The author explains that in a democratic society, citizens enjoy certain rights and it is the duty of police officers to protect them from crime while at the same time observing individual rights. However, many officers admit to anonymous telephone interviewers that they have violated the rule of law in the commission of their duties. Furthermore, these officers overwhelmingly believe that their violations of individual rights actually enhance their job performance. In order to successfully carry out their duties, then, many police officers consider violations of individual rights as important to enforcing the law. The author discusses seven factors that he believes encourage police officers to violate the law and human rights. The author also argues that there are seven reasons that violating the rule of law and human rights actually disadvantages police officers. These arguments include the fact that law breaking by police officers reduces the effectiveness of law enforcement, weakens the authority of law, wastes community resources, and places the police officers at personal risk. The author suggests that future research in this area is necessary in order to strengthen the case that law breaking by police officers is unacceptable and detrimental. References