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Yoon, John
Wagner
English 1A STACC
4 December, 2014
A Discordant Community:
Law Enforcement as a Discourse Community
Introduction
By far the most crucial tool of the police officer is not his gun, but his notepad
and pen. His ability to interpret and record infractions of the law to protect society drives
law enforcement itself. Theres a deep-rooted involvement with legal code that every
police officer carries, and it demands a high level of literacy and comprehension, as well
as the ability to communicate between other officers in various communities.
In a rather literal example, law enforcement is one of the few communities in
which it an officer could suddenly find himself cooperating with another of the same
profession in a relatively removed locale, such as a local precinct cooperating with a
Federal agency many states away to track down a fugitive. In that case, the discourse
community exists out of necessity as a practical body. This also means that the
individuals in this community understand that it even exists, in stark contrast to say,
professional mountaineers, who frequently work alone for long periods of time. The
presence of a discourse community is acutely apparent.
This is in part due to the para-military nature of LE organizations and great risk of
bodily harm. Its just a necessity that people with such incredible stresses to deal with

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communicate them somehow. In this respect, it truly fits the definition of a discourse
community and is hard to understand from the outside just looking in.
Methodology
The research assignment was far more straightforward in this particular
instance than it could have been, simply due to the fact that the author is actively taking
Criminal Justice classes. The fact that the field is a prominent interest is no insignificant
officers. Being able to talk to police officers, active and retired every day at school was
an immeasurable resource. For these projects it is not simply the research or the stats, but
understanding the mentality of the police. Still, it is best to go the extra mile with a
research assignment even though one has a head start. This included interviewing ex-law
enforcement, law enforcement trainers and purchasing a significant quantity of reading
material. If advice had to be given to others doing the same assignment, it would be not
to buy books or pester police. The primary factors in the authors own investment were
the ability to make use of the purchased materials after the assignment. In short, not
minding the investment in itself.
No matter what the subject matter is, a passion on the topic is absolutely
essential. Some people can pretend to like a subject, falsify effort. The author cannot.
Taking classes and having shortcuts on a project streamline the know-how, not the work
itself. Theres work involved in any project. The author had to email Chris Costa, a law
enforcement / military instructor four months in advance of the interview through his
wife to get an interview. Some work is inevitable. The trick is to make sure that the work
is not actually work. Enjoy what you do.

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Facts and Discussion
Law Enforcement being postulated as a form of discourse community may come
as a surprise to some or a borderline offense to others. Recent events like Fergusson have
put police brutality at the forefront of issues and cast doubt on the integrity of the entire
justice system. Is LE an actual community, let alone a complex one with communication
occurring daily to justify it being a discourse community? Why does it only plant the
seeds for discord and malcontent? To acknowledge it as such requires a good deal of
maturity on the part of on-lookers and an emotionally detached perspective. The refusal
to indict Darren Wilson set off a wave of anger, as buildings were set on fire, and
lootings was (sic) reported in several businesses. (What Happened in Ferguson?)
Emotional detachment from law enforcements role in society is at the very least
extremely difficult.
In the course of this projects research, Use of Force professor and twenty-six
year LAPD veteran Tony Capistrano was questioned about the idea of law enforcement
being a discourse community. He explained that the shared goals of the community
simply boiled down to the broken window concept. A Pacific Magazine article further
elaborated that the concept was a metaphor postulating that if a city block is litter-free
and its buildings are well-maintained, (Kirchner, Breaking Down the Broken Windows
Theory) it would have an effect of making people less likely to litter or vandalize. The
broken window as a metaphorical object encourages further vandalism. In turn, the
driving concept behind the entire theory is that it makes people take cues from their
surroundings and calibrate their behavior based on what they see (Kirchner, Breaking
Down the Broken Windows Theory.) The most quintessential part of the theory is that

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police officers communicate with the citizens afflicted by crime to get them to self-police
in a sense. In a nutshell, the police system is reliant on a community formed between law
enforcement and the community being policed. In itself this is nothing extraordinary or
different than other careers described as public servants, but it does serve to defy an
increasing belief that law enforcement is a community. The current example is
Fergusson, which has a legacy in police brutality that most recently goes back to the LA
riots and Rodney King. Former police Chief Daryl Gates lamented these detractors
knew nothing about the policies of the Los Angeles Police Department and filled the
atmosphere with hate. (Gates, The Legacy of Rodney King.) It became clear in short
order that he was of a minority expressing this belief and a cynicism of the police had
built comparable to that of the government during the Vietnam war. Despite Chief
Gatess arguments to the contrary, change was needed within the LAPD and police as a
whole, and it did come swiftly.
The Los Angeles Police Department issued a Use of Force Handbook in 1995. It
was a highly publicized move at the time. Today such a move would not only go
unnoticed but be entirely mundane, expected of any major police department. It was a
change wrought by a heated conversation between the people the police were to serve and
the administration within these departments. You could not bludgeon a man and swarm
him on bare suspicion. Rules were formed establishing how much force was appropriate.
In Figure 1, a Situational Use of Force Options chart, the various traits that reflect the
five levels of force are illustrated in a linear scale.

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Fig 1.
Level one meant the suspect was cooperative, requiring professional
appearance, verbal, non-verbal responses and the control search & handcuff when
necessary. On the opposite end a violent fleeing felon justified lethal force.
Verbalization is not only an important facet of two steps, but underscored at the bottom
of the chart. Though its not listed on every step, verbalization does effect the entire
continuum. Its not always apparent that many violent situations riots, police death,
resisting without actually begin as routine traffic stops. (Woodhull, Police
Communication in Traffic Stops, Pg XVII) The root of violent confrontations is
frequently poor verbalization. Professor Capistrano gave an explanation that made the
reality of these incidents tragically apparent:

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There was a female rookie cop going to a party due to noise complaints. The
more experienced officer tells her to stay close. When he's talking to the people at
the door, she goes to a driveway - a wire patio. She opens the door and finds a
very large drunk, who is having a fun time. He pulls at her tie. Cops wear clip-on
ties for this reason, so you're not wearing a noose. The tie tears off, he's laughing.
She pulls out the baton. Eventually he backs her up against a camper. She shoots
and kills him. She's fired and the department is sued for millions. She
ESCALATED.
Individual incidents like these form most of the body of evidence that makes the average
person leery of law enforcement. Still, the fact that this incident was distributed as a
lesson to prospective officers demonstrates the communication within law enforcement as
a community. Sites such as Policeone.com, Policemag.com feature incidents, such as the
nearly-fatal gunfight that officer Jared Reston was engaged in on January 26th, 2008. The
officer tracked down Joel Abner, a shoplifter that initially showed acts of seeming
compliance, raising his hands into the air. (Scoville, Shots Fired: Jacksonville, Florida
01/26/08) Abner fled and was engaged in a physical tousle after Restons taser failed to
discharge. The officer was shot in the head, three quarters of his jaw were blown
away. Miraculously, he fought back and managed to take down his assailant, but it
proved a life changing event for the detective. His jaw was wired shut for nine weeks.
(Dave Scoville, Shots Fired: Jacksonville, Florida 01/26/08) It was a terrible incident
that resulted in great loss of life and a permanent, debilitating injury. However, Reston
demonstrated the function of the police community and its ability to learn and react when
he helped publish 5 Keys to Winning Gunfights. (Remsberg, Policeone.com) The

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police community owed it to Detective Reston to learn as much as we can from this
incident. (McKenna, OFFICER DOWN Perseverance in the Face of Defeat.) The
internet has become a powerful tool for communication between law enforcement
officers. However, the internet did not simply create the community for the police.
Professor Capistrano was asked what a police officer used to communicate. His
answer started with everything. Meetings, phone calls, emails, text messages,
newsletters, reports, evaluation forms were all crucial to maintaining the logistics of a
police department. Though the professor was teaching a Use of Force class for
Pasadena Community College, he impressed the importance of learning English. Written
English, stating it was frequently used through textings (sic), written / oral
communications. He would explain that English was the most important major you can
take for law enforcement. Its an important point for a field where the price of entry is
frequently a high-school diploma and good physical fitness. The minimal level of
education to get into law enforcement is not the preferred level. The professor asked his
students once, why are there so many cop TV shows? The answer he provided in turn
was firm and simple: EVERYBODY WANTS TO BE A COP! Theres a strong
compulsion to join the police community, as often maligned and mocked it is. It clashes
with the idea that police arent faring so well when it comes to inspiring trust from the
community. (Chumley, Public trust in police low, criticism of militarization rises)
Despite detractors of American law enforcement, the community continues to grow and
evolve with every incident and decision made, much like the legal system that is such a
cornerstone of the field.

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Law enforcement is considered part of the Executive Branch, while the court
systems are the Judicial Branch. This keys into the separation of powers and forms a
dialogue between the two systems.Police procedure is not simply an arrest on the street; it
begins when the police first contact a person and lasts well after his or her
conviction. (Worral, Criminal Procedure, Pg 2) The communication of ideas between
the courts and law enforcement that define a community can be seen in whats called
legal precedent, which functions to establish a principle or rule that may be utilized
when deciding subsequent cases with similar issues or facts. (Precedent, Princeton.edu)
Take an example of the famous admonition that became known as the Miranda
Warning:
You have the right to remain silent and refuse to answer questions. Do you
understand? Anything you do say may be used against you in a court of law. Do
you understand? You have the right to consult an attorney before speaking to the
police and to have an attorney present during questioning now or in the future.
Do you understand? If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be appointed for
you before any questioning if you wish. Do you understand? If you decide to
answer questions now without an attorney present you will still have the right to
stop answering at any time until you talk to an attorney. Do you understand?
Knowing and understanding your rights as I have explained them to you, are you
willing to answer my questions without an attorney present? (The Miranda
Warning)
This phrase has been described by then associate-justice William Rehnquist as
embedded in routine police practice to the point where the warnings could only be

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described as part of our national culture. (Dickerson v. United States 530 U.S. 428
(2000) This decision was made nearly forty years earlier by the dialogue between court
and police in the case of Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436 (1966) Despite a
congressional effort to overturn the requirement of Miranda in the Dickerson case, the
requirement of the admonition has become a staple of the community, serving as a
constant reminder of the communication between court, defendant and police. This isnt
to imply that the adversarial legal system is the only way for the police community to
telegraph ideas, however.
The LAPD, stigmatized for its treatment of men like Rodney King would
eventually place more of an emphasis upon the existence of a discourse community,
though not acknowledged explicitly by the term. Community Policing, as it was called,
had an importance that grew at the turn of the century. On its lapdonline.org site, the
page for Community Policing would state that its very function was based upon a
partnership between the police and the community, in stark contrast to lines of armored
policemen beating back rioters in Los Angeles in the nineties. They shifted a focus to
police and the community share responsibility for identifying, reducing, eliminating and
preventing problems (Community Policing Unit - Official Website of THE LOS
ANGELES POLICE DEPARTMENT) nearly solely from the amount of public outcry the
case generated. Though the protesters didnt even realize it, they were an important
element of a two-party conversation that established the very nature of a living, breathing
law enforcement community.
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Conclusion
In the same way that a frequent detractor of the police can become colored by
their biases and beliefs, it is true that the author can also be influenced by their own
admirations and personal beliefs. However, the only way to remove bias and prejudice is
to test beliefs, to explore the reasoning behind a given idea and test it to its limits. The
police community is sometimes viewed as oppressive, without depth or ability to listen,
but this is a belief that is unfounded. Ignorance is dangerous to everyone. It leads to cities
being burnt down overnight, young men being killed on the street. To have a
conversation is to exchange ideas, regardless of them being unpopular or disliked. A
police system that is never criticized would be a terrible, unchanging beast that endangers
everyone it supposedly protects and serves. This problem goes both ways, however. A
law enforcement community that is denied the ability to communicate reciprocally and
grow cannot be a cohesive whole, let alone something that can be categorized as a
discourse community. It takes a willingness to ignore strong personal feelings and
examine problems, not annoyances and urges. A conversation with one side only is a
lecture. Discordance is sometimes found by those who seek it out and it offers nothing to
bring about change. Its why the police organization is a perfect example of a discourse
community, not in spite of, but because of the controversy and emotion that surrounds it.

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Works Cited
"Precedent." Princeton University. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 Dec. 2014.
Gates, Daryl. "The Legacy of Rodney King." PBS. PBS, n.d. Web. 03 Dec. 2014.
"What Happened in Ferguson?" The New York Times. The New York Times, 12 Aug.
2014. Web. 28 Nov. 2014.
Awerbuck, Louis. Plowshares into Swords: Musings of a Different Drummer. N.p.: Louis
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Ayoob, Massad. In the Gravest Extreme: The Role of a Firearm in Personal Protection.
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Erzinclioglu, Zakaria. Forensics: True Crime Scene Investigations. N.p.: Barnes and
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Jervis, Rick. "Police Tactics in Ferguson Puzzle Residents, Experts." USA Today.
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Lofland, Lee. Police Procedure and Investigation: A Guide for Writers. Cincinnati, OH:
Writer's Digest, 2007. Print.

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McKenna, Brian. "OFFICER DOWN Perseverance in the Face of Defeat." The Police
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Woodhull, Angela V. Police Communication in Traffic Stops. Rochester, VT:
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