“The policeman’s culture is that of the masculine workman.” [1]
“Macho = alpha male, a man who behaves in an exaggeratedly masculine way.” [2]
Before we delve deeper into the correlation between police culture and health, I would first like to touch on a topic that is often mentioned in relation to police culture, namely that it is ‘macho’. I disagree with this. Of course, police officers are not supposed to be pussies, but macho and masculine are two different things. This also applies to female cops. They need to be strong personalities, without becoming annoyingly dominant and ugly tomboys. Macho cops are a disaster, as well for the team as for society. Police work needs men and women with natural, personal grounded authority. Real personalities, not fake ones.
Let’s crack this nut!
There is an important difference between macho and masculine. Masculinity is a form of natural authority based on healthy and grounded self-confidence. Macho behavior among cops is not grounded in natural authority, but on formal power. Macho behavior masks a lack of self-confidence. Therefore, macho display is an immature form of masculinity. Every officer can do without.
Many police officers, especially younger ones, are in the process of evolving from macho to masculine personalities. They start out feeling insecure in their profession and therefore sometimes behave in a macho manner. Over time they develop self-confidence and leave that macho behavior behind. Those who do not go through this development process remain stuck in old macho patterns.
Citizens can sense very clearly whether they are dealing with a police officer with natural authority, or with a macho. That is because macho behavior stems from uncertainty and fear. The macho man puffs out his chest to appear big and impressive to someone he fears.
Criminals with an antisocial personality disorder (ASP) also behave macho. One important characteristic of ASP is an inflated sense of self-worth (DSM-5), which translates into overcompensating and aggressive macho behavior.
Seen in this light, macho police officers appear to behave like criminals, mirroring their behavior. Macho behavior by police officers makes no impression whatsoever on criminals with ASP. Criminals respect cops who behave with natural authority, not based on fear and formal power.
Why should criminals respect cops who behave macho out of fear? Macho behavior among criminals does not stem from fear, but rather from a lack thereof, combined with a predisposition to recklessness.
How can you respect someone who is afraid? What is there to respect? The badge? The law? In their world no one respects those symbols. Only natural authority commands respect. And to be honest, there is a lot of truth in that. In the normal world you also do not respect others purely based on objective characteristics, like the clothes they wear or the car they drive. Most people see easily through that.
Conclusion: respect is earned through behavior. And that is how it should be. Of course, there is a group of criminals who have no respect for that either, because they hate all police officers. That is fine, they get the treatment they deserve, no problem, because the police do not let themselves be pushed around.
The use of violence
“It is because he represents authority, backed by the potential of using legitimate force, that the police officer faces danger from those who are recalcitrant to it. “ [3]
Cops are used to violence, and they should use it when needed and necessary. Sometimes it is necessary immediately, and sometimes only when talking does not help. When violence is necessary officers should use it without hesitation. If they do not use force when necessary, the police lose their authority. Both too much and too little violence can lead to a lack of respect for the police. If setting healthy boundaries leads to violence, that is not the fault of the police, unless the police themselves behave inappropriately. The big question is: what is inappropriate? Most police officers know this instinctively. I want to emphasize here that the use of force is part of police work. If you are unwilling or unable to do that, you should not be working for the police.
I once beat someone up in private because he was threatening and stalking my ex-wife, the mother of my son. She reported it to the police, but they did nothing. That is why I gave him such a beating that he will remember for the rest of his life. As punishment, I was transferred to another team, and when I arrived there, my new boss – a huge guy with a bull’s neck – asked, “You really gave him a good beating, didn’t you?” I said, “Yes, I did,” and he smiled approvingly and suggested I be promoted to sergeant right away. That was pretty funny.
I was convicted, though, and ended up with a criminal record but that did not stop me from becoming a police inspector. Not being a pussy is appreciated in the police force. I may be sensitive to stress, but I’m no wimp. The reader is completely confused now—what kind of weirdo is this? He is a cop and a psychologist. He beats people up and gets stressed out when he is not behind the wheel. What a strange character! Yeah, that’s true, I am a bundle of contradictions, but I am used to it, so that helps.
Always the same…
I used force when necessary, but this does not mean I am a macho. Macho police officers constantly use violence and provoke it through the way they address people. I used force only when it was necessary and the goal could not be achieved by any other means. In the case of that stalker, that was the case, it had to stop immediately.
My behavior was exceptional. I do not usually beat people up, but if I have to, I can—and I will. That is masculine, not macho. Macho police officers constantly find themselves in situations where they decide to use force. More so than police officers who behave normal. Every officer knows it is always the same colleagues who get into fights, often unnecessary. This puts other team members in danger as well.
A simple traffic check can, through the actions of one macho officer, escalate into a violent brawl, or even worse, without any need. When this happens frequently, you have a problem as a team. The superior should address this problem. If he does not, the team will slide into a macho culture in which unnecessary violence becomes normalized.
I used to work for a short while on a team like that, and anyone who talked back got beaten up right away. I heard plenty of bones crack during scuffles as we tried to cuff suspects. That team was disbanded, and its members were reassigned to other teams. Remarkably enough, those guys quickly climbed the ranks. It should be borne in mind that a masculine police officer may choose to behave macho if the situation requires it and then switch back to normal behavior afterwards. Macho behavior should be a choice, not a habit.
Macho superiors
Macho superiors exist and they create socially unsafe teams and workplaces. Masculine superiors, on the other hand, are fine, because they act from a grounded superiority, which is highly respected in an environment as the Force.
Grounded behavior cannot be imitated or acted out because every cop can see right through it. Fake masculine behavior exhibited by managers is clearly recognizable through body language and micro-signals. They start walking ‘tough’, talking ‘tough’, looking ‘tough’.
Any experienced officer sees right through that immediately and without fail, because this is what they see on the streets all day long. If superiors are insecure even in their own team, they are weak personalities. Strong leaders dare to show their vulnerability without being weak.
I experienced a macho superior for three years and he was a disaster for the whole team. He had a big mouth and was not interested in anybody but himself. I ignored him as much as possible, however this was difficult because of his dominant presence and his role as a superior. If I had reacted primarily (angrily) to his insulting way of treating me and my colleagues, it would have ruined my career, not his.
One way or another, strategic management seem to think that this type of brute is the right one to achieve targets. In the short term this might be true, they can be effective in certain hectic circumstances, like suppressing a street fight. Macho superiors can be effective in situations in which there is no need to create a personal bond with their team members, like short projects.
However, they are not suitable for leading teams that work together for years, because they lack the skills. The Peters-principle applies to them; they have been promoted to a level above their competence.
Yet you often see that macho bosses who are successful in top-down managed short time projects are promoted to higher positions, in which human skills are very important. This is something they cannot provide.
In the long run, macho bosses are not effective, because they create an unhealthy and unsafe work environment and that negatively affects team performance.
Eventually this will ruin the team because they promote the wrong ones themselves. One badass superior can cause a cascade of disastrous choices and consequences with years or even decades of negative repercussions for the team. One wrong choice, countless bad consequences.
For police officers who face enough stressors in any form every day, a badass superior is a tragedy. This generates additional stress on top of the stress already present from working as an officer. Sadly, for many cops this is everyday reality.
[1] Jerome H. Skolnick. Justice without Trial. 1966, p. 82.
