Policing and cultural differences.

This story in yesterday's New York Times documents "A Fatal Encounter in a Newark Park," and it is a somber, tragic tale with no obvious lesson to be learned.

But in this brief passage, there is a definition of "21st century" policing that applies to the New Albany city policemen with whom I've become acquainted during the past few years, and to me, that's a very good thing. It's also a definition worth remembering as we contemplate public safety in the changing cultural fabric of the city.

Gerard Tucci, Officer Esposito’s boss for about two years, described him as even-tempered, “a trouble-free employee.”

“I’m not telling you that he is a zombie, but you don’t want an officer too high all the time or too low all the time,” said Mr. Tucci, who retired as a captain in 2008. “The police officer of the 21st century is no longer the rough-and-tumble person of the 1900s, where you rough up a town and leave like a marshal in the Wild West. You are part of the community and part psychologist, part sociologist, part teacher and part interpreter, someone who has to be sensitive to the immense cultural differences encountered every day.”