Occasionally, I will catch my children saying, “That’s not fair!” I reply, “Fare is what you pay to get on a bus.” Usually the homonymic device of “fair” and “fare” steers their minds away from whatever they think is not fair in the moment and brings some light comedic relief to the situation.

Interestingly, the two words are quite different. The fare to ride a public conveyance is a stated, objective monetary value whereas what is fair in police discipline exists somewhere in the ether—it is difficult to grasp and define. Police discipline, in the punitive sense, may feel unfair to some employees, but it is a necessary function of a well-run police department.