The Good Sheriff

 

"The sheriff’s job was not an easy one, and that county which, out of the grab bag of popular elections, pulled a good sheriff was lucky. It was a complicated position. The obvious duties of the sheriff—enforcing the law and keeping the peace—were far from the most important ones. It was true that the sheriff represented armed force in the county, but in a community seething with individuals a harsh or stupid sheriff did not last long. There were water rights, boundary disputes, astray arguments, domestic relations, paternity matters—all to be settled without force of arms. Only when everything else failed did a good sheriff make an arrest. The best sheriff was not the best fighter but the best diplomat."

East of Eden - John Steinbeck

"I was sheriff of this county when I was twenty-five years old. Hard to believe. My grandfather was a lawman; father too. Me and him was sheriffs at the same time; him up in Plano and me out here. I think he's pretty proud of that. I know I was. Some of the old time sheriffs never even wore a gun. A lotta folks find that hard to believe. Jim Scarborough'd never carried one; that's the younger Jim. Gaston Boykins wouldn't wear one up in Comanche County. I always liked to hear about the oldtimers. Never missed a chance to do so. You can't help but compare yourself against the oldtimers. Can't help but wonder how they would have operated these times. There was this boy I sent to the 'lectric chair at Huntsville Hill here a while back. My arrest and my testimony. He killt a fourteen-year-old girl. Papers said it was a crime of passion but he told me there wasn't any passion to it. Told me that he'd been planning to kill somebody for about as long as he could remember. Said that if they turned him out he'd do it again. Said he knew he was going to hell. "Be there in about fifteen minutes". I don't know what to make of that. I sure don't. The crime you see now, it's hard to even take its measure. It's not that I'm afraid of it. I always knew you had to be willing to die to even do this job. But, I don't want to push my chips forward and go out and meet something I don't understand. A man would have to put his soul at hazard. He'd have to say, "O.K., I'll be part of this world."

No Country for Old Men - Cormac McCarthy

We are pretty well near the center of East of Eden in our book club, when I stumbled upon that first paragraph I posted. It very much reminded me of Ed Tom's description of law enforcement in No Country for Old Men. They both hold the role of a good sheriff in high regard, and the motives of a good sheriff as well. In an era of increasingly militarized law enforcement, the role of a police officer in the community, for the community feels like its under attack. Not merely from the progressive left screaming ACAB, but also from the reactionary right valorizing the potential of violence. Both undermining the ability for law enforcement to find a healthy accountable and effective place in the community. 

In a room full of progressives and reactionaries, I find myself a lonely incrementalist. Asking for small changes, little experiments towards a stable and common end. Diplomatic and deliberately building a better community.