I'm a big supporter of police. I've been around them as a civil service commissioner, and I know what they go through every day. It's a tough job to say the least, and the level of stress is very high. I've gone along with them on "ride outs" and watched them doing their job. Believe me, there's a whole 'nother world out there most of us in middle class America have never seen. From one call to the next, they never know what to expect. I respect them immensely.
But....
Something is very wrong within the ranks of [some of] our police today. Is the quality of our new police recruits not what it used to be? I suspect that's some of it. I know police departments have a tough job recruiting, especially for minority officers. The desire to hire with greater diversity in mind to better represent the demographics of the community is easier said than done. Relaxing standards in order to meet racial/ethnic/gender or numbers goals at the expense of quality will often come back to haunt. Quality must always come first, period.
Is police training lacking? I'm thinking yes. It's very expensive and time consuming, and I suspect many departments want to get officers on the street ASAP, and not have them in prolonged classroom training. And time spent in recurrent training is time not spent on the street, too. Bad mistake! The number of different scenarios an officer will find himself in daily is almost infinite. How do you train for every possibility? You can't. You just have to hope your officers are intelligent enough to be able to think on their feet, and act accordingly. If some aren't of the highest quality to begin with, and if their training isn't thorough, things can go downhill really fast.
I just saw a video of a black man shot after a traffic stop (burned out headlight) in Minnesota. His girlfriend used her cellphone camera to record what happened. The black man had a license to carry a concealed weapon, and he told the officer this as required. The officer asked him for his license, and he said he was getting it from his pocket. The officer for some reason freaked out and shot him four times, killing him.
The officer did not have a body cam, which might have offered some insight. In this day and age I can't imagine a police department not equipping every patrol officer with a body cam.
His girlfriend was completely compliant, respectful, and calm, and I have no reason to think the black man wasn't, also. He had no prior criminal record, which the officer should have known before he approached the car. He was in fact a cafeteria manager at a public school. While the officer deserves his day in court, I can't imagine what happened that caused the officer to react the way he did.
It appears we're caught up in a viscous downward spiral of minority/police distrust, leading too often to violence. Civilians (of all color) need to be cognizant of the stresses officers are under and not give them any reason to over-react, and officers need to think before they act. If they can't analyze and think quickly, they shouldn't be cops. Shooting first and thinking after the fact is completely unacceptable.
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It appears to be an example of people in the car doing everything right and still getting killed.
ReplyDeleteFrightening, and I'm not sure what more needs to happen before we really do something about it.
It was the 506th person killed by a police officer so far this year.
ReplyDeleteI remember the video of the black woman stopped who was asked to put out her cigarette (which can be flicked at someone as a weapon or distraction) and who arrogantly informed the officer that she did not need to do so.
ReplyDeleteThis set in motion, obviously a chain of events leading to her arrest. So, she was NOT arrested for a traffic violation; she was arrested because she was NOT properly brought up to respect people in authority. Multiply this by huge communities egged on by politicians with an agenda and flamed by a media which loves only confrontation, and the potential will continue to exist for death at every traffic stop.
UNTIL...the cops all say enough and quit doing anything, as seems to be the case in NYC. Then the media and politicians should be happy, as scum runs unchecked in the streets with impunity.
Until all the facts are known, I'll hold my comment.
ReplyDeleteAgreed....as I said, the officer deserves his day in court. He's always presumed innocent until proven guilty.
DeleteYou make many good points here. I'd be terrified if I were black and a cop pulled me over, and as you know my family is closely connected with our police department.
ReplyDeleteWho is it that said government should "act" more like businesses? What does a business do when the cannot attract good, intelligent employees? They raise the salary.
ReplyDeleteI know it is different in other states (usually in northern states), but in a lot of southern states, cops are paid peanuts. An annual salary in the mid 20's will not attract quality people. But, hey, we have low taxes...
Here in the Dallas area rookie cops start in the mid-$50K, and after a few years can make %70K+. Throw in some overtime (court appearances, special events, etc) and $100K is not out of reach. Here it is the small town cops that concern me. As you suggest, their pay is very modest, and the really sharp law enforcement candidates naturally gravitate to where the money is. And recruiting minorities is very difficult because of peer pressure...those who put on the badge are often called Uncle Tom's, selling out to the white establishment. That's why, whenever I hear a politician say he's going to put more cops on the street, I know he's clueless on how law enforcement works.
DeleteAnd suddenly this evening, this has all escalated, eh? What now?
ReplyDelete