Knowing Why we do what we do, having a sense of purpose that’s bigger than the work we do matters. It gives our work and our lives meaning. It injects a sense of nobility to our work. And it impacts the way we think about and how we perform our duties. Articulating a sense of purpose is something a huge number of organizations in the country are attempting to answer and an even greater number of employees are demanding. It’s time for the profession of policing to do the same.

Too many police officers and deputies say that they work in “law enforcement” and that their purpose is to protect and serve the populations in which they work (or words to that effect). However, “enforcing the law” is only one function of the profession and does not capture the true purpose of the profession. Words like “to protect and serve,” at best, offer vague guidance of how an officer should behave, but more commonly are ignored taglines that exist mainly to decorate the sides of patrol cars. The profession of policing needs a sense of purpose that inspires! Police exist to protect the vulnerable from harm.

This simple change in language matters. In addition to restoring nobility to the profession, it helps officers and deputies to see their work as bigger than just law enforcement. For example, if we tell a rookie that the purpose of their job is “law enforcement,” then they will go out looking to enforce the law. However, if we tell a rookie that their job to protect the vulnerable from harm, they will set out to be a protector not an enforcer (which includes protecting people from those who would break the law).

Inspired with a clear sense of purpose of why police matter, the next question is how are those who are committed to protect the vulnerable from harm to do their jobs? What is the mission of police?