Policing and Race

Over the last few weeks we have been confronted with several horrible, tragic, and perplexing situations where the police and the justice system have intersected with the ugliest part of our national character, racism. The situations in New York, Ferguson and Cleveland are forcing us to face our past, the current state of affairs, and a future that cries out for change.


 As with most controversial circumstances these days, we find ourselves torn apart as country, almost forced to pick sides- and do it with extreme prejudice towards those who hold a different position. I've argued in the past that our national discourse has been poisoned and perverted so badly that it is nearly impossible to come together even to have the conversation- let alone to seek solutions to these vexing issues. The killing of these young black men referenced above is no different. These killings have exposed the deep divide and drawn us further apart. The tragedy of these events have two common threads; policing and race. I have been sadly captivated as I watched these events unfold, such that I began to think very hard about these issues and decided to share a few thoughts. I admit my thoughts have been influenced by emotions conjured from the sights and sounds of recent weeks. The emotions are sadness and (at times) anger at the inhumanity so instantly on display. But I will try to express myself free from those emotions because productive conversation and change can only come from discussion based in thoughtfulness, reason, and logic.

I've thought a great deal about policing. The actions of police are the integral part and common thread in all three communities now dealing with these violent, deadly events. In Ferguson, a police office shot and killed an unarmed black young man. Some details of the case conflicted with others and a grand jury did not indict the officer. In Cleveland a patrol car responded to a call, found a twelve year old boy and opened fire in less than  2 seconds believing his toy gun was real. And, In New York last summer police in Staten Island subdued a non-violent, unarmed black man using a choke hold-causing his death. The case went before a Grand Jury and the officer was not indicted. In Ferguson there was no video evidence of the incident and the there was conflicting testimony. In both Cleveland and New York there was clear video evidence. We don't know the final disposition in Cleveland yet, but in both of the other incidents all of us can clearly see what happened- and so far no charges have been brought in any of these deaths.

I could write another entire essay on the particulars of each of these incidents. Even though the events in Ferguson contains a litany of problems with the prosecution and the Grand Jury process; while the New York result is simply logically unexplainable, as was the shooting in Cleveland; that is not the point I want to focus on. These events should cause us to question the relationship Americans (including minority Americans) have with our police. Clearly, I am not a police officer, and hold no particular expertise in policing- but that just might be the reason both you and I should be discussing the nature of policing in this country. One of the founding principals of our democracy is the caution against tyranny that could eliminate our freedoms. That's why we never entrust control of the military to the military. We have civilian control of the military to insure that those with such overwhelming power never control it themselves. On the local, civilian level the same principle applies to our police. We should not allow our police to decide how policing should be done. Because the police have tremendous power, that power should only be exercised by the consent and oversight of another authority- a civil authority that derives its power from the citizens.

There are disturbing trends in policing that may have contributed to the tragic deaths. Even as crime rates overall have decreased dramatically in the last twenty years, we have seen police forces ramp up the level of armaments and become vastly more militarized. Our national (misplaced) over-reaction to the 9-11 terrorist attacks created two factors impacting today's events. One, was our willingness to give up some of our personal freedoms to the government in exchange for what we thought would be more personal safety from those who might harm us. The hastily arrived at Patriot Act gave law enforcement unprecedented access to information as well as more leeway in search and seizure procedures; and  in my opinion created an environment within the law enforcement community that they have impunity to exercise authority over us. The second factor was the physical militarization of policing agencies. Again, our over-reaction to 9-11 generated unbelievable spending on military equipment through the DHS. A great  deal of that equipment was outright intended for law enforcement agencies for "homeland security" or it was simply given away to municipalities as surplus equipment. Notice too, that uniformed police officers now dress and behave more like soldiers than police officers did only a generation ago. They tend to wear jump suits, dress completely in black and often cover their faces. I have personally witnessed this in my community, and I have seen this trend in media reports from across the country. This trend is not reserved for crowd control situations- but is now the standard in everyday policing. I would contend that when our police look and arm themselves like soldiers, they will increasingly behave like soldiers. That makes them an army (of sorts) with the people or certain segments of the people being the enemy. Our local law enforcement agencies now possess and use military troop carriers and armaments, including a military helicopter. The use of SWAT teams across the country is up near 1000% since police started acquiring military equipment. This use (or overuse) of force can only serve to alienate the very people they seek to serve. The images of the Ferguson Police using military equipment against their own people in the first protests after the Brown killing, were absolutely chilling.


When over-militarism and long standing issues of racism mix it will undoubtedly create a deadly situation.  In the first paragraph I said that racism is one of our national characteristics. That is a serious thing to say- but I believe it to be the truth and more importantly the evidence tells us it is the truth. But unless we face our past and effectively come to grips with both individual racism and the more insidious institutional racism that plagues us these occurrences will continue. As we look at all of these situations individually I suppose that people can arrive at a rationalization that justifies the police action. The deniers can always rationalize that every one of these situations could have been avoided "if they would just do what the police say" or they reach back for some prior action that justifies the use of deadly force retroactively and go head-long into villian-izing and blaming the victim. That is the process that keeps us from dealing with the greater problem. We rationalize the individual event so we don't have to look at the overall trend. In this case the overall trend is that young black and Hispanic men are far more likely to be killed by police than white people in the same circumstances. Focusing on the event and ignoring the trend, while blaming the victim robs us of ever getting to the truth. In almost every case of the police killing a young black man we eventually hear the term "thug" applied to the victim. Michael Brown was called a thug- Garner is being blamed for his own death because he did not submit to police (thug-ish behavior)- even Tayvon Martin was called a thug when he fought back for his own life with the amateur cop. Our President has literally been called a "thug and a Gangster" by Republican Congressmen and Congresswomen, and been accused of all manor of lawlessness. That is how low the culture has sunk. "Thug" has become the new N-word and is now just as racially charged as any other racial slur- and it is used to justify some pretty horrific and racially inspired behavior.


The plain truth is that police are just as apt to apply the notions of institutional racism as anyone else, and probably more so due to the power differential. The other plain truth is that our white dominant culture has perpetuated the image of the young black male as inherently dangerous. It is then easy to understand that when confronting that stereotype, police are much more prone to react with lethal force more quickly than they would if the subject were white. Study after study proves persons of color (particularly black males) are stopped more, arrested more, convicted more, and serve more prison time as a function of institutional racism. Every empirical  study supports that conclusion. The three cases discussed here are bad enough- but they are only the latest. Shootings like these happen regularly across the country and the justice system routinely fails to hold police accountable. It is also true that police have often been used as the instruments of institutional racism. In the sixties we remember the image of southern police officers turning the dogs and the fire hoses on the marchers during the early civil rights movement. In this era the police use their new-found urban tanks and weaponry. I wonder if anything has changed for the better when we see the Ferguson Police in armoured vehicles with a top-mounted gun turret aimed at protesters.

I'm quite certain some who read this will be moved to great anger at the seeming lack of empathy or appreciation for the police. But that would be missing the point too. I've tried to stay away from discussing the details of individual events in favor of taking a broader view of solutions to this problem. I'm well aware that most police officers do their job bravely and do it well. I'm well aware that not all police officers are outright racists. I'm well aware of the risks they take each day. But there is no denying the overwhelming evidence of institutional racism and its place in our system of justice and policing. So, it is incumbent on all us of raise our voices to define the way we want policing done- that's the way it's done in a free society. I for one would like to see the trend of militarizing the police stop- send the tanks, the assault rifles, and helicopters back. They send the wrong message and create the wrong environment. My version of policing would involve more community policing, more involvement in the neighborhoods, and more relationships between the police and the people they serve. Police must look like, and be like the communities they serve. Police can never be expected to be respected in their communities unless they are part of their communities. And finally, we must admit to ourselves that we have a past steeped in racism and it is still with us. I'm not sure our country can agree to accept that reality and begin honestly discussing it with ourselves and our children- but I'm convinced it must happen. The rising tide of protests are a loud voice telling us we must listen and change the current landscape of both policing and racial inequality.

Thanks for looking in.