It Is Time We Treat Police Brutality as a National Crisis

[KamaAina]

http://gawker.com/it-is-time-we-treat-police-brutality-as-a-national-cris-1613935053

Ersula Ore. Eric Garner. Jahmil-El Cuffee. Rosan Miller. Marlene Pinnock. Al Flowers. Alonzo Grant. This is just a sample of the men and women who have been savagely, and unnecessarily, beaten by police officers this summer. Garner's case, in which an NYPD officer used a chokehold to restrain the 43-year-old Staten Island father, resulted in death (On Friday a medical examiner ruled Garner's death a homicide at the hands of the NYPD). Since then, the topic of "police brutality" has gained momentum nationwide and has sparked outcry from elected officials and community members asking for police reform. Just last week, in a meeting at New York City Hall, Rev. Al Sharpton told Mayor Bill de Blasio of his biracial son: "If Dante wasn't your son, he'd be a candidate for a chokehold." And it's true. But why? How, in Obama's America, did we end up here?...

Mychal Denzel Smith: It's a question I've thought about a lot, and I'm starting to wonder if it's the right one. I'm not so sure. When you see Marlene Pinnock repeatedly punched in the face, or Ersula Ore manhandled, or Eric Garner choked to death, it becomes a question of our basic humanity because the images are so startling. We can't imagine someone doing that to a person they value as human. And I certainly think that's part of it. Black people are still fighting to be seen as human. But why? As long as our history of resistance is in this country, it's hard to believe that there isn't enough evidence that, hey, we feel. We breathe, we eat, we shit, we sleep, we love, we cry, we mourn (over and over again). We experience the breadth of humanity in full. The police have to know that. America has to know that. But they keep killing us. Why? To answer that, we have to know what is gained by not seeing our humanity. Someone is benefitting from the fact we are beaten and gunned down. Someone else's livelihood depends on it. Once you start addressing that, you're getting to the root.

Ruby-Beth Buitekant: Jason and Mychal, I'm thankful to hear your thoughts as well as your pain around all this. A discussion of police "brutality" implies that officers are breaking a social contract when they use violence as they did in the instances you both mentioned. In reality, the use of violence is simply a part of officers effectively executing their role. We treat these instances of "brutality" like the exception to the rule but if, like Mychal is saying, this is hardly the exception and is in fact the process by which we keep white as more powerful, then "brutality" is clearly a tactic....

Darnell L. Moore: What is most apparent, as you all have suggested, is the fact that the seemingly extraordinary acts of police sanctioned violence, now easily captured on smart phones, are, in fact, common. If anything, acts of state violence inflicted upon black and brown people in the U.S. are only extraordinary because they have for so long been—without any broad public outcry, without the creation and implementation of any substantial national public policy, without collective mourning and outrage—rendered acceptable and legal practices. Black and brown folk are the only bodies in this country ever accounted by the state as valueless and, therefore, appropriate for hyper criminalization and death by hands or bullet.

[el_bryanto]

1. Sadly this seems to be the case

I am frustrated because I recognize that Police officers are doing a pretty lousy but necessary job, and I want to respect that. I also believe that many if not most police officers aren't the problem - but . . . these incidents just keep happening and something needs to be done about it.

Bryant

[drynberg]

49. Well, as nasty as the truth is...there are a whole lot of "bad apples" in the police barrel, no?

[el_bryanto]

50. There seem to be. Again I don't know what the percentage is

And also you have to look at individual police department cultures. Some seem to have chronic problems, but I'm willing to believe that in some cities the police department actually functions as it is supposed to.

That said we need to move past just trusting the police to holding them accountable.

Bryant

[redqueen]

2. Why not make it about violence in general?

Whether used by the cops against citizens, parents against children, lovers against each other, or whoever, if we could address that once and for all we would be doing a lot better than just finally ending the rampant police brutality in this country.

Sorry to digress... K&R

[La Lioness Priyanka]

5. because police violence is systematic & institutionalized

and targets people of color disproportionately. not all violence works the same way.

in some ways, i also think that we are more likely to have success within these systems than targeting violence overall.

[truedelphi]

7. I'd like to add this thought to the discussion -

Currently we are seeing so much of the monetary distribution occurring in one direction only, and so much of what the police are about is protecting "wealth." This means that all of us are under fire, not just people of color.

When Scott came back from Iraq, only to be almost killed by Oakland Calif police, while attending an Occupy meeting, the police were indifferent to his skin color.

Several years ago, at the age of 55, I was told by a police officer who had pulled me over that he was thinking of shooting me. What had he pulled me over for? I was going 57 miles an hour in a 55 mph zone!

About two years ago, I opened the local newspaper to see this officer's name in the headlines. He had been arrested for pedophilia, as he had been forcing himself on a local 14 year old girl.

He was hispanic; I am a white woman and so was the young lady in question.

The police in this nation are fugging nuts. They are poorly screened, and encouraged by all of their training to believe that at any moment someone might hurt them.

And they are told repeatedly by the CO's that they are to consider their safety and their lives before anyone else's! That philosophy is behind so much of this, including the tragic shooting by police rifle of a man out watering a neighbor's yard, in a decent neighborhood in Southern Calif. The police interpreted the hose nozzle that was being used as a gun, and so with no questions asked, shot him from their patrol car while they drove by. His body had been impacted by six heavy duty bullets.

The man happened to be white.

[Enthusiast]

13. +1

[Rockyj]

24. Police Brutality Has Become An Epidemic!

I don't understand why there isn't more of an outcry!

Police peppered sprayed a 84 year old woman @ Seattle Occupy protest!
http://www.seattlepi.com/local/komo/article/Elderly-woman-pepper-sprayed-during-Occupy-march-2271197.php

Seattle police shot and killed a harmless old First Nations carver:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/british-columbia/native-carver-shot-by-officer-was-turning-his-life-around-brother-says/article578325/

http://www.occupy-wallstreet.com/police-state/police-brutality/

http://www.cnn.com/2014/07/24/justice/albuquerque-police-brutality-federal-reforms/index.html

http://brainz.org/30-cases-extreme-police-brutality-and-blatant-misconduct/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cases_of_police_brutality_in_the_United_States

[A Simple Game]

29. So true.

This means that all of us are under fire, not just people of color. [/div class="excerpt"]
The 1% don't care what color you are they just know there are too many of us. Soon all police will be color blind. This is not just a color problem, it is a class problem, while we still have time we need to start acting like the majority we are.

First they came for the socialist and I didn't care... wake up people it's long past time to fix this problem.

Let's make the police face the same civilian review board that the rest of us would have to face if we committed a crime - a jury. A crime is a crime no matter how the perpetrator is dressed, they should be charged for their crimes.

[Shandris]

44. You're absolutely right...but you're wasting your time.

There is money to be made in making sure this remains a white vs black problem instead of moneyed problem, and hence it will only be examined under that lens.

See, if we can make blacks and whites hate and distrust each other, then organizations that profit from that have eternal political relevance. So despite the experience of poor whites and hispanics, their (our) concerns are of no concern. There's not enough money in fighting for actual problems, and there is NO money in gaining solutions.

Rules for Radicals. Always have a target to attack and make sure there is always something TO attack or you lose your own power. Make everything a racial argument and you'll never have to worry about a steady flow of funding.

[truedelphi]

51. So,uh , where do I get the money for

My continuing the argument that us white folks get hassled too?

SHOW ME THE MONEY! (It is that time of month when I really start needing it.)

And thanks in advance.

[redqueen]

9. I know. Just wishful thinking.

It is systemic in our culture though. Not just tolerated but embraced. I do think that needs to change.

[tkmorris]

18. Sure it does

However, no one gets away with it to the extent the police do. No one. Even if your ultimate goal is to eliminate all violence everywhere this makes a sensible place to start.

[redqueen]

19. Soldiers do.

Rape in the military, not just of "the enemy" but of fellow soldiers is rampant.

But getting rid of war is an even bigger dream.

[mopinko]

47. ending domestic violence is the key.

i tend to end up on this particular tangent myself. not a real 'lock em up and throw away the key' sort of person, but men who hurt their wives and children are my exception.
if we started treating pregnant women like the sacred vessels the right claims they are, we would take a big step toward evolving into more a peaceful species.
a mother who is taken care of, well fed, and without fear in her own home will have a baby whose biology is tuned in to the 'better angels of our nature'.

it would work. in a generation, we would be better people.
build a little bubble of peace and love around mothers and new babies.
and it will grow.

[alcibiades_mystery]

3. The militarization of the police is a CIVIC CHOICE and it can be REVERSED

We must insist to our local officials that we will not tolerate militarized police forces in our midst, and that we will specifically vote against any politician who approves, requests, or supports such militarization.

It is possible to have community-friendly beat cops on the streets. It is possible to force police departments to act like civil servants rather than like a standing army patrolling a hostile occupied country. But you actually have to do it. You have to force the politicians to force the police to train and behave as they should.

[SpankMe]

30. Easier said than done

If you run for office as a police reformer, you'll have the police unions down on you and you fall victim to the "soft on crime" label - a label that is effective even in progressive communities.

But, I agree. City councils (who administer Police departments in most communities) should be hit hard to convert their law enforcement from a military into a truly civilian operation.

[GitRDun]

39. I could not have said it better myself!

If five or ten of those fifty cops had a repore, trust with some of the kids protesting in Ferguson, you wouldn't need battle gear to control them.

The battle gear and heavy handedness is a substitute for actual community policing.

[loveandlight]

54. I don't think it is a matter of control...

These battle-geared up cops are not controlling anything. They are causing the problem. They are disrupting peaceful protesters. And in the process, they are causing the violence and ramped up anxiety in the community. So in fact, there is no control happening. It is just war against the community. That's how I see it any way.

[Baitball Blogger]

4. You have to start by finding what is driving police violence.

And you should start with the people who are paying the police chief's paycheck.

My two cents.

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

33. Mark Fuhrman apparently just loved busting heads

the guy in the OJ Simpson trial who we found out used the "N" word all day long. The guy who described the many times he was violent with minorities and liked it, beating up Mexicans and black people. During the OJ trial, there was even a Jewish Rabbi who came forward to describe how Fuhrman saw him on the street and beat the crap out of him while his wife looked on in shock. Of course Judge Ito didn't allow that evidence in, nor did he allow any of Fuhrman's personnel file to be made public. That's one thing that I would like to see changed, require every servant of the public in a police uniform to make their personnel and disciplinary file open to the public on demand. What galled me too during the OJ case is that former LAPD police chief Daryl Gates was privately allowed access to Fuhrman's personnel file. Gates was then a civilian after his retirement. That's just unacceptable. Gates is the wonderful humanitarian who was called to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee about the war on drugs and said on the record that casual drug users should be taken out and shot. Gates while he was police chief in L.A. authorized use of the choke hold despite the deaths of several black men. when asked why he continued to allow its use by police officers.Gates blamed the victims, with the incredible statement that "blacks might be more likely to die from chokeholds because their arteries do not open as fast as they do on 'normal people.'" When the chief of police is inherently violent and glorifies violence like Gates and when his detectives like Fuhrman are the same, I think the only answer is to keep a close watch. And make all their records including their personnel files absolutely public so we know what we're dealing with.

[truedelphi]

6. It was the war on drugs that gave the world of Officialdom the excuse to

Militarize the police.

If we had not gone down the path of that particular war, there is quite a strong chance that the police would still be far less militant. So much of the PD's training these days is about how there are so many forces out to get them. And since the gangs that have survived go on to buy arsenals of automatic weaponry and even grenades and rocket launchers, and their ability to wipe out entire squads of police does exist, then that style of training will go on and on.

Legalize drugs and watch the problem fade. Legalizing drugs would immediately dis-empower the gangs.

[leftstreet]

11. It was the FUNDING of the war on drug$

As long as there's massive funding, be it military or police, a culture will be created and maintained

[Enthusiast]

12. +1

[hifiguy]

15. It would be a long step in the right direction, that's for sure.

[chknltl]

56. I think the MIC has a role here too.

The MIC has built a lot of 'tools for the trade' of war-making that they can and do further market to our police departments. I believe they deserve to be recognized as a key ingredient in the militarization of our PDs. IMO it is an example of unregulated capitalism bringing harm to our society. The Prison Industrial Complex should be thought of as another key ingredient too.

[conservaphobe]

8. This. nt

[SoapBox]

10. The Untouchables...

Need reeling in.

[Enthusiast]

14. Police Brutality is a National Crisis!

[99th_Monkey]

16. This is not going to go away easily, because THEY have the guns

I keep seeing this over and over -- whether at the national level or a local municipality -- the "professionals" who have guns "win" at determining policy through intimidation and fear mongering. Witness the recent thinly veiled threats by the NRA to DC policy makers. And I see this locally as well, as no one on city council, etc. wants to "push the buttons" of murderous thugs in uniform.

[Comrade Grumpy]

17. We need a national commission on law enforcement standards and practices.

[truedelphi]

21. No we need to end the war on drugs, and we need to end the funding

Of that war.

We already have dozens, if not hundreds of oversight committees, locally on the police.

And on the national level, it will be another pansy-wansy agency like the SEC.

Just as the SEC was told that Maddoff was a problem, but he still "slipped through the loopholes" so too would a national oversight of police board be way too ready to write up some poor cop for wearing his badge slightly crocked, while ignoring the real problem cops.

[theaocp]

20. Seems to me

that publicly-funded police forces could be better handled by private corporations.

Is this by design, as seen in the public education system? Make the system's culture look like most men/husbands on tv advertisements (bumbling fucking idiots) and then say the cure is private police forces? I imagine the 1% would be totally on board for this shit. The only ones who would suffer would be all of us.

[cprise]

22. If people keep falling for warmongering and imperialism

...i.e. the boogeymen on the other side of the world are gonna get ya, then the corporate press and other high society types will keep lining up with and advancing a brutal police state. They will keep returning to the talking heads and war criminals who sold us the Iraq War whenever questions of domestic security arise.

[Beowulf42]

23. Some personal history

A recent graduate of the state police academy in Montana told me and my son "That everyone out there was a criminal, they just hadn't been caught yet." Seems to be a common denominator in recent police actions against unarmed citizens in our......FREEDOMS.

[dhill926]

27. wow...

so we the people, are the enemy in their eyes. We the people who pay their salaries btw. Beyond fucked up...

[A Simple Game]

32. Often the only difference between the criminals and the police is the uniform. n/t

[Live and Learn]

38. +1 nt

[frylock]

55. some of those that work forces are the same that burn crosses

[Clint0n]

40. brainwashing...

im sure the private prison industry has some influence on training... lots of officers start off as prison/jail guards then make it onto the force by passing some exams. and ill be blunt, its not like they [prison guards] did that great in high school, i doubt they know anything about the constitution besides the second amendment.

people that have a predisposition that everyone they encounter is a criminal out to get them should be screened out..

...i dont see any solution, its very depressing..

[blkmusclmachine]

25. ,

,

[joeybee12]

26. Yes...knr

[kentuck]

28. They need to take some of their toys away...

...starting with their tasers.

More innocent people are killed every year with this toy...

[Uncle Joe]

31. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, KamaAina.

[damnedifIknow]

35. Way past time imo

It truly is a national crisis and we need to take a real hard look at what is happening.

[DFW]

36. It has become VERY difficult to defend our country as a safe place with all these headlines

The streets of Brussels, Paris and most Italian cities are rumored, with more than a little justification, to be rife with skilled petty thieves and pickpockets, and tourist season is the happy hunting ground for them.

Many Europeans, with less justification, look in horror at headlines coming out of the United States, asking whether I am not terrified to return home, for fear of being killed by the police. Well, no, I'm not, but I'm white and usually travel with other white people or mixed crowds--not the demographic favored by rogue cops looking for some human target practice.

But this is happening with SUCH frequency, and now with instant publicity worldwide, that many people outside the USA get the impression that the cops in the USA are taking indiscriminate potshots anywhere and everywhere.

If we can't get a handle on this nationally, the problem will grow worse, and innocent cops will feel the rage, at some point in the form of bullets from the public, and the headlines will be telling a much darker tale before long. This can't be allowed to get to this point, and action to curb rogue cops MUST be initiated NOW, before too much of the public feels they are under siege and have nothing left to lose. If standing your ground means shooting the first cop you see, and your defense is self-defense, then we have let this go "under investigative review" for way too long. Murder is murder. A badge should not be a get-out-of-jail-free card.

[L0oniX]

37. The USA must change to a country of peace ...not war.

[blackspade]

41. It's about the money Labowski!

Corporations make billions off the slave labor of the incarcerated.
The police make billions off of the drug war.
Politicians make millions from lobbyists.

The violence by police is to terrorize and acclimatize citizens to the police state.

[glinda]

42. I live by one of the training centers for this.

Police as well as other Government personal are brought to a Military Base for training under Homeland security auspices as well as train for "Community Crisis". whatever the F that means. "Crowd control".

It is the merging of the Military with the Police, fire, etc....

[truedelphi]

52. ^^^^^^^^^^^ This! n/t

[drm604]

43. Body cameras

http://www.marinij.com/crimebeat/ci_25087451/san-rafael-police-experiment-body-worn-cameras

The San Rafael Police Department has launched a 90-day pilot program to equip officers with body-worn cameras, becoming the second Marin police agency to use the technology.

Lt. Jim Correa, who is heading up the project, said the department is using four cameras during the trial period. The pager-sized cameras, manufactured by Seattle-based VIEVU LLC, record both video and audio.
...
A much-cited study of body-camera use at the Rialto Police Department in San Bernardino County showed that complaints against officers fell 88 percent over a year, while use-of-force by officers fell nearly 60 percent, according to the New York Times.

[KamaAina]

45. DING DING DING!!!

Hard to believe that San Rafael, in wealthy Marin County, would have this problem. My guess would be that it is centered in the lone barrio, the Canal area.

[BrainDrain]

46. Let's all agree on something....

cops are cops...they can do pretty much anything they want. They will pull you over and give you a 100 dollar ticket for talking on your phone, but 10 minutes later they are doing the exact same thing. Who is going to give them a ticket for that? Do you seriously think that any cop would have gotten in trouble for say...Rodney King..... if someone hadn't caught them on camera doing it? The cops are not there to serve and protect, they don't protect shit. Did they stop your house from being broken into? How about your car? The days of helpful Officer O'Malley or One Adam 12 are long gone and the militarize police have arrived in full force. They are here to repress, harass, and use any force they want with impunity.

The time for passive resistance is over.

Think about it. But think too long and it will be too late. It might be already.

[KamaAina]

48. Welcome to DU!

[tea and oranges]

53. I agree w/ much that's been said here

but want to add one more thing - it's something we're familiar w/, the right-wing exhibits this mentality thoroughly. The Bubble Effect.

Police culture can develop along these lines. No information allowed in, but lots of reinforcement for the bs promulgated by other cops.

A friend's husband quit the force he worked for when planting evidence became not only routine, but hilarious. That's a culture!

[samsingh]

57. agreed