John C. Midgette is executive director of the N.C. Police Benevolent Association.

In the new millennium, North Carolina police officers are encountering extraordinary dangers on the streets and also within the justice system. Police officers are being killed, maimed and severely injured at an alarming rate. According to the latest FBI statistics, North Carolina is ranked fifth in the nation in officers feloniously killed in the line of duty.

Our streets are so full of weapons in the hands of thugs that America has been characterized as a "domestic Vietnam." The narcotics trade and rise in violent activity have brought even more sophisticated weaponry, which has necessitated the use of special police teams prepared to address these horrible added dangers to officers and the public.

SWAT teams have generally been very successful in preventing potential massive injuries to the law-abiding public. Crime scenes typically involve decision-making by officers who often have to instantaneously act based on perceptions and beliefs. Mistakes resulting in death are an inevitable result from dangerous police operations. The highly dangerous SWAT environments make it more likely that an accident might occur, or that something might be misunderstood or misperceived.

The alternative to SWAT teams is to send under-equipped officers into warlike environments where many more citizens and officers will be killed. Organized criminal enterprises would continue to terrorize and kill.

Split-second decision-making in the law enforcement environment is somewhat like the environment in hospital emergency rooms and in operating rooms where surgeons perform high-risk emergency surgery. Immediate judgment calls have to be made without time for reflection. However, society has not treated surgeons and emergency medical personnel anything like police officers. Ever heard of a surgeon indicted for making a mistake?

One of the more perplexing problems is the public's lack of understanding of traditional police operations. Law enforcement has become a highly technical and specialized field. Thus, it is not rational to expect the public to have a working knowledge of the applicable principles. For example, law enforcement encounters are frequently analyzed under erroneous perceptions of the applicable law. As the Supreme Court has explained, if a police officer "could have believed" that the force used was appropriate, then the officer is not liable.

The Supreme Court has recognized that dangerous environments sometimes cause officers to have mistaken beliefs about suspects, incident scenes and related facts. Where decisions to use force are based on reasonable mistaken beliefs, again, the officer is not liable.

Nonetheless, the justice system is sometimes harsher toward a police officer who fires a weapon under such circumstances than it is toward a convicted felon. Consequently, experienced officers are fleeing to escape a world of rapidly increasing danger -- not from felons wielding high-powered weaponry, but from the unfairness and inconsistency of the the justice system these officers risk their lives daily to protect.

North Carolina needs to promote professional standards for investigations and discipline of police officers when misconduct allegations arise. Such standards would ensure that officers are treated consistently and fairly and would provide the accountability and the transparency that our citizens deserve.

Without a substantial investment to promote such needed reform, criminals will continue to beat the system and subject everyone to continuing confusion, frustration and danger.

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