If you didn't know, professional courtesy refers to the practice of officers using personal discretion when encountering another officer who is violating the law. The most common setting is the everyday traffic stop, but has been applied in more serious situations of disorderly conduct, battery, domestic violence, and other delicate scenarios. An officer who extends professional courtesy to another finds a way to allow the issue to be overlooked or forgotten. When the situation requires that a report be made, the report is constructed in a way that the case becomes difficult or impossible to prosecute, so that the net effect is the same.

Non-cops have an interesting kind of ambivalence about the practice of professional courtesy. When they hear about it happening, they generally decry it as "unfair," and regard it as a form of corruption. But offer those same people a piece of the action, and they'll generally snap it up.

Witness the number of bumper and window stickers for the FOP, PBA, and troopers and sheriffs associations, always positioned where an officer will be sure to see them as they approach a driver on a traffic stop. Some police associations issue "courtesy cards" that their members can distribute to their friends and relations, notifying any officer they encounter that they are someone special to a police officer, and requesting that all possible discretion be exercised.

Then there are the special and honorary officer/deputy/trooper ID cards and badges handed out by some agency CEOs, usually to people with whom they want to maintain good political connections.

Because this is an unofficial practice, and one that is unique to each jurisdiction and even to each officer, discussions include questions on the etiquette of professional courtesy. Do I display my credentials to the officer as soon as he approaches the car, or just drop a subtle hint by using a radio code or a mention of being "on the job?"

Does this practice extend to dispatchers and clerks? How about spouses, siblings and children? Do security officers get a break? Are firefighters and medics eligible? Does this apply only to minor traffic offenses, or can I count on a pass if I get caught behind the wheel after I've had a few?

There are certainly a lot of issues here that seriously complicate this practice, but it would be blasphemy to suggest that it be abolished. Many officers regard the custom of professional courtesy to be nothing less than an entitlement to those that carry the badge, and anyone that says different is deserving of being cast out of the brotherhood and shunned.

But I am not recommending that the practice of professional courtesy be abandoned or outlawed. As the title of this column indicates, my subject is not whether professional courtesy should be practiced, but rather how to avoid the problem of its vagaries and inconsistencies.

My solution: obey the law. When you drive, observe the speed limit. Signal your turns. Use your seat belt. Be courteous to other drivers, even when they are not returning the favor. If you've been drinking, don't drive. I would bet that just about any cop in the country, no matter where he might be, could get a ride home from the local constabulary. They would rather drive you home than deal with the problem of deciding whether to bust you.

Simple as this solution is, it has apparently never occurred to many officers. This practice requires no more from the individual officer than we ask of every private citizen on the road. And it completely eliminates all those pesky protocol issues I referred to above. Your department will never get a call about what you did when you were off duty, you'll never have to rely on someone in another department to misroute a ticket before it gets to court, and you'll never worry whether the street grunt walking up on your car is a rookie or a veteran. It avoids the matter altogether.

I'm sure that some people will criticize this approach, but I can say from personal experience that it's been working very well for me. In any event, I wish all of you the best of holidays, whether you observe Christmas, Chanukah, Kwanzaa, or Festivus For The Rest Of Us.

*Web Links:* 

The Lessons of Professional Courtesy
Professional Courtesy (NJLawman.com)
Forum Discussion on Professional Courtesy (Officer.com)


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## sylvester (Dec 17, 2005)

professional courtesy.. ? YES -to real police officers.- Others ? depends on the person and the circumstances. The freaks that look at everything as being either black or white and never show discretion are hyper-vigilant time bombs in my opinion. Is it true that some towns, like Mi##!*....., give police officers from other municipalities tickets for [email protected]#^# things ???!! -heard it from several people at in-service who supposedly experienced it first hand....if true, maybe they have nothing else to do but suck up to their chief or who ever....word gets around..


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