Mark Twain is credited with saying, “The more I get to know people, the better I like dogs.” Working a career in law enforcement can often make agents adopt an attitude similar to Twain's. People expose their worst sides to law enforcement personnel, and rank makes no difference in this respect. Whether the person is the offender or the offended, as stressful situations cause tempers to rise, they tend to show a side of themselves to law enforcement officials that they show to no one else.

Sorting through the emotions, ignoring any profanity, and understanding the body language of the people you deal with every day are things that every law enforcement official must do. It is difficult to have to bite your tongue sometimes, but it is a necessary skill.

Officers don't have to sympathize with anyone, but empathizing with the immediate plight of people plays an enormous role in how those people react to the law enforcement official. Empathy is especially helpful as agents try to comprehend the motivations of people involved in situations that require the intervention of law enforcement agencies. Even if empathy is beyond the emotional reach of the agent, feigning an empathetic nature is sometimes what is needed to get through the situation successfully.

Regardless of whether agents are dealing with a highly volatile situation or confronted with just everyday living, it's important that they get to know and understand the people they serve. Seeing where and how people live, getting to know their relatives, knowing where they work, where they play, with whom they associate, and what their likes and dislikes are can all become useful tools in the pursuit of the mission. Becoming immersed in the culture is the simplest way to become accepted by it. Although uniformed officers tend to stand out from the crowd by virtue of their uniform, they can still be a welcomed and integral part of the community by knowing and being known by the people who live there.

Getting Involved in Schools

The creation of the school-resource officer (SRO) in schools throughout the country is a perfect example of law enforcement becoming embedded within the community. The SRO is an efficient collector of police intelligence from a location that can be highly reflective of the community in general. Kids talk, and smart officers listen when they do, using the information obtained to stop many crimes before they start.

Although school-resource officers were present at Columbine High School, and the tragedy there still occurred, it should not serve as an indictment of the SRO program in any way. The intelligence that is gathered by school-resource officers across the country each day, including those who worked at Columbine before and at the time of the massacre, is responsible for thwarting countless criminal acts. Getting to know the student body and faculty, and garnering relationships that allow for the free flow of information, is how SROs accomplish their mission.

Getting Involved in the Community

The SRO program is merely a small part of what should be known as community-resource officers. No matter what part of a law enforcement agency someone works for, they should be actively engaged with their community. Obtaining information in advance of criminal activities, or following the trail of the perpetrator once a crime has occurred, requires fresh information. The best way of obtaining that information is from someone with whom you already have a friendly relationship. Having previously established trust with members of the community is the easiest way for law enforcement agents to acquire the data they need to apprehend the bad guy and close the case.

Community policing has been resurrected in recent years as a hot-button item for many law enforcement agencies. Simply put, it is when the police recruit a segment of the population to assist law enforcement in acquiring necessary information. In some cases, citizen groups take to the streets in a show of strength and solidarity, demonstrating that the majority of the community backs law enforcement. Such groups are usually self-motivated, but require a strong dose of professional presence in order to temper their actions and keep them from taking the law into their own hands.

Acquiring intelligence from the field is vital to the mission of law enforcement, and the fastest way to acquire that information is by establishing trust with the greater community. Finding a way to melt into the crowd starts the wheels of trust rolling. Once trust is established, people open up and share what they know. The prudent law enforcement official is the one who sees the true value in close human relations and seizes every opportunity to expand both the quantity and quality of his contacts.