Sitting here today, we want to think that if we were accused of a crime and the police came to arrest us, we would be treated with respect and our civil liberties upheld. While it is a nice thought, the reality is that this does not happen – the police regularly frown upon those they arrest and misconduct is more frequent than we think.
To many, the epitome of police misconduct is the beating of Rodney King that took place over a decade ago. While that story burned through the pages of the American press then, those kinds of events happen today and barely get mentioned in the news. That was the case last week when two Petersburg police officers were convicted of beating a suspect they were arresting and putting him into a coma.
Ten years ago, this would have been on every major news station. After all, the police cannot beat a suspect, regardless of how much they are verbally provoked, and certainly not into a coma. Sadly, the Petersburg incident is not the first case of overzealous police action in this area in the last year, as last summer a Richmond police detective shot and killed an unarmed suspect. The detective was acquitted in court.
When we hear about these incidents it is often difficult for many to grasp the concept that at times the police can and do act badly. It really all goes back to the King videotape. For years, many suspected that police misconduct did happen, but it was never fully realized until those vivid images of a circle of police officers beating a helpless subject brought the suspicion to life.
Worse than that, was when the police officers involved were acquitted, and Los Angeles rioted. While I disagree with rioting to make your point, I can understand why they did it – if you were at the short end of a police beatdown, you would be mad too. Many feel like that will never happen to them because they know the right people, drive the right car – or are the right color.
That dismissive attitude is the problem all too many of us have. Anytime a police officer abuses their authority, it is a crime not just against the individual, but also against society, and that should offend you.
While police officers are not perfect – nobody in any profession is – they hold a higher position than most of us because they have the authority to arrest, and carry a firearm. Because of this, they need to be held to a higher standard, and when an officer that is supposed to deliver justice perverts and molests that, he should have justice delivered back to him.
Here in Richmond, this has persisted and developed into a major problem where the citizens don’t trust the police. Police chiefs have been fired, reorganization has occurred, and the new administration has pledged to clean up the city.
A zero-tolerance policy should be put into place regarding any police force used against unarmed citizens. The police have a tough job, but the badge tis there to be respected, not feared.
Officers have to be able to restrain themselves from physical
behavior, and if this is a problem, then they should leave the profession of policing and go into professional wrestling.
Officers should and do have the right to defend themselves. If a suspect throws a punch or pulls a gun where the officer can see it, then they absolutely have the right to defend themselves. However, when a suspect calls the officer a name or runs from them, they must also resist this temptation, turn the other cheek and tell themselves that this is part of their job.
We as citizens must cast a suspicious eye toward anything coming from the police department and remember that what they say is not gold. They are there to sell the case they make, and it stays that way until a jury or judge says so.
Wishful thinking would tell us that we have come far from the turbulent times of the mid-eighties song “911 is a Joke” by Public Enemy. Incidents like the ones above have to make us wonder if we really have.
Michael Dickinson may be reached at mdickinson2112@aol.com.