Cops Are Conservatives, and Should Be
Some months ago I had the misfortune of having to perform an administrative task that had only the most tangential of connections to actual police work. It was my further misfortune that the task required a trip to the LAPD headquarters building in downtown L.A., a place I visit as seldom as possible.
There, in one of the offices where the LAPD’s vast bureaucracy churns out a steady stream of mostly meaningless paperwork, I chanced to see, adorning the wall of one of the many cubicles, something I had never seen in any police station I had worked in or visited: a Barack Obama campaign sticker.
I had come with another officer, and I very discretely directed his attention to the sticker, bringing a roll of his eyes and the whispered question: “What’s going on here?”
The cubicle’s occupant was absent, preventing what might have been an uncomfortable conversation. My partner and I finished our business, and as we drove back to our assigned station I asked him if he knew of any cops who had voted for Barack Obama. He didn’t, nor did I.
Which is not to say there aren’t any. The LAPD prides itself on diversity, after all, so I expect Mr. Obama got a few votes from within its ranks. But not from anyone at my station, where posting an Obama sticker on one’s cubicle would be all but unthinkable.
I’m a bit ashamed to admit I was once a liberal, the product of a Jesuit high school and what is often referred to as an elite university. A few years of police work cured me of this affliction, but even before I came around I knew enough to keep my political opinions to myself. (I described my political conversion for NRO back in 2000. Part 1 is here; Part 2 is here.)
Cops tend to be conservatives, perhaps because they spend the bulk of their day dealing with the consequences of failed liberal policies. Whatever liberals you might find in the department can mostly be found, like the absent cubicle dweller discussed above, in bureaucratic assignments that keep them safely shielded from the hazards of actual police work, and from those pesky consequences.
My thanks to Rob Long and everyone at Ricochet for the opportunity to join the conversation this week.
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Jun '10
Re: Cops Are Conservatives, and Should Be
Welcome --- I hope the suits make this permanent.
Re: Cops Are Conservatives, and Should Be
Jack, welcome to Ricochet, sir. I've been following and admiring your work for many years, even back when I was wearing a badge and weapon in the military.
"Cops tend to be conservatives..."
Very true. How then can they bring themselves to shut down little kids' lemonade stands? It's not a minor point, to me at least. I decided against going into law enforcement after I retired from active duty largely because I could not bring myself to be the enforcement arm of an increasingly aggressive state that is intruding into virtually every aspect of a citizen's life. I would have to resign before I enforced some of these lunacies, so I stayed away.
I have immense respect for officers like you, who persevere. But I wonder, how do you do it?
Aug '10
Re: Cops Are Conservatives, and Should Be
Welcome to Rico 'Jack'. The cubicle occupant was busy working. Maybe you didnt see the memo about hiring a full guardian for Rodney King. Evidently, Mr King needed to make bail yet again. This guy has got to be busy, but in order to transit in and out he needed to borrow the posting dough from OneUnited Bank. Maxine takes lunch from 10:30 - 3.
Re: Cops Are Conservatives, and Should Be
"Cops tend to be conservatives, perhaps because they spend the bulk of their day dealing with the consequences of failed liberal policies."
That, Jack, is about as compelling a sentence about contemporary American life as I have ever read.
Welcome to Ricochet.
May '10
Re: Cops Are Conservatives, and Should Be
My conversion was similar. I picked up a University of Texas library copy of National Review in 1985 and discovered that politics could be fun, and that an interest in them did not necessarily mean, as I had supposed, that I had to spend the remainder of my life emoting in public.
I also learned that the concept of "justice" has always been, under human conditions, problematic. And it always will be. Thus ended my very brief period of Lefty sloganeering.
Edited on Sep 4, 2011 at 7:03pmMay '10
Re: Cops Are Conservatives, and Should Be
You're right, Jack. Most coppers I know are conservative. And when my husband (The Man) was not quite conservative enough on social issues, he quickly saw the errors of his ways once we were married. :-)
However, my only close experience with law enforcement has been in a conservative city in The OC, a freakishly conservative part of California. I often wonder about other parts of the country where the predominant political culture is far left, Detroit, for example. If one compared a Detroit cop to a cop in The OC, perhaps the Detroit cop, while considering himself more conservative than his community, would be considered a leftisto next to a cop from Newport Beach.
Jun '10
Re: Cops Are Conservatives, and Should Be
If you're a cop investigating a crime, the person lying to you about what they saw (or did) is very likely a liberal Democrat, and when you do run into a conservative Republican, they're most likely telling the truth about what they saw. That's because they're probably the victim, or saw the crime and came to the aid of the victim. Truth is good. Cops don't like liars. Liars make their job twice as hard.
Nov '10
Re: Cops Are Conservatives, and Should Be
Apr '11
Re: Cops Are Conservatives, and Should Be
And how about in Madison WI, where at one point Walker expressed a convincing fear that if he were to try an limit cops' collective bargaining, he thought they would stop policing and effectively do what the teachers did. In fact, it seemed that cops were not protecting or taking death threats to republicans seriously during the whole protest. I wonder what would be the effect of a similar action in LA?
May '10
Re: Cops Are Conservatives, and Should Be
Welcome to Ricochet, Jack! I've admired your work at NRO for many years.
I also don't know any liberal cops and I think you eloquently described the primary reason. Most (all?) of the cops that I know are happy conservative warriors.
Etoiledunord made me smile because of my recent contacts with law enforcement: Once as victim (we woke up to a car abandoned on our front lawn--on top of what had been a lovely magnolia) and twice when we called for their aid with neighbors who were in trouble beyond our ability to help. In all cases, we were in respectful good humor, as were the officers who responded. We offered coffee or iced tea (depending on the weather) and had a nice chat--in one case, about the McCain poster we had in the window (they approved). We left with a good opinion of those officers in whose district we now reside and hope that they remember us likewise.
Sep '10
Re: Cops Are Conservatives, and Should Be
The one thing I would like to hear Mr. Dunphy's opinion on is the effect of public sector union activity on police work. As you know, with FDR, most Ricos are opposed to public sector unionization per se.
Jan '11
Re: Cops Are Conservatives, and Should Be
Jack Dunphy, Guest Contributor:
I’m a bit ashamed to admit I was once a liberal, the product of a Jesuit high school and what is often referred to as an elite university.
Ah, see, that was the problem. You had to go to the Jesuit university to get the whole picture. It's kind of a package deal.
(Note to self: no one is going to fall for that one.)
Aug '10
Re: Cops Are Conservatives, and Should Be
Psued- such a tease. How about a nice calm Sunday query ? To Jack : Has HIPAA caused any compromise in your job ( re what they hired you for) that effects the danger,cost, and efficacy of crimebusting ?
Nov '10
Re: Cops Are Conservatives, and Should Be
Doesn't surprise me in the least, Jack. As I understand those posters make excellent dartboards.
Mar '11
Re: Cops Are Conservatives, and Should Be
Are cops really all that conservative? They tend to be big on union membership, and cops from bigger cities seem to be almost reflexivly anti-second amendment.
Remember "Lethal Weapon 2"? During a scene at police HQ, one of the shots panned past desks with anti-NRA posters. Now I realize that this is Hollywood, and that could have been something slipped in by the liberal filmmakers, but don't studios solicit help and advice from cops, especially LAPD, while making films about police? Whether or not anti-NRA slogans are typical of LAPD officers, I do know that police from bigger cities seem to be at the front of efforts to "get guns off of our streets", and that usually involves hassling law abiding citizens. You'd have a hard time convincing me that a cop from gun-hating New Jersey, for instance, would usually be conservative.
Re: Cops Are Conservatives, and Should Be
I addressed the issue of cops' unions on NRO back in 2000, and on Pajamas Media earlier this year.
Edited on Sep 4, 2011 at 9:22pmRe: Cops Are Conservatives, and Should Be
Dunphy on Ricochet? Our work here is done. The owner of Badge 714 for his avatar: perfect. Enjoyed your work on NRO, sir; welcome. Please stick around.
Loaded question: if cops are conservatives because they deal with the innumerable consequences of failed liberal policies, what's the excuse for newspaper reporters who cover the crime beat? Besides an adamantine carapace of groupthink ideology.
May '11
Re: Cops Are Conservatives, and Should Be
In LAPD there are surely black policemen. I remember there being some. Almost every single black person in the United States, with very few exceptions, voted for Obama. Why would they differ merely because they are policemen?
The election of Barack Obama proved that white Americans are predominantly not racists, but that black voters predominantly are.
Edited on Sep 4, 2011 at 11:04pmJul '10
Re: Cops Are Conservatives, and Should Be
Those are typically administrators, whose opinions are not necessarily reflective (to say the least) of rank-and-file opinions. I think most people outside the police world would be surprised, if not shocked, by the gulf between the thinking of police brass and the officers on the street.
As for Lethal Weapon, I've been in police stations across the country, and have never seen an anti-gun poster hanging anywhere. I'm putting that one to Hollywood; Richard Donner is known for that sort of thing.
Also, Rob Long, James Lileks, Mark Steyn, and Jack Dunphy all writing for the same website? Never have I dreamed such wonderment to be possible. :)
May '10
Re: Cops Are Conservatives, and Should Be
I've been enjoying your writing for years, for which I thank you. Welcome to Ricochet and may your stay be a very long one.