Cops in Short Pants is a "NO-NO"!!!

Cops in Short Pants... Aw... come ON , now!

I have been, as so many other Americans have been today, observing the activities near the Rayburn House Office Building, in the nation’s capitol. Reports of someone, with a firearm, reportedly firing off rounds for an unknown reason, and supposedly hiding somewhere in that building, has the capitol in an uproar.

Now, this is serious stuff. The place is crawling with police officers and of course, the inevitable press.

It is a somber moment in Washington DC, one charged with electricity.

And then I saw them….

…Police officers… complete with a gun and a badge… some bareheaded… “authoritatively” directing people in this supposed crisis as they stand there... in SHORT PANTS!

And that’s the problem.

Now, maybe it’s me, and it probably is, but I must tell you… I have trouble taking a police office seriously when he, or she, is wearing short pants!

I live in a semi-tropical part of the country, not far from the Atlantic Ocean, and I am used to seeing people in shorts and “cut-off’s, and, believe me, all sorts of leisure wear. But, a police officer in short a pants is just difficult for me to swallow.

I mean, a cop is supposed to be THE figure of authority at all times, but in a crisis, or a life threatening situation, when he, or she, is the figure, around which those seeking protection and assurance gather, short pants is an absolutely WRONG psychological message to send! The nearest association I can think of is... Keystone Kops!

Maybe it’s a generational thing, I don’t know. But, having been a cop, I can assure you that the officer NEEDS you to see him as serious, and unshakable, and assured. Somehow, (in my opinion) those short pants take that away.

I would urge the Police Departments to get their men, and women, into long pants and restore their appearance to that of a “Professional” Peace Officer.

Now, I know many of you will disagree with me on this … and that’s OK. As I said, maybe it’s a generational thing. Sorta like “Dress Down Fridays”, or whatever the heck they were called. My employees didn’t dress down. I required them to present themselves as “Professionals” at all times, when on company time.

Impressions make a difference. A HUGE difference. When a situation involves life and death, it is more than a little important that the impression given by a police officer be that of a competent, professional, law officer.

Again, lets get our cops, in DC, and/or elsewhere, back into long pants… like, you know, grownups!

Longstreet