When good intentions can turn bad

The promise of Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña to extend P50,000 in legal assistance to city policemen who kill criminals in the course of police operations can be seen many ways. It can be seen as a genuine way to help policemen meet some of the legal costs of cases that may arise from such killings. Or it can be seen as an oblique way of encouraging shortcuts against crime.

Whatever it is, it is not the usual way of addressing the problem. Whether as legal assistance or outright reward, it gives a twist to police work that is not exactly how the noble profession was intended to be practiced. When you are a policeman, you do police work because it is your duty. It is part of your responsibility to society.

If being a policeman may seem like a thankless job, at least nobody is forcing anyone to become one. There is a great amount of free will in becoming a cop. In other words, you do it without thought of any reward. You lay your life on the line because you think it is the right thing to do. You get paid for your services of course. But that is it.

That is why there is always something askew when policeman take part in the division of any reward money put up for the capture or killing of anybody wanted by the law. Rewards are supposed to be put up to help the police by soliciting the involvement of citizens, mostly by volunteering information. They are not meant to recompense policemen for doing something they are already paid to do.

When policemen get into trouble, as when cases may be filed against them, the government has provisions to take care of that problem. There is, of course, no stopping anyone from showing appreciation to policemen for the work that they do. And if such appreciation comes in the form of cash for legal assistance, then who can really stop the good intentions of anyone to help embattled cops.

But the problem is that, as stated at the very beginning of this article, the gesture can be seen in another way. And when something becomes ambiguous, there is always the chance that something bad can arise from something that was meant to be good. And when misunderstood as an encouragement to take shortcuts against crime, the policeman can get into even deeper trouble than he originally was. Help can become damnation.