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Can we attempt to have a real conversation about this? (She says as she gears up for a huge rant that leaves no room for anyone else's opinions...)
I'm pissed off. I'm amazed that this phenomenon of police killings hasn't hit a true peak yet. With all the new publicity about very old institutional racism inherent in our police forces, still new incidents continue to happen every single day, and people keep dying -- and cops continue to be celebrated for it. Since when is ANY legal infraction grounds for being shot? Since when is it OK to shoot a person for running, for struggling? Is there any city, any police force in this entire country where they are doing something positive and proactive to stop this - something that can be a model for others? And I'm not talking about the paltry community efforts where cops go hang out with a couple black kids for a couple hours and then claim everybody can get along.
I guess I'll give you the background... a few weeks ago a man was shot by an officer for resisting arrest following a traffic stop. He may have been intoxicated or on drugs and he attempted to drive away. He was not aggressive, he was running. The officer shot him in the head. I went to college with him. He was my neighbor. He was a friend of many of my friends. He may have had a substance abuse problem, but he was a good person and not a violent threat. He had a wife and young children, and a good job. This isn't an "other places" and "other people" problem, it's something that is literally happening to our neighbors.
What I keep thinking, every time I see another news story, is that I just don't care if this person was "resisting arrest", whatever that has come to mean in this day and age (because it seems you can now be arrested for resisting arrest and nothing else...). I don't care if he was breaking traffic laws. I don't care if she talked back. I don't even care if he took a swing at a cop. He shouldn't have been shot. She shouldn't be dead. Was this person pointing a loaded gun at someone? Coming at you with a knife? No? Then they should still be alive. Full stop, fuck everything else. Guns have become the solution to every problem faced by cops today. Find yourself in a challenging situation? Shoot!
My FIL is a cop. I love him and I think he has good judgement. I don't think all cops are bad, I don't think most cops are bad. But I also don't think that these killings are only being done by the few and far between "bad cops". I think they're being done by a confused, overwhelmed and undertrained group of people who live their lives in the shadow of fear of true crime and violence. People who begin to see threats everywhere, and who are supported by a culture that calls them heroes and tells them that it's heroic to shoot first and ask questions later. And by a culture that makes vast generalizations and assumptions about blackness and criminality. All of those factors converge to make an officer who can legitimately say he feared for his life, that he thought a person was a threat. Because of their blackness and his fear and cultural training. That officer is carrying a loaded gun, and he's a danger to society. What can we do about it?
I honestly don't know. My FIL would probably say more training for officers and more community outreach, but it seems too little too late. What is the solution, really? I think that police forces need to be overhauled and retrained. I think that drastic, progressive reorganization and education need to take place, and police forces need to offer good enough opportunities to employ an educated, well-trained and diverse group of people. And it's not going to happen because everybody is going to complain about the use of tax dollars. Maybe charitable organizations will take on funding police violence prevention as a pet project. But that seems pretty unlikely too given who controls most of the charitable money in this country.
Anyway, I'm at a loss. I've avoided this subject entirely on social media out of respect for my ILs but it's boiling over.
I'm pissed off. I'm amazed that this phenomenon of police killings hasn't hit a true peak yet. With all the new publicity about very old institutional racism inherent in our police forces, still new incidents continue to happen every single day, and people keep dying -- and cops continue to be celebrated for it. Since when is ANY legal infraction grounds for being shot? Since when is it OK to shoot a person for running, for struggling? Is there any city, any police force in this entire country where they are doing something positive and proactive to stop this - something that can be a model for others? And I'm not talking about the paltry community efforts where cops go hang out with a couple black kids for a couple hours and then claim everybody can get along.
I guess I'll give you the background... a few weeks ago a man was shot by an officer for resisting arrest following a traffic stop. He may have been intoxicated or on drugs and he attempted to drive away. He was not aggressive, he was running. The officer shot him in the head. I went to college with him. He was my neighbor. He was a friend of many of my friends. He may have had a substance abuse problem, but he was a good person and not a violent threat. He had a wife and young children, and a good job. This isn't an "other places" and "other people" problem, it's something that is literally happening to our neighbors.
What I keep thinking, every time I see another news story, is that I just don't care if this person was "resisting arrest", whatever that has come to mean in this day and age (because it seems you can now be arrested for resisting arrest and nothing else...). I don't care if he was breaking traffic laws. I don't care if she talked back. I don't even care if he took a swing at a cop. He shouldn't have been shot. She shouldn't be dead. Was this person pointing a loaded gun at someone? Coming at you with a knife? No? Then they should still be alive. Full stop, fuck everything else. Guns have become the solution to every problem faced by cops today. Find yourself in a challenging situation? Shoot!
My FIL is a cop. I love him and I think he has good judgement. I don't think all cops are bad, I don't think most cops are bad. But I also don't think that these killings are only being done by the few and far between "bad cops". I think they're being done by a confused, overwhelmed and undertrained group of people who live their lives in the shadow of fear of true crime and violence. People who begin to see threats everywhere, and who are supported by a culture that calls them heroes and tells them that it's heroic to shoot first and ask questions later. And by a culture that makes vast generalizations and assumptions about blackness and criminality. All of those factors converge to make an officer who can legitimately say he feared for his life, that he thought a person was a threat. Because of their blackness and his fear and cultural training. That officer is carrying a loaded gun, and he's a danger to society. What can we do about it?
I honestly don't know. My FIL would probably say more training for officers and more community outreach, but it seems too little too late. What is the solution, really? I think that police forces need to be overhauled and retrained. I think that drastic, progressive reorganization and education need to take place, and police forces need to offer good enough opportunities to employ an educated, well-trained and diverse group of people. And it's not going to happen because everybody is going to complain about the use of tax dollars. Maybe charitable organizations will take on funding police violence prevention as a pet project. But that seems pretty unlikely too given who controls most of the charitable money in this country.
Anyway, I'm at a loss. I've avoided this subject entirely on social media out of respect for my ILs but it's boiling over.
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