As we prepare to face the onslaught of yet another death of a black – (in this instance, a) woman, at the hands of law enforcement officers, the question cries out for a meaningful response – When will this bizarre behavior come to an end. Is this the new normal? But wait, this is not new; it’s reminiscent of times past – a return to the old, if you will.
Sandra Bland was stopped for what was described as a routine traffic infraction and within minutes found herself slammed to the ground with all the force reflective of hand to hand martial combat. The sequence of steps are not clear – never usually are, but one thing is known, 3 days later she was dead. So if we do a regression analysis from the point when she was stopped to the point of her death, we find the following:
Stopped, for failing to use a turn signal in a lane change, she was subsequently physically and verbally abused, arrested, thrown in jail and died, supposedly having committed suicide, using a plastic garbage bag. Wow!
Race is unequivocally a catalyst in this and so many other cases that precede this one. However, let me be clear that albeit a troubling facet, it is NOT the problem. So, let’s put the race issue aside for a moment and examine the Problem, as follows:
For as far back as we can recall, Police Officers have always had the upper hand in any encounter with civilians. Essentially, it was understood that any direction given/provided by a police officer in any such encounter was to be executed without challenge. Failure to do this usually resulted in dire consequences for the civilian.
Police officers are burdened with a tremendous responsibility; their slogan – ” To Protect and Serve”. However, for too many those words ring hollow. To enhance their safety, in what can easily be deemed a dangerous job, the right NOT to be resisted was bestowed upon them, along with extensive training on how to be fair, objective and professional. Police Officers are not supposed to allow personal prejudices to interfere or influence their decisions and actions on the job. Sadly this is not the case. Whether the training is not sufficiently intense or the individual(s) in question are simply too far gone, clearly we have a significant number of police officers that really should not be police officers. This is Problem #1 – serious but correctable.
Problem #2 and by far the more serious of the two, is the inability of our system to identify and flush out these rogue cops. This action should occur as soon as they are observed behaving in ways unbecoming of the badge they hold and the service they are supposed to provide. However, instead of identifying these officers and driving them out of the force, the system defends them with lies, manipulation of evidence, conspiracies and coverups; all to protect the job and the self esteem of a bad cop.
With this mindset of impunity, a police officer has the supreme right to decide how he/she will address any encounter with a civilian. And because there are no clear and solid guidelines, he is free to do just about whatever he chooses. The rage displayed by Brian Encinia, the officer who arrested Sandra Bland is bizarre, at best. And all because she refused to put out a cigarette. “How dare she refuse to carry out his orders” albeit that this order was in no way part of any criminal wrong doing. She had every right to refuse to put out her cigarette, even though doing so ultimately culminated in her death.
So now let’s pick up the race issue. If Sandra had been white, what are the odds that she would – a) have been stopped for such a trivial infraction; b) be addressed in the manner that would ultimately spark a confrontation. Not to say that white women are not stopped for minor traffic infractions, but history says the odds are significantly reduced. Second point, if Sandra had been white, what are the odds that even if she flared off to the officer as did Bland, would she have been threatened with a taser – “… I will light you up…” slammed to the ground, etc. again, history indicates that the odds would be significantly lower.
Ms. Bland’s behavior left a lot to be desired; she has been billed out as an intelligent, educated person – she should have know better; but her behavior did not warrant her death. Officer Encinia’s training should have prepared him for outbursts such as hers – better yet, his training should have restrained him from his initial confrontational approach, thereby not allowing the situation to escalate. Not only is this not difficult, it is acted out daily by dozens of other officers in similar situations. Ok, so we hired a person not fit to be a police officer, why is it so hard to eradicate him/her from the force. Well, the blue wall of silence, the brotherhood of police officers, the political strength of the Police Unions, nationwide; and last but not least, the great racial divide. White citizens are harassed less by police officers, compared to blacks – take a moment and view the arrest of Dylann Roof, after he killed 9 black church parishioners, then compare that to any one of the number of black men/boys, who have be shot (with the intent to kill) for minor infractions or no infractions at all.
This discussion could go on for pages, but I think I’ve made the point and said enough. The remedy to this human tragedy lies, as always in the hands of our elected officials – Federal and State. As a society we need to recognize that police officers are human beings, subject to all the same weaknesses, fears, phobias and prejudices as any other human. The job of a police officers is too important to have individuals, ill equipped to manage these responsibilities, continue to be a member of that elite group after they have proven that they are simply unwilling or unable to perform, as expected. As a society, we need to force our elected officials to do the right thing – set clear standards for officers’ performance, hold them to these standards and remove them from the force when they fail to perform. Easily said, difficult to do but we need to start NOW.
Stopped, for failing to use a turn signal in a lane change, she was subsequently physically and verbally abused, arrested, thrown in jail and died, supposedly having committed suicide, using a plastic garbage bag. Wow!
Race is unequivocally a catalyst in this and so many other cases that precede this one. However, let me be clear that albeit a troubling facet, it is NOT the problem. So, let’s put the race issue aside for a moment and examine the Problem, as follows:
For as far back as we can recall, Police Officers have always had the upper hand in any encounter with civilians. Essentially, it was understood that any direction given/provided by a police officer in any such encounter was to be executed without challenge. Failure to do this usually resulted in dire consequences for the civilian.
Police officers are burdened with a tremendous responsibility; their slogan – ” To Protect and Serve”. However, for too many those words ring hollow. To enhance their safety, in what can easily be deemed a dangerous job, the right NOT to be resisted was bestowed upon them, along with extensive training on how to be fair, objective and professional. Police Officers are not supposed to allow personal prejudices to interfere or influence their decisions and actions on the job. Sadly this is not the case. Whether the training is not sufficiently intense or the individual(s) in question are simply too far gone, clearly we have a significant number of police officers that really should not be police officers. This is Problem #1 – serious but correctable.
Problem #2 and by far the more serious of the two, is the inability of our system to identify and flush out these rogue cops. This action should occur as soon as they are observed behaving in ways unbecoming of the badge they hold and the service they are supposed to provide. However, instead of identifying these officers and driving them out of the force, the system defends them with lies, manipulation of evidence, conspiracies and coverups; all to protect the job and the self esteem of a bad cop.
With this mindset of impunity, a police officer has the supreme right to decide how he/she will address any encounter with a civilian. And because there are no clear and solid guidelines, he is free to do just about whatever he chooses. The rage displayed by Brian Encinia, the officer who arrested Sandra Bland is bizarre, at best. And all because she refused to put out a cigarette. “How dare she refuse to carry out his orders” albeit that this order was in no way part of any criminal wrong doing. She had every right to refuse to put out her cigarette, even though doing so ultimately culminated in her death.
So now let’s pick up the race issue. If Sandra had been white, what are the odds that she would – a) have been stopped for such a trivial infraction; b) be addressed in the manner that would ultimately spark a confrontation. Not to say that white women are not stopped for minor traffic infractions, but history says the odds are significantly reduced. Second point, if Sandra had been white, what are the odds that even if she flared off to the officer as did Bland, would she have been threatened with a taser – “… I will light you up…” slammed to the ground, etc. again, history indicates that the odds would be significantly lower.
Ms. Bland’s behavior left a lot to be desired; she has been billed out as an intelligent, educated person – she should have know better; but her behavior did not warrant her death. Officer Encinia’s training should have prepared him for outbursts such as hers – better yet, his training should have restrained him from his initial confrontational approach, thereby not allowing the situation to escalate. Not only is this not difficult, it is acted out daily by dozens of other officers in similar situations. Ok, so we hired a person not fit to be a police officer, why is it so hard to eradicate him/her from the force. Well, the blue wall of silence, the brotherhood of police officers, the political strength of the Police Unions, nationwide; and last but not least, the great racial divide. White citizens are harassed less by police officers, compared to blacks – take a moment and view the arrest of Dylann Roof, after he killed 9 black church parishioners, then compare that to any one of the number of black men/boys, who have be shot (with the intent to kill) for minor infractions or no infractions at all.
This discussion could go on for pages, but I think I’ve made the point and said enough. The remedy to this human tragedy lies, as always in the hands of our elected officials – Federal and State. As a society we need to recognize that police officers are human beings, subject to all the same weaknesses, fears, phobias and prejudices as any other human. The job of a police officers is too important to have individuals, ill equipped to manage these responsibilities, continue to be a member of that elite group after they have proven that they are simply unwilling or unable to perform, as expected. As a society, we need to force our elected officials to do the right thing – set clear standards for officers’ performance, hold them to these standards and remove them from the force when they fail to perform. Easily said, difficult to do but we need to start NOW.
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