“misunderstandings, misrepresentations and mischaracterizations” being perpetuated about the shooting, pointing to the media
With pro police cop shows larding prime time TV for decades and local news channels kissing up to local law enforcement and their union spokespeople for similar lengths of time it is pathetically nervy to cry about media “mischaracterizations” rather than to rationally engage the obvious issues grown up to grown up.
Good reporting, Dylan – I feel I see the other side a bit better now.
This is what happens when hegemonic institutions are challenged. People accustomed to carte blanche do not go quietly into that good night.
The gun is the last resort , not the first .
And the natural reaction of his partner was to fabricate a story of multiple adults and one of them reaching for his gun. If the driver had only to deal with his dangerously incompetent partner, and not the overwhelming power of his colleagues in the union, he might have simply told the truth about the incident.
The sense of entitlement - implicitly putting an equals sign of wearing a shirt and killing a human being - any of the police making these statements should at least be fired.
The Police serve at the pleasure of the community. They are not Law and Order, they serve Law and Order.
When this is forgotten, the Police need to be reminded.
“Down to a person, what they’re saying is ‘It’s such a horrible time right now, such a difficult time to be a police officer. We’re under attack from every angle.’… So it does seem like some of the more vocal police unions are ramping up in a way that we haven’t seen in the past.”
I must have missed the epidemic of African Americans murdering police all over the country.
Police unions essentially behave like virtually all advocacy organizations - and tend to carry the torch for the more active/vocal segment of the membership - Rarely do you see the most even tempered / moderate voice of reason being the most vocal.
Police unions & other associations tend to protect the least of their group - in much the same way as Physicians - you could find a really bad Doctor - one who has colleagues who are mortified by the ineptitude of that physician - and who wish the bad doctor was banished - yet the professional associations will protect the bad apple.
It happens every where - Bad Democratic politician - will get cover from colleagues … Bad Republican - gets cover from colleagues ( but in both cases - only until they MUST be thrown under the bus) … Teacher’s union protects shady teachers … NRA protects lunatics … Big business protects abusive practices
… and they all justify this crap - by not wanting to start down a slippery slope … and by pretending that they are preserving fairness’ … mostly they are just preserving the status quo - as it favors them
Police are also working people like the rest of us, whose vital job calls for them to deal with the worst behavior around us daily. They have our respect and authority, but they must unquestionably allow themselves to be accountable. There’s no authority or leadership without accountability. I wonder how much their recoil from accountability comes from understanding just how unfair our justice system can be.
I often wonder how many cops received their initial training and field experience in the military. Rule number one is to dehumanize your “opponent.” Without that state of mind you would be operating in a field of like-minded people who occasionally misbehave, and sometimes present a real threat. Someone recently observed that if the citizenry ever found itself fighting its military it would be fighting its own sons and daughters, who would, one supposes, lay down their arms and hug us. That person needs to reread Animal Farm.
You are handed a weapon and given permission to use your judgement to use it even up to killing people when you feel necessary. Who do we want for that job?
Why, we want people with thin skins who can’t handle criticism, that’s who!
At which point, they’ll put a beating on them for being a smartass and thus failing to respect their authoritah.
Because that’s another incredibly destructive part of the 99% Doctrine mentality that’s taken hold–a genuine belief that if the public fails to render servile respect for their authority, it’s the first step on a steep slippery slope that ends in dead cops.
If Police Union officials in Cleveland, New York and St, Louis sound reactive and defensive it may be that this reflects a mindset that is normative with these public servants. Everyday, they are sent out to “protect and defend” and often times that leads to reactive confrontations with the public, whether they are writing a speeding ticket, or taking down a criminal. When the nations seems focused on incidents of police brutality, overreaction, and incidents of fatal encounters with unarmed black men or children then Police Unions can act very defensively. I understand this, however, the comments of Police Union officials in the three above cities were overstated and combative in their own right. It reflects the “us vs. them” mentality that often exists behind their badges. But now the “them” are Mayors of their cities, professional athletes exercising their freedom of speech, and a 24/7 news media that exposes the incidents of police action from all points of view. There needs to be coming together of common purpose and understanding between the people and those who have sworn to protect them.
If the 95% of good, honest, responsible cops wouldn’t cover up and stay silent about the 5% that abuse or misuse their authority, they wouldn’t be getting thrown under the bus with those 5%. As it stands, we have a handful of cops using excessive force without need and all the other cops, as far as anyone can tell, are in full support of them. THAT’s why they are getting thrown under the bus.
Cops would have us a believe that if they kill you, then you deserved to die. It’s not possible that they were wrong. DON’T YOU BELIEVE IT! As a society, we CANNOT accept a premise whereby the law enforcement arm of our government is free to kill with impunity.
And the fact that part of the media reporting issue had to do with the law enforcement personnel failing to release information and actually engage the media on the story, particularly in Ferguson. I live near where the young black man was shot in the Walmart for holding the air gun sold at the Walmart and, as terrible as this situation is, our authorities did a better job of engaging the community on the facts, releasing information and being more open than in Ferguson. It wasn’t perfect, but it was better. This statement by the Union rep shows a total disconnect in the responsibility of the police force to engage the media and not just expect everyone to ‘trust’ them.
particularly given that they’re trained that behavior in conformity with that doctrine is the only thing capable of getting them home safely at night.
You are giving them somewhat too much credit for being motivated by concerns for their own safety. If that were the focus, the Michael Brown and Tamir cases, the police should have emerged on the safe side of the car.
There is a demand for instant obedience even when the person confronted by the police has no time to process what the police are saying and a demand for complete submission even when, as in the Garner case, struggle is instinctive and a willingness to apply force even when the instigating incidence is miniscule and a willingness to apply force on any attempt to flee even when the initial offense is miniscule. The police need to realize that sometimes the best method of policing is to let someone suspected of a petty crime to get away for now. That sometimes the best thing they can do is back off and allow people to settle down.
More appropriate behavior is safe in both the short term and the long term for everyone involved.
The salient point in the John Crawford case as it relates to this article is this - John Crawford was killed by cops just seconds after he was sighted by while doing absolutely nothing threatening nor unlawful, yet the cops want us to believe that he deserved to die and they have no culpability in his death. It is that attitude, that when they kill you, you deserved to be killed and that they can kill with impunity is why they are being criticized now.
Being called a “lie” by the conservative media doesnt mean that “hands up, dont shoot” has been “debunked”. I whose writing the scripts for these guys?.. the NRA & ALEC?
There seems to be thought pattern now amongst police officers that anyone that challenges them is in the wrong and is guilty of breaking the law because they stand up for their rights. I personally have come to the conclusion that it is another example of victimization of those who don’t have by the protectors of those that do. The irony is that the takers for the most part are the 1% while the makers are the 99%. If the 99% did not do their jobs and maintain this nation the 1% would live in their own excrement, because for the most part they can’t screw in a light bulb. The Police now operate on the assumption that treating people rough is OK and if you resist having you face slammed into a wall and fight back be prepared to be ganged arrested or worse yet killed. The general population is slowly being conditioned to accept the fact that the cops are the law and can act like Judge Dredd.