Contempt of Cop and Noble Corruption

You may not know these terms, but you know the behavior and so do cops. Because we’ve all seen it, heard about it, or done a little of it ourselves.

I’ll go first.

“Contempt of Cop” is slang for perceived disrespect toward an officer’s authority. It’s not a crime, but it can trigger emotional responses that lead to escalation, unnecessary conflict, or questionable decisions. It shows up when an officer feels challenged or disrespected and reacts from that place rather than from professionalism.

I have been there myself. And I’ll share a story.

Early in my policing career, I was tasked with transporting two female offenders to a women’s correctional facility in a neighboring jurisdiction. This was long before GPS, and while I had a general idea of where I was going, I took a wrong turn. These two women had been in and out of the same prison many times and knew the route better than I did  and rather than help, they laughed and mocked that I had no idea what I was doing.

It’s debatable that their comments were partly true, but it ignited something in me that’s hard to describe. Instead of asking them for directions, I called dispatch for instructions. As those came through, the women chimed in again, “that’s not the way”  and they were right. I took another wrong turn. The laughter continued.

And so, in my frustration, I reached for the only petty form of retribution I could find: I turned off the air conditioning in the back and turned on the heat and let them ride out the last few minutes in discomfort. It wasn’t dangerous, it was just immature, unprofessional, and beneath the standards I would later expect of myself and others.

When we arrived, I told them, “Next time be respectful and you’ll have a better experience.” That, right there, is Contempt of Cop. It was about power, pride, and a perceived need to “teach them a lesson.” It’s embarrassing to admit how petty it was but it’s the truth. And it’s important to say out loud, because not all contempt-related behavior is dramatic.

Sometimes it shows up as comments we make under our breath, a rougher-than-necessary escort after a difficult arrest, or a lingering shove at the end. Sometimes it’s subtle, sometimes it crosses into misconduct, and sometimes it escalates into something far worse.

This story didn’t make it into Tightrope, but I wanted to share it here. Some stories were cut for space, and others because they didn’t advance the book but they shaped how I came to understand policing and myself.

“Noble Corruption,” on the other hand, is a different animal. It describes actions that are unethical or illegal, justified by the pursuit of a “good” or “noble” outcome, planting evidence, breaching rights to secure a confession, or cutting procedural corners to convict those we believe deserve it. Officers engaging in this behavior often feel righteous, which makes accountability exceptionally difficult.

Now that I’m out of policing, I see these phenomena differently. I still understand the danger, the pressure, and the frustrations officers face, I lived them. But I also now see the necessity for officers to regulate themselves, resist the need to have the last word, and choose professionalism over pride.

Recently, I watched an example of Contempt of Cop play out on the news. A journalist asked legitimate questions about a public safety issue. Instead of acknowledging or engaging, the officer attacked a single word the journalist used and spiraled emotionally on camera. That wasn’t about the question, it was stress, frustration, and defensiveness boiling over.

Here’s the truth: society expects officers to manage their emotions, act professionally, and accept accountability when they get it wrong. That expectation isn’t unfair, it’s foundational.

Robert Peel wrote that police authority relies on public approval and the ability to secure public respect. When we dismiss how the community feels, or treat questions as challenges to our authority, we erode that respect. And when that happens, everything else becomes harder.

So what do we do?

• Recognize when stress is impairing judgment

• Put the right people in front of microphones

• Prepare officers for hard conversations

• Own mistakes and apologize when needed

• Pursue community partnership as a requirement not a slogan

Public safety is a shared project. Neither the Police nor the public cannot achieve it alone.