Kenneth L. Hardin, Salisbury, N.C.
♦ With the release of the most recent video of another police officer gunning down an unarmed Black man, Black folk are tired, angry, upset and frustrated. This video played more like a hunting scene on the Animal Planet channel rather than an officer sworn to protect and serve. This is recurring with such frequency; patience and tolerance levels are all but depleted.
Interspersed with hash tags screaming out that #Black Lives Matter and #No Justice-No Peace, there are more ominous ones I’ve read urging people to start arming themselves to retaliate against what they call sanctioned gangs doing little protecting and even less serving. In a discussion last week with one of our City Council members, I shared that over the past several months; some of my close Chamber Colleagues and I have dissuaded and talked down identical rhetoric amongst young people feeling the same frustrations here.
How many times does the ball have to be pulled away from Charlie Brown before he decides to kick Lucy in a fit of frustrated rage? Retributive justice is not justice. The popular quote, “An eye for an eye leaves everyone blind” is strongly applicable. We need vision and visionaries to step in and ask for calm, but it seems like people are only concerned to the extent of how much it impacts their sensibilities. We’ve got to think and act on a much deeper level. I’m angry and frustrated too. My perception of law enforcement was colored by Ferguson and NYC last year. It was chromatically muted much more recently when my son was pulled over here and issued a citation and hefty fine for failing to turn on his headlights. I fail to see how enforcing that ordinance strengthened any bonds or garnered trust?
I’m not anti-law enforcement. I’ve worn a badge before. I’m anti-poor law enforcement and against dishonorable officers that create the environment where people feel they can’t trust cops and instead want to engage in misguided retaliatory actions. Blind loyalty in any case is disingenuous and dangerous. Officers should not be held to such a lofty and exalted place that people can’t speak out or offer constructive criticism without fear of retaliation or reprisal. This should be welcomed by those in service related positions whether you’re serving French fries, holding a political office or carrying a gun for your job. We’ve heard the familiar refrain about how dangerous the police officer role is but last I checked, there was not a mandatory law enforcement draft. I hear repeatedly how we should not paint all officers with the same brush because of the actions of a few rotten ones. Well, I ask that you put the brush down and stop painting all Black men the same color too.
After the video aired, I went back into my email archives and re-read many of the angry, hate filled messages I’ve received from people who used their right to free speech to engage me in abhorrent and indignant dialogue. I was labeled as everything from a pot stirrer, race agitator and other things decent folks don’t repeat in a respected publication. I wondered if after watching the video and seeing how the SC Officer concocted an implausible explanation to justify his killing, did any of the writers have any difficulty swallowing that crow?
I found no joy in the slight feeling of vindication that this heinous act was caught on video. What immediately came to mind was that in the 23 year interim since the Rodney King beating was captured on tape, why haven’t we progressed in this area? It saddened me to wonder how many more of the other killings may have been a result of faux fear and falsely concocted explanations.
I applaud the issuance and use of body cameras, but let’s go beyond a device that only allows us to view these heinous crimes in stereo. In the last few months, Officers in St Louis, New Orleans and Daytona Beach have turned their body cameras off while still engaging in illegal acts. So, to put all the eggs in this basket as the solution is naïve and an empty long term solution.
Why not be more strategically proactive and put the emphasis on eliminating the inclination to engage in the illegal behavior? Throw out the standard playbook tactic of yelling fear and teach officers better crisis and conflict management skills. Teach Officers to lean less on the ego driven, authoritarian aspect of their role and adopt one more rooted in relationship building through understanding, respecting and valuing the people they are sworn to protect and serve. Instead of believing in flawed and embellished explanations, develop protocol different from accepting the same trite and blanket excuse for these murders. The easiest first step is to not investigate your own.
If you don’t take the time to get to know the people you serve, how can you honestly serve them? If the people you serve don’t feel like you care or respect them, why should they care to distinguish the good from the bad? Perception is reality, but there seems to be a lot of vision problems abound.
