Obsidian Potency 3.0
You Will Respect My Authority [Updated]
posted Monday, 27 July 2009
Regardless of whose side you take in the Louis Gates incident in Cambridge, MA, one thing remains clear: many police departments in this country still have a lot to learn about accepting criticism.
It's not that police departments and individual officers NEVER accept criticism gracefully -- OP would never make that claim. (For a somewhat similar situation where a department took positive, corrective action in the wake of an ugly circumstance of police bullying, use the Ryan Moats situation as an example. The sidebar of the linked article contains even more information.)
Dallas' police chief said the following about the ill-fated Moats traffic stop: "I am embarrassed and disappointed by the behavior of one of our police officers," said Kunkle, who publicly apologized to Moats and his family. "His [Powell's] behavior, in my opinion, did not exhibit the common sense, discretion, the compassion that we expect our officers to exhibit."
Without that video evidence circulating the Internet of that officer bullying Moats, would the Dallas police department have taken such immediate, aggressive and contrite action? Or would the officer simply leaned on his police report, which probably would have stated something like "the suspect acted belligerent" and "the suspect was agitated" to deny any wrongdoing on his part?
How many times have you seen a police officer speeding down a road without their sirens of flashers on? How often have you seen a police officer put their flashers on in order to run a red light or a left-turn signal because they got tired of waiting? These so-called 'minor' traffic offenses may seem trivial -- but that's where the I can violate little laws because I'm a cop attitude begins. When left unchecked, it can escalate amongst the least-scrupulous officers.
Unfortunately, police forces around the country fall back on the honorable, occasionally-heroic nature of their difficult jobs to insulate themselves from any criticism all too often. We've seen this reaction time and again -- whether the perceived offense is as 'mild' as racial profiling or as serious as ramming a broken plunger handle up a helpless suspect's ass. Too many police officers regard the important, critical and challenging nature of their jobs as a license to get away with occasional, 'casual' rule-bending...and sometimes rule-breaking.
OP doesn't find it all that surprising that Gates was arrested. There are so many laws on the books that if a law-enforcement officer wants to find a reason to detain or charge you with a crime, they probably can find a legitimate legal reason to do so. As a friend of mine said, "contempt of cop" is not a crime. Yet Gates was basically arrested for being rude to a police officer in his own house who he did not call to be there. We live in a society where this incident is not only unsurprising, it is considered normal...to the point that it would have been somewhat surprising if Gates had NOT been arrested. OP finds this troubling.
The somewhat-gracious yet non-apologetic reaction of the police officer involved was predictable. His black colleague who responded to the call with him predictably supported his fellow officer. The reactions of police forces around the country to President Obama's criticism was even more predictable. How dare he open his mouth and criticize one of us? He doesn't have all the facts of the case. He doesn't know what we go through. This is an altered version of what prosecutors and internal affairs personnel refer to as "the blue wall."
Of course the president didn't have all the facts. But that doesn't mean Obama "went over the line" by stating his opinion about a case his friend was involved in...especially when the police department in question ended up dropping the charges. If the officer's actions were perfectly legitimate and justifiable, I would think the charges against Gates would have been maintained and pursued. Obviously, the department realized the situation wasn't worth the time -- which is a conclusion the arresting officer should have come to on his own when he found out that he was not at a crime scene after all.
The biggest reason Obama's comments drew so much attention was not that they were false. It's that they were rare coming from a president -- or from any politician, for that matter. That truth should be food for thought.
Regardless of how Gates behaved towards the officer in his own house, the officer's decision to call Gates outside to arrest him did not display what most people would consider "common sense", "discretion", or "compassion". Do those qualities only exist when a suspect's family member is about to die? Or is it possible to exercise that kind of restraint in situations like Gates' false break-in?
In such a high-pressure job, the right decision will not be made 100% of the time. The police are human beings too, and we should expect them to make mistakes from time to time. But is it too much to ask that they drop the untouchable front and admit their mistakes and failures more regularly? Perhaps such an expectation is a bridge too far in our litigious society.
Just because someone has a difficult job does not make them above the law, immune to criticism, or an unfair target of scrutiny. Everyone chooses their profession, and each job has unique challenges. To suggest that police officers should be 'cut some slack' when they fail to use the discretion demanded of them because they have important, difficult jobs (and are underpaid) is ludicrous. It would be the same as suggesting that we cut teachers some slack when they have consensual sex with students. Or that priests should be cut some slack when they molest altar boys.
All these professions are admirable, challenging, and under-compensated. None of them are above criticism or prosecution when the professional ethics inherent to those positions are violated. Police officers are no exception. Once more police forces around the country learn to accept this, it will go along way towards building the trust they need to effectively carry out their duties in the communities they serve.
[For another balanced perspective on the Gates case, please check out this article. ]
It's not that police departments and individual officers NEVER accept criticism gracefully -- OP would never make that claim. (For a somewhat similar situation where a department took positive, corrective action in the wake of an ugly circumstance of police bullying, use the Ryan Moats situation as an example. The sidebar of the linked article contains even more information.)
Dallas' police chief said the following about the ill-fated Moats traffic stop: "I am embarrassed and disappointed by the behavior of one of our police officers," said Kunkle, who publicly apologized to Moats and his family. "His [Powell's] behavior, in my opinion, did not exhibit the common sense, discretion, the compassion that we expect our officers to exhibit."
Without that video evidence circulating the Internet of that officer bullying Moats, would the Dallas police department have taken such immediate, aggressive and contrite action? Or would the officer simply leaned on his police report, which probably would have stated something like "the suspect acted belligerent" and "the suspect was agitated" to deny any wrongdoing on his part?
How many times have you seen a police officer speeding down a road without their sirens of flashers on? How often have you seen a police officer put their flashers on in order to run a red light or a left-turn signal because they got tired of waiting? These so-called 'minor' traffic offenses may seem trivial -- but that's where the I can violate little laws because I'm a cop attitude begins. When left unchecked, it can escalate amongst the least-scrupulous officers.
Unfortunately, police forces around the country fall back on the honorable, occasionally-heroic nature of their difficult jobs to insulate themselves from any criticism all too often. We've seen this reaction time and again -- whether the perceived offense is as 'mild' as racial profiling or as serious as ramming a broken plunger handle up a helpless suspect's ass. Too many police officers regard the important, critical and challenging nature of their jobs as a license to get away with occasional, 'casual' rule-bending...and sometimes rule-breaking.
OP doesn't find it all that surprising that Gates was arrested. There are so many laws on the books that if a law-enforcement officer wants to find a reason to detain or charge you with a crime, they probably can find a legitimate legal reason to do so. As a friend of mine said, "contempt of cop" is not a crime. Yet Gates was basically arrested for being rude to a police officer in his own house who he did not call to be there. We live in a society where this incident is not only unsurprising, it is considered normal...to the point that it would have been somewhat surprising if Gates had NOT been arrested. OP finds this troubling.
The somewhat-gracious yet non-apologetic reaction of the police officer involved was predictable. His black colleague who responded to the call with him predictably supported his fellow officer. The reactions of police forces around the country to President Obama's criticism was even more predictable. How dare he open his mouth and criticize one of us? He doesn't have all the facts of the case. He doesn't know what we go through. This is an altered version of what prosecutors and internal affairs personnel refer to as "the blue wall."
Of course the president didn't have all the facts. But that doesn't mean Obama "went over the line" by stating his opinion about a case his friend was involved in...especially when the police department in question ended up dropping the charges. If the officer's actions were perfectly legitimate and justifiable, I would think the charges against Gates would have been maintained and pursued. Obviously, the department realized the situation wasn't worth the time -- which is a conclusion the arresting officer should have come to on his own when he found out that he was not at a crime scene after all.
The biggest reason Obama's comments drew so much attention was not that they were false. It's that they were rare coming from a president -- or from any politician, for that matter. That truth should be food for thought.
Regardless of how Gates behaved towards the officer in his own house, the officer's decision to call Gates outside to arrest him did not display what most people would consider "common sense", "discretion", or "compassion". Do those qualities only exist when a suspect's family member is about to die? Or is it possible to exercise that kind of restraint in situations like Gates' false break-in?
In such a high-pressure job, the right decision will not be made 100% of the time. The police are human beings too, and we should expect them to make mistakes from time to time. But is it too much to ask that they drop the untouchable front and admit their mistakes and failures more regularly? Perhaps such an expectation is a bridge too far in our litigious society.
Just because someone has a difficult job does not make them above the law, immune to criticism, or an unfair target of scrutiny. Everyone chooses their profession, and each job has unique challenges. To suggest that police officers should be 'cut some slack' when they fail to use the discretion demanded of them because they have important, difficult jobs (and are underpaid) is ludicrous. It would be the same as suggesting that we cut teachers some slack when they have consensual sex with students. Or that priests should be cut some slack when they molest altar boys.
All these professions are admirable, challenging, and under-compensated. None of them are above criticism or prosecution when the professional ethics inherent to those positions are violated. Police officers are no exception. Once more police forces around the country learn to accept this, it will go along way towards building the trust they need to effectively carry out their duties in the communities they serve.
[For another balanced perspective on the Gates case, please check out this article. ]
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