Supporting the Police

Signs such as this one are often planted in yards all across America. What do they mean? What is the property owner saying when he posts a sign like this?

First of all, the resident has little or no option in supporting his local police, unless he fails to pay the taxes that finance public employee salaries, That, however, will create other problems but paychecks are unlikely to bounce. Perhaps the sign poster could augment the salaries of policemen by simply giving them money or other things. That might be considered bribery but it's done all the time. Maybe the poster could lobby for increased pay for the police but that's an issue that's handled by their union and city officials. He could call up the mayor and make his wishes known but the effectiveness of that tactic is unlikely to be meaningful.

In any event, the sign itself is the issue. The poster is saying that he, somehow, supports a portion of the public workforce. Not the water and sewer workers, not the tax assessors, not the building permit bureaucrats, not the clerical staff at city hall, not the fire department. Only the police. Don't the others deserve support as well?

Even supporters of police must admit that there are criminals in police forces. Internal affairs departments are among the busiest sections of big city law enforcement. Do they also support the burglars, child molesters and thieves that are occasionally rooted out of police departments? Of course they would say "No" to that. Ergo the reality is that they are supporting the concept of police, the institution, not each individual policeman.

After reading this sign, what should the proper response be, at least as far as the poster is concerned? Is the sign meant to make passers-by more supportive of the police or is it meant to send a signal? If the latter, what would that signal be? Could it be a signal to the police themselves?

Second, how would a lack of support for the police be shown? We can think about that for awhile.