In reading the recent edition of the Clarion, the question was raised about “police brutality.” I want to weigh in on that subject because it seems that recent events involving unarmed citizens and law enforcement have resulted in brutality or loss of life.
“Brutality” suggests that a person is being physically beaten, as in the case of a California State Patrolman, videotaped beating a female on the side of a California Highway. Another instance was recorded when an officer was seen physically beating a female college professor for allegedly jaywalking.
It has now escalated to law enforcement using deadly force
on unarmed citizens. The latest incident, the altercation in Ferguson MO., a suburb of St. Louis, where an unarmed teen was shot to death by a law Enforcement officer for failing to use the sidewalk.
Additionally, the incident in Atlanta where a community watched a person acting as a neighborhood watch member shoot and kill an unarmed teen that had a hoodie over his head, thus looking suspicious.
These are just some of the recent incidents where law enforcement has utilized their authority to thwart what they perceive as a threat to themselves or the public at large. I am not trying to advocate that any of these described incidents were justified or not, it’s that it seems that law enforcement has gone over the top when unarmed citizens can be confronted on highways and city streets for alleged minor violations and the result is being shot or beaten by law enforcement.
I have a theory that the cultural change of law enforcement has caused much of this type of response from
law enforcement. The popularity of Criminal Justice training and the need for more law enforcement have brought more job seekers rather than those who truly want to “protect and serve.”
We cannot discount that officers are people going through the same frustrations of life that the times are bringing to all of us; therefore maybe causing a venting of frustration to a possible deadly end. Training in how to quell ones frustrations and focus on the situation rather than adding to the situation to a possible deadly ending is a primary and important part of Criminal Justice training.
Incidents like jaywalking, failure to use the sidewalks, or suspecting a citizen of having knowledge or involvement with a recent incident should not bring brutality or deadly results. Law enforcements intent should be to approach a citizen [albeit unarmed citizen] with language and demeanor that does not serve to escalate the situation, but serves to acquire information or dispense information to the citizen without it erupting into an altercation perpetrated by the officer.
The officer’s approach will set the tone for the engagement. This does not mean that the approached citizen does not have content in this engagement, but the encounter usually starts with the officer. If a violation has been committed the officer has every right to question the actions of the perpetrator of that violation, however there should be some professional courtesy to this process for minor infractions such as jaywalking, refusal to conform to a basic order, or slowness in answering a questions when ask a question.
Officers should be true believers of “protect and serve” with constant evaluation of their understanding and utilization of that phrases meaning. Confronting minor incidents, like walking in the street instead of the sidewalks, should not bring about the effect that was witnessed in Ferguson, MO. The result of the incident is apparent, but the engagements that cause the result are unclear. The public’s trust of law enforcement is at risk when we do not have transparency in these types of reported and recorded incidences.
Law enforcement is a part of the citizenry and are sworn to “protect and serve” the general public, not be seen as a perpetrator when pursuing their duties. For the most part I am sure that law enforcement does express a positive part of our citizenship, however the senseless death of unarmed citizens, the beating of females when they are on the ground in a fetal position of giving up does not support that positive image; thus causing wonderment of law enforcements appreciation of “protect and serve.”
Contributed by J.J. Williams