A humorous answer to the frequent questions, ‘why do police harass people?’

There is a great deal of police humor available on the web. The following email has been circulating and gathering attention in part because it deals with the tension between citizens feeling like they have been singled out for enforcement actions or are being harassed. I believe that most citizens, most of the time understand that if they are breaking a law that there is a certain probability that they will be contacted for an  enforcement action. However, rational this background expectation maybe, I suspect that just like with health issues, when a citizen is contacted by the police they move from this probabilistic sentiment to one more of, “why me?” just as a patient diagnosed with a disease asks the metaphysical question to the doctor, “why me.” The police, on the other hand, instinctively answer, “I am just doing my job” and seem confused that this answer is rarely satisfactory to a citizen, however true it is that they are doing exactly what they are paid and mandated to do. The fine email bellow weaves deftly across these two frames of reference:








The tools available to us are as follows:


This means we’ll come out and give somebody some special harassment.


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2 Comments on “A humorous answer to the frequent questions, ‘why do police harass people?’

  1. Brian, I hope all went well at DARPA? It was a pleasure working with you. All the best.

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