Newspaper Page Text
St. Louis’
By Ben Gallob
JeWish
A
Cops Love Work, Chaplain Writes in "Sh’ma"
does reflect the community will
every guy on the street receive a
fair shake."
A rabbi who has been serving as
a part-time Jewish chaplain for the
St. Louis County Police has
reported that, in spite of all the
aggravations in police work, the
Jewish police officers on the force
“love their work to a high degree,”
Rabbi Mark L. Shook of Tem
ple Israel in St. Louis reported on
his experiences as" a police
chaplain in “Sh’ma,” the journal
of Jewish opinion. There are two
other part-time police chaplains,
one Protestant and the other
Catholic, he said.
Rabbi Shook reported that, ex
cept in emergencies, the chaplains
are expected to ride with police of
ficers on their regular assignments,
to be visible and to “establish a
relationship where the officer in
time of need can consult with a
chaplain in confidence.
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He added that religious affilia
tion is ignored by the officers
when they seek advice. “The
chaplain available is the chaplain
consulted” he declared. He
reported there were about 25
Jewish policemen, explaining this
was an estimate, since records by
religion arc not kept. He did not
indicate what proportion of the
police force the Jewish officers
represented.
Rabbi Shook reported he had
found both similarities and
differences between Jewish and
non-Jewish police on the force.
One of the resemblances emerged
from the standard response he
received in asking many of the
Jewish policemen whether they
had encountered anti-Semitism or
"bigotry in general” in their work.
The unvarying response was that
police were, “in one sense, totally
bigoted. In another sense, they
show no bigotry. They develop a
dislike, a hatred, if you must, for
everyone who gives them trouble,
without respect to race, religion or
national origin. They trust no one
but other cops.”
Rabbi Shook explained that the
law of averages determines that a
policeman will be in contact “with
the nastier elements of society, the
car thieves, child molesters,
burglars and dope pushers, more
often than with the other 97 per
cent of the population.”
“The natural result,” be
declared, is that the policeman
“will have great difficulties in deal
ing with the law-abiding public.
Everyone becomes a suspect. The
officer’s only defense against per
sonal injury becomes his deep
suspicion of the motives and ac
tions of all human beings." ,
The chaplain reported one
difference in this area between
Jewish and non-Jewish officers.
The Jewish officer’s “inbred
Jewish instinct for survival in a
non-Jewish world projects him
further. His guard is up whenever
he approaches even the most inno
cent looking situations,” because it
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is likely to be a problem Vthat does
not occur within the Jewish com
munity, or if it does, only rarely.”
When the Jewish officer is in
contact with Jews, it is usually an
anonymous contact. He rarely
identifies himself as a Jew in such
contacts during his tours of duty.
Rabbi Shook said.
Among other differences, Rabbi
Shook reported, is that the Jewish
officers “tend to be much more
liberal politically than his Gentile
compatriot.” However, the
chaplain added, “the selection
process of the personnel depart
ment manages to pick officers of
all kinds of ethnic backgrounds
who are very similar in outlook,
one to the other.”
A major difference is in
educational background, Rabbi
Shook reported. While many of
ficers have degrees in police ad
ministration, the Jewish officers’
degrees are more likely to be in the
social sciences and in the humani
ties, making him “more multi-di
mensional than the non-Jewish of
ficer.” But, Rabby Shook added,
“this is of little use” to the po
lice officer in his career and, in
some cases, "it is a hindrance to
promotion, because supervisory
personnel tend to resent any offi
cer with a degree in a field other
than police work. Since the Jew
ish officer is more likely to fall
into this category, his failure to
achieve promotion could be mis
takenly construed as anti-Semi
tism.”
Rabbi Shook also asserted that
there was “a bit of the idealist” in
each Jewish policeman, “the image
of the White Knight riding to
rescue the damsel in distress. The
more idealistic the officer is, the
harder the reality of police work is
to take. The damsel in distress will
not press charges. The dragon at
tacking her will be released by the
courts only to ravage another fair
maiden."
Rabbi Shook reported he had
asked himself — “What kind of
job is this for a nice Jewish boy?”
He cited two answers, one by a
Jewish policeman who had a
Master’s degree in medical
sociology, and who had worked in
the Peace Corps and then for the
Department of Health, Education
and Welfare. The other was from a
Black detective on the force.
The Jewish police officer said "I
have never been poorer or happier
in my life. I would rather do this
than anything else.” The detective
said: “A police department should
reflect the ethnic social make-up of
the total community. Police work
should not be left in the hands of
one group or class of people to the
exclusion of others. Only when it
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PAGE 3 — THE SOLTHERN ISRAELITE. August 15, 1975