Why the Term 'Bad Apples' is Harmful to Law Enforcement
Understanding the Impact of the 'Bad Apples' Metaphor on Police Perception and Accountability
Several years ago, one of the great law enforcement leaders I know, made time for me. We worked together closely when he worked for another agency. An opportunity presented itself and he wound up taking his second job as police chief. During that time, he was required to transform the organization which required terminating several officers. It would be an understatement to say he left the department better than he found it.
Today I am fortunate that I am surrounded by outstanding police leaders where we can have conversations about the current state of policing and our concerns for the future. Six years ago, finding police leaders who were interested in those talks were few and far between.
We had a vigorous conversation about the role of body worn cameras and I’ll never forget his chief point: “Roland, everything that you said is true, but I deployed them when I was chief, and we need them, we need them to get rid of the bad apples.” He has since ascended to another distinguished level, and both law enforcement and the citizens are better for it. But, despite unending respect for him, he was wrong about the bad apples.
Bad apple theory
The maxim was borne in truth. It is correct that a rotten apple can spoil the entire barrel of apples. But the only time where this is true is in the case of infectious corruption by association. ABC News dug into this and found a scholar who grasps the significance:
"The original phrase being, 'A rotten apple quickly infects its neighbor,'" (Ben) Zimmer (of the WSJ) told ABC News. "Historically, there is a version of this proverb going way back; the earliest is from 1340 in English and probably earlier in Latin."
"This is something that has been going on since the mid-20th century at least," he said. "Obviously the original meaning hasn't been lost completely or we wouldn't be talking about it. It's still out there and confusing to people. You have two versions of things that mean the opposite."
Bad apples are indicative of a systemic issue. Intellectually, you wouldn’t waste the metaphor of bad apples without implying that the presence of a single rotten unit didn’t have the influence of decay on the other parts of the system.
While there are headline cases of cops becoming the criminals, the numbers aren’t there. It happened in Miami in the 1980s. The Rampart scandal rocked the LAPD in the late 1990s. In the 1970s we heard the story of Serpico, and I can’t get over the fact that a whistleblower was placed in an aggressive high risk drug unit. At that time, there were plenty of places to send a ‘nuisance’ cop where he could just wait to get shot. Glad he’s still with us.
Misconduct addressed appropriately
Six Rankin County Mississippi former cops are facing up to 40 years of time for their brutal abuse of two black men. The Associated Press reports:
“The six white former Mississippi law enforcement officers who attacked Michael Corey Jenkins and Eddie Terrell Parker in January 2023 had already been sentenced to federal prison terms ranging from about 10 to 40 years. In March, U.S. District Judge Tom Lee called their actions “egregious and despicable” as he gave sentences near the top of the federal guidelines to five of the six men. Rankin County Circuit Judge Steve Ratcliff on Wednesday gave the men yearslong state sentences that were shorter than the amount of time in federal prison that they had already received.”
They deserve to be convicted. So did North Charleston Police Officer Michael Slager for the murder of Walter Scott in 2015. These are examples of the system working. I’ve seen officers turn other officers in who are now serving decades long prison sentences. Many officers and deputies I admire sacrificed friendships to maintain their honor and the integrity of the agency.
If there is a thin blue wall of silence, there is very little evidence of it in my experience or research. In fact, while the actions of a single officer may reflect poorly on an agency, we aren’t seeing the dynamic of one corrupt cop causing a culture crisis of rot.
In an actual case, there was an officer who molested a female at a security detail and as details emerged, the chief was outraged that the officer was widely known by a nickname indicating his ‘challenges’ following rules and regulations. The cops knew he was dirty, and his handle was a warning to other officers. However, he hadn’t manifested anything actionable either with policy or criminal law. The best officers handle things by disassociating themselves with dodgy cops when there is no better solution. I’ve seen the positive pattern of field training officers telling new cops who to avoid.
It's not just about linguistics or semantics
We must heighten awareness on the language we use every day. We need to actively listen to one another. Law enforcement is so precise in the language we use in affidavits. We have to say that we are looking for the instrumentality of a crime but obviously we are not looking for a crowbar in a jewelry box. Cops don’t use handcuffs to deprive suspects of liberty, they use words. Why then would we be so thoughtless in addressing misconduct that has been both discovered and addressed it as ‘bad apples?’ A huge factor in our current retention and recruiting crisis is the diminishing allure of the profession. When we describe the failure of an individual, we must not cast our faithful and virtuous troops in the same negative light.
When you consider other professions, would you ever hear professional engineers or medical doctors allow this vernacular to tarnish their profession? I’ve definitely seen bridges and buildings, that should still be standing, collapse without a terrorist attack. In 2017, a study came out, available in the National Institutes of Health online library, that attributes at least 251,000 unnecessary deaths annually, just in the United States, due to medical errors. Do engineers and doctors have press conferences saying that they have corrupt members that have probably corrupted other members of their profession? We would be wise to apply what they know.
How many other occasions are we using the language of those who seek to reform and replace law enforcement? I’m sure ‘bad apples’ is just the tip of the iceberg. If you can think of some more, please join the conversation in the comments. I’d love to hear from you.
Please keep all our peace officers in your prayers.
Roland Clee served a major Florida police department as a Community Service Officer for more than 26 years. His career included uniformed patrol, training, media relations, intelligence, criminal investigations, and chief’s staff. He writes the American Peace Officer newsletter, speaks at public safety, recruiting and leadership conferences and helps local governments and public safety agencies through his business, CommandStaffConsulting.com. His work is frequently featured on LawOfficer.com, the only law enforcement owned major media player in the public safety realm.
References
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28186008/
Anderson JG, Abrahamson K. Your Health Care May Kill You: Medical Errors. Stud Health Technol Inform. 2017;234:13-17. PMID: 28186008.
The comparison to the medical field is apt and one I’ve used before. It reminds me of the news coverage of the catholic church’s mishandling of pedophile priests while the education system is fraught with the same problem and receives comparatively little scrutiny.