As a boy during World War II, I was raised to believe America was a shining light in a dark world. I grew up on the values of “truth, justice, and the American way”—a phrase I most probably heard on a Superman radio program during my childhood in the 1940s. That simple slogan stuck with me through my enlistment in the Marines, through decades as a police officer, and into my present calling as a Christian.
I am writing today because I fear that everything I once considered sacred about America—our Constitution, system of justice, role in the world—is being dismantled.
For over thirty years, I served as a police officer and later as chief of police in Madison, Wisconsin. My oath was clear: to defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic. That oath wasn’t ceremonial. It was the bedrock of my service.
Today, that oath, taken by police officers all over our nation, is being put to the ultimate test.
The Test Before Us
Will police officers stand up to protect people in their communities who are about to be illegally or extra-legally arrested and deported without due process?
Yes, it’s a strong, even career-ending, test. But if police fail it, the consequences are clear: their calling to defend the weak and vulnerable will be hollow. Community trust will collapse. Cooperation will dry up. And officers will find themselves forced to use ever more physical force to gain compliance. That is the road to tyranny.
What Policing Should Be
In my books Arrested Development and How to Rate Your Local Police, I have argued for a vision of policing that is trusted, respected, lawful, and compassionate.
The best model of our Constitution is not the military or the National Guard. It is the police officers who serve in our towns and cities as “constitutional officers”—guardians who protect rights, preserve order, and embody fairness. That is also a model for others in our system of criminal justice.
When police listen, de-escalate, and treat everyone with dignity, they show the world the true face of America. But when they bend to politics, turn against the vulnerable, or enforce unlawful orders, they destroy not only their profession but democracy itself.
Police Must Resist
So I ask: Will America’s guardians protect us from tyranny? Will they step up and say:
“No. This is not legal. Not only will you not have our cooperation, we will stop you from doing this.”
That is what it means to be a constitutional officer. That is what it means to defend the American way—to be who we say we are.
Because when those whose duty is to guard and protect us fall, so will all of us. And once we have fallen, it will be painfully difficult to rise again to truth, justice, and the American way.
A Call to Courage
Policing is at a crossroads. Officers face a choice:
- To become instruments of politics and power, or
- To remain guardians of justice, protecting the rights of every person.
I know what I am asking. It is not easy to risk careers, pensions, or promotions by saying no to unlawful orders. But what will be remembered is whether America’s police stood with the people—or with tyranny.
The Future Is Still Ours to Claim
In Madison, we showed that police could become trusted guardians. We pioneered community-oriented policing, reimagined protest management through dialogue and restraint, and built one of the most diverse police departments in the country.
A better, recoverable future remains possible. But only if our police officers summon the courage to say no to tyranny and yes to our Constitution and Rule of Law.
The test is now before us. How police answer it will decide not only the future of their profession but the future of our nation itself.
Improving Police: A Necessary Conversation 