A Word on Gratuities

The subject of police gratuities is nigh-universal in the experience of American law enforcement.  You hear about it in the news, you hear about during the academy, you hear about it during departmental in-service training, you hear about it your entire career.  I will attempt to break it down.

There are four levels of gratuities with which the police around the world come into contact.  The first is huge payoffs to corrupt, top-level police administrators by groups intending to influence police activity in their favor.  An example would be Mafia bribes, drug lords in Central America, that type of thing.  The second is small amounts of money passed to officers on an individual basis with the intent of influencing police activity – the famous “$20 bill clipped to the back of the driver license”.  We can agree that such interaction is corrupt and wrong without further discussion.

The third level of gratuity is insignificant, indirect courtesies given with the intent of influencing police activity.  For instance, a certain 24-hour corner store makes police officers aware that they can have free coffee, any time of the day.  The goal here is to increase police presence on the premises.  The offers of free coffee, free fast-food meals, half-off this, free that, is a pervasive reality of American policing which is universally condemned by departmental regulations.  Despite this, such “minor” gratuities are just as universally accepted daily by officers on duty.

So what’s the deal?  Are these third-level gratuities wrong?  Does accepting them compromise an officer’s integrity?  Why is it that the vast majority of police departments do almost nothing to enforce their anti-gratuity regulations?

My opinion is that an officer should abide by the regulations of the department they serve.  Pay for your coffee, pay for your meals, obviously keep the $20 clipped to the license (and max them out on any possible citations for attempting to bribe the police).  Is it morally wrong to accept a free meal?  No.  Are there good reasons for not doing so, and hence good reasons for such policies regulating these gratuities?  Definitely yes.  I believe that if an officer expects to have the integrity to deal with major matters, he/she ought first to have the integrity to deal with minor matters.

Easier said than done, perhaps, but that’s life, innit?

Oh yes, the fourth level of gratuity.  Level Four consists of small courtesies which are tokens of actual gratitude, often of only sentimental value, from citizens who appreciate the work that police and other first responders do – this level looks much like level three, but lacks any intent to influence.