Can cops show empathy? “It’s there but it needs to be cultivated,” says Dr. Peter Killeen, a police psychotherapist. He explains, “Every individual has the capacity to exhibit empathy. However, it is often more evolved in certain persons. I believe most police officers, first responders, veterans, etc., possess empathy but often tuck it away in order to work effectively.”

Empathy is defined in the Merriam-Webster Dictionary as “The action of understanding, being aware of, being sensitive to, and vicariously experiencing the feelings, thoughts and experiences of another.” Well, the emotions, understanding and feelings Merriam-Webster says are part of empathy prove Killeen’s explanation that cops “tuck it away in order to work effectively.”

Cops cannot be emotionally involved in the majority of the jobs they respond to. They need to keep a safe distance to allow them to focus on the problem at hand, the resources needed and the information to be recorded. All emotions do is keep the officer from successfully resolving the issue. Whether this is a learned behavior or not, it is a necessary behavior.

For the first half of my career, I worked in the Port Authority Police Department’s Bus Terminal (BT) Command in the Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood of Manhattan. It is a street crime command that endured the crack and AIDS epidemics of the 1980s and ’90s. BT cops, most on foot patrol, were constantly surrounded by thousands of people and situations just exploded around them, usually caused by miscreants and the usual suspects for whom empathy was not going to be easily cultivated.

It was a difficult patrol. What cops needed to cultivate was a hard exterior and an ironclad mental state.

On the main concourse of the north wing of the terminal sat a piece of art named 42nd Street Ballroom, but in cop parlance, it was the “Jive Clock” — an appropriate moniker for the environment.

The Jive Clock is an 8-foot cube of clear plexiglass with a red frame. Inside the cube is a Rube Goldberg–type contraption with a rollercoaster-style rail system that cue balls travel on, striking bells and chimes. It is supposed to tell time. I never figured that out. Artist George Rhoads received a commission from the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey to create the piece. 

A transportation facility is a magnet for criminals. A Willie Suttonesque explanation for that may be “because that’s where the people are.” Such facilities become de facto way stations for the homeless, street thugs, drug dealers and the lost among us, mixed with commuters trying to navigate this necessary but alternate world. Often commuters become victims at the hands of those who call transportation facilities home. Dealing with these predators does not come with empathetic feelings.

One evening I was dispatched to the vicinity of the Jive Clock on a report of a man down. He was a smartly well-dressed man, probably in his late 30s to mid-40s, and appeared to be a professional of some sort. He was lying on his back next to the Jive Clock. My initial assessment was not good. He was very ill with labored breathing and what appeared to be a lack of will to survive. There was really nothing to do except call for a bus, New York cop-speak for an ambulance.

I was gathering his information when, in a few seconds of clarity, he looked at me and said, “Officer, I need you to know I have full-blown AIDS.” At the time, AIDS was a terrible disease scientists and doctors did not yet fully understand, causing fear among the public and demanding caution by cops and other first responders. 

If empathy involves understanding and experiencing the feelings of others, then officer empathy is probably not going to happen. That doesn’t mean cops don’t have compassion and can’t be sympathetic. 

Common definitions for compassion include being concerned for a person’s suffering and taking action to eliminate the suffering. “If we lose compassion, we lose a part of ourselves,” says Dr. Killeen. He adds, “If you stop being compassionate you’re not going to be good at your job.”

Being concerned and taking action is what cops do. Cops may not think it, but, according to Dr. Killeen, being good at your job involves compassion.

When the man told me — basically warned me — about his illness, I squatted next to him and said, “Thank you.” This man, whom I believed would not see the sun of the following morning, showed concern for my safety. I certainly had compassion for this person, but I’m not sure about empathy. I knew nothing of what he was experiencing or feeling, so I couldn’t see him or feel his suffering through his point of view.

EMS responded, packaged the man and probably took him on the last ride of his life. As I watched the ambulance drive off, I thought about what he said to me. He didn’t know what it was to be a cop responding to tragic incidents, but I am sure he knew of the fear of AIDS. His knowledge allowed him to consider for a brief few seconds the position I was in.

Standing next to the Jive Clock as I finished my notes, I couldn’t help but think that the person I responded to who needed my help had unknowingly helped me to understand empathy.