Human beings are neither angels nor beasts, and they differ in attitudes, beliefs, motives, purposes, and ambitions. This makes civilization difficult to create and preserve. For the same reason, there must be "unsleeping sentinels who guard the outposts of society." Simply put, civilization cannot defend itself: people must stand up for it. The specific people who are in the front lines - the police - are thus essential to civilized life, even though there are limits to what they can do.
- Edwin J. Delattre, Character and Cops: Ethics in Policing
No comments:
Post a Comment