Law Enforcement's "Warrior" Problem

Commentary 128 Harv. L. Rev. F. 225 Law Enforcement s Warrior Problem Seth Stoughton Volume 128 Issue 6 April 2015 See full issue Download See Footnotes Within law enforcement, few things are more venerated than the concept of the Warrior. Officers are trained to cultivate a "warrior mindset," the virtues of which are extolled in books, articles, 1 interviews, 2 and seminars 3 intended for a law enforcement audience. An article in Police Magazine opens with a sentence that demonstrates with notable nonchalance just how ubiquitous the concept is: "[Officers] probably hear about needing to have a warrior mindset almost daily." 4 Modern policing has so thoroughly assimilated the warrior mythos that, at some law enforcement agencies, it has become a point of professional pride to refer to the "police warrior." 5 This is more than a relatively minor change in terminology. Though adopted with the best of intentions, the warrior concept has created substantial obstacles to improving police/community relations. In short, law enforcement has developed a "warrior" problem.