by Detrick Mott
After 25 years in this
profession, I have learned one thing clearly: due process is not a privilege.
It is right. It applies to the citizen on the street and to the
officer wearing the badge. The Constitution does not bend because public
pressure gets loud. Yet what we are seeing today inside policing is a steady
erosion of those rights, particularly through the tactic known as constructive
discharge.
Constructive
discharge is a quiet weapon. Departments place officers under investigation,
suspend them, isolate them, and then send an unspoken message: resign or we
will end your career. It is dressed up as transparency. It is sold as
accountability. In reality, it often becomes appeasement. Officers are pushed
toward the exit before the facts are fully examined. That is not justice. That
is politics.
I have watched good
officers placed on administrative leave during pending criminal investigations.
On paper, it looks neutral. In reality, careers stall, reputations are
destroyed, and families are left in financial uncertainty. The officer becomes
guilty in the court of public opinion before a single piece of evidence is
tested. The presumption of innocence disappears. That is a direct contradiction
to everything we are sworn to uphold.
We cannot preach
due process in the courtroom and abandon it in the roll call room. If an
officer commits misconduct, hold them accountable. But accountability must
follow proof—not pressure. When agencies punish first and investigate later,
they undermine morale, weaken leadership credibility, and send a message that
officers are expendable.
Reform is needed but
real reform, not headline reform. One avenue is to strengthen legal protections through tort law, so officers have recourse when a constructive discharge is used
improperly. Clear statutory safeguards, defined timelines for investigations,
and guaranteed procedural protections would restore balance. No officer should
be coerced into resignation simply because leadership fears bad press.
Departments must
also commit internally to fairness. Transparent investigative procedures.
Timely case reviews. Equal application of policy. Open communication between
command staff and the rank-and-file. Leadership should stand on facts, not
social media storms. If we expect officers to stand firm in chaotic streets,
leadership must stand firm in chaotic politics.
This is not about
shielding wrongdoing. It is about protecting constitutional order inside the
very institutions sworn to defend it. Due process is not anti-reform. It is the
foundation of reform. If we sacrifice it for optics, we lose the moral authority
to enforce the law.
After 25 years on the job, I will say it plainly: you
cannot demand justice in society while denying it to the men and women who
enforce it. If policing is going to be reformed, it must be reformed with
discipline, fairness, and constitutional consistency, not fear.
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