Continuing this thread, a friend writes a note which leads to some thoughts. He’s writing in response to the press release from the United States Fencing Association announcing that “… USA Fencing will be supporting the Dallas community by providing a $1,000 donation in honor and memory of the victims of the shootings in Dallas on Thursday evening.”
Don’t disagree with my fencing peeps BUT how about also standing with the individual victims in all the prior shootings in California , Florida , NY, MN, LA etc?!
I’m letting Don [Anthony, USFA President] know about this .And speaking of MN, what the hell is going on with your police officers there? Like humans in general there are many more good officers than bad and they should be thanked for their service like the military but again?! really ? !!!!
And I agree. As I listened to the demonstrations that occurred just down the street, I thought about how my friend subtly brings an important point to the fore – that we are a society, together. The police do not stand apart, they are simply a subgroup of our community that tries to stabilize society. They often use the slogan, “To Protect, To Serve” the communities from which they come. From the information so far available from Baton Rouge and Falcon Heights, they committed catastrophic errors, and though we don’t know the nature of the mistakes in each case, it should be clear that they failed in their mission. Changes must occur.
But let’s take the communitarian aspect of his point a little further. Over, well, my lifetime, the police have been gradually taking advantage of technology to, overtly, enhance their ability to complete their mission, but, inadvertently, to stand apart from the communities they serve. From the cop who walks his beat transforming into the cop in the prowl car, to the law enforcement agencies equipping themselves with military weaponry in order to take down drug users and defend against terrorism, layers of technology have come between the police and the people he or she is supposed to serve. Until Friday I couldn’t tell you the name of any of the cops serving my municipality of Falcon Heights, MN, and now I know the name of one, Officer Inez, because of this tragedy. A cop car occasionally cruises my street – great. I have no idea who’s behind the wheel – or if it’s even a real cop car and not someone just looking for potential victims.
And that gap between police and communities they serve is not helpful. I know there’s been some discussion of returning to the use of cops walking the beat, men and women pounding the sidewalk, making sure things are OK in a neighborhood. From this Wall Street Journal (March 12, 2015, only a portion may be available unless you subscribe) article concerning New Haven, CT, where cops returned to walking the beat:
“You have somebody walking around, you can talk to them,” says Mr. Walker, 44 years old, who works at a local hospital. “They don’t come in the neighborhood and treat everybody like they’re the enemy.” …
In New Haven, the number of homicides, robberies, motor-vehicle thefts and other types of serious crime has fallen about 30% since the city, best known as the home of Yale University, put a big chunk of its officers on foot-patrol duty in 2012.
And a counter-intuitive suggestion: rather than treat every situation as not only potentially deadly, but even probably deadly, treat them as a friendly situation. Sure, a violation may have occurred, but intimidation such as occurred in the Falcon Heights incident is uncalled for and alienates the community. While it may make sense, short term, to take a paranoid approach to each police situation in terms of safeguarding the lives of police officers, the long-term effect on relations between police and their communities is negative and may be one of the contributing factors to communities no longer trusting their own cops. Yes, it increases risk and may get a few more cops killed – but if it makes the community more trusting overall, is it then so bad? Second, get rid of the military weaponry – let’s be honest, it’s wasteful and dangerous in most municipalities. Instead, let’s reform those laws which have been used to oppress black and other communities. An example: marijuana laws. Beer is legal – why not marijuana? It’s a drug of little intrinsic danger; most of the problem associated with marijuana can be attributed to the fact that it’s illegal.
And, yes, let’s honor those who’ve been shot dead by police for no good reason. Because they, just like the tragically dead Dallas cops, are part of our society. They had hopes, dreams, and loved ones. And their lives came to abrupt, unexpected ends, whether because of catastrophic law enforcement errors, or someone with mental illness gained access to weaponry. Let’s remember and honor them, and in all cases – try to do better.
