Officers justify policy violations by citing a colleague’s recent death.

Evidence

The policeman who draws a gun hastHy because another officer was recently slain with a knife when he failed to draw his gun has a powerful argument with which to defend himself when questioned for abridging department policy. — Michael Lipsky, Street-Level Bureaucracy, 842

Categorization

• CANDY: “I know it’s true because I once had a client who…” — a widely recognizable, portable shorthand for anecdotal justification.