Week 10 Action

We are now 10 weeks since George Floyd's killing at the hands of the Minneapolis Police Department and beginning an period of anger and unrest that has not settled to this day.  From today's New York Times:  (8/3/2020)

In Washington, the efforts to reform policing have stalled. Congress can’t agree on a bill and has largely stopped debating the issue.

But changes are happening in cities across the country.

In the more than two months since the killing of George Floyd, 31 of America’s 100 largest cities have enacted policies restricting officers’ use of chokeholds, according to an analysis by Campaign Zero, a group that advocates against police violence. In all, 62 of the 100 largest cities now have such policies in place, including New York and Minneapolis, where Floyd died after an officer knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes.

Atlanta, San Diego and 67 other cities now require officers to intervene when a fellow officer uses excessive force, up from 51 before Floyd’s death. And five cities — including Denver and St. Louis — have adopted the suite of eight reforms that Campaign Zero advocates, up from two cities earlier this year.

So it's up to the cities and to me (the citizen) and I guess it begs the question:  How do we make these changes last?  According to the article, there are cities who have adopted policies to reduce police violence which have- theoretically- work.  Even here in the Twin Cities, two diverse suburbs (Brooklyn's Park and Center, the former being my home town) were highlighted as police reform models (in spite of a recent spike in gun violence nearby on 63rd and Zane)

The other is rhetorical:

What does policing "look" like to you.  If it sounds weird, hear me out.

"Did you catch any bad guys today?"

"Did you shoot any bad guys today?"

So these are two questions I asked as a little kid when dad came home from work.  He was a "policeman" but now we know that a Sheriff's Deputy isn't necessarily law enforcement patrolling on a street level even though both fulfill similar duties (upholding the law) but the officer in a car driving around a neighborhood is not the state patrol officer camped out at a car dealership waiting for leadfeet is not FBI is not etc etc.

Police needs differ from city to city and state to state.  Not every town is Mayberry and not every town is Chicago or Minneapolis.  Ostensibly, street cops stand to act primarily in an active two fold role:  Crime Prevention by way of being a deterrent (meaning driving around and being a "presence" toward which crime disperses or does not take place,  and as a reactive- responding to crime and emergencies.

All on board so far?  Cops patrol, (ideally) ever vigilant and reporting offenses great and small but rarely in that capacity do they "catch" people red-handed that aren't being targeted.  And the idea of the dramatic showdown like the last 10 minutes of the movie "Heat" where an armed cops comes running out guns-ablazin.  In fact I'd wager you can imagine the scenario in which an officer has their gun drawn, right?  When their life feels threatened or acknowledges imminent danger of bodily harm. 

There are statistics that show the situations - historically- where police involved shootings have taken place or the death of a suspect in custody as a result of their actions.  (I'm leaving out the disproportionate deaths which result in a larger percentage of death's of BIPOC)  What I'm trying to get at is this:

The same cops that comprise those officer-involved shootings/deaths aren't necessarily the one's who are "fighting crime".  Those are the detectives, the forensic pathologists, crime lab, cyber-crime unit (who may investigate when someone commits a crime and it gets social media exposure) whereas the actual "feet on the street", when the respond to these situations are acting as (again) deterrents. 

I'm just thinking, if it takes all kinds to make up a law enforcement unit, why is it always the image of an officer with a badge, gun, taser, Ray-Ban's, wearing navy blue that somehow acts as this catch all of heroics when literally the expectation placed on them is unreasonable?  It's not like they're hall monitors looking for truant kids skipping school or smoking on school grounds-  but they're still the one's responding- fully armed- to those phone calls.  To loud noises or parties.  To black people laughing at a picnic.  Or napping in a common area at a college.  To *expired* tabs, to bad checks. 

And because of the above mentioned apathy and senators from bumfuck Mayberry, MN refusing to acknowledge that the problem is the cops and the way to resolve the problems is placing a stop payment on the never-ending budget increases and requests for more bodies in squad cars...we get just that. 

And nothing. Ever. Changes. 

It's a business model.  It's shitty service and shitty food but the restaurant stays open.  And when something is broke you fix it.  When money has been no object, you take it away from the source of the problem (Defund) which is (Funding) white supremacy and violent subjugation of BIPOC people in designated areas which suffer from neglect and a failure to get underneath the root of the weed and remove it, and simply dead head it and walk away while the rest of the yard gets overrun with dandelions. 

Resources *I* find to be useful are in the article from the Strib-  hire people who understand the diversity of the residents and provide outreach and a resource for them.  Hire people who will be visible community advocates, pay them, and make them visible.  Continue to have an investigative unit(s) working on the city and county levels and maintain a ground level peace-keeping unit that responds to reports of wrongdoings in a sensitive and responsible manner who have been trained in de-escalation and specialty-based outreach for mental health, substance abuse, child protection and truancy.

  Keep hiring them.  Hire more of them.

And then take a long look at your staff and the laundry list of offenses/complaints that have been leveled against officers who have been forgiven to such a degree that it becomes terrifying that level of ineptitude remains employed in an armed position.  (aka "You would fire someone for fucking up that much")  Make resources available and required for any cop that drives a squad and carries a gun to have rigorous and mandatory training and re-training annually as well as resources to address any and all mental health concerns officers may confront on the job.  Because it isn't easy and no one said it is.

Basically, start dumping the money into addressing mental health all over.

And then arrest the cops that killed Breonna Taylor.