Legalized Murder or Uniformed Redneck Target Practice
The Facts (as known so far):
Someone calls the police and says two young black men robbed them and took their wallets. 3 or more policemen respond and see two young black men, late teens or early 20’s who seem like they might be the culprits. They surround the two young men with guns drawn and scream as loud as they can for them to put their hands up. They do. One of them, at some point panics, bolts and runs away as fast as he can run, is shot 4 times in the back, and dies in the hospital.
The investigation of the police behavior at this point is going to be the local Sheriff department, the least professional of any police group. If this follows the usual pattern, some two years down the road when the incident is mostly forgotten, the police officers will be acquitted of any crime. ‘Nobodies’ are still expendable. Perhaps it will go to civil court, the taxpayers will be out millions of dollars, and the most diverse ethnic, cultural, and religious nation in the world will continue the trend to become a cauldron of hate—each group toward the other —matching the revengefulness of a Middle East nation.
The police officers claim he had a gun. The video shows, if he did, he never pulled it out—just bolted. The problems here are numerous and despicable. A minor robbery has been reported, and the police stop two suspects. These are black teenagers or young adults, that’s about all the police know (or I know). Our government has put police in a terrible bind. In the past if someone has a gun, that gave police a green light to shoot to protect themselves. Today, concealed guns in public are perfectly legal, so the police can no longer shoot someone who they see or sense might have a gun. Why would any policemen, properly trained, start screaming at two young men with their guns drawn and the kids are standing there with their hands in the air? Their verbal behavior from the get-go was bound to get hormones flowing at a maximum level in everyone’s system. Young people at that age are perfectly capable of dumb behavior when scared. Apparently, so are some policemen. As is common place these days the whole incident is on video tape via bystanders and police cams.
I personally feel anyone who runs from the police in situations like this should get a jail term for running, whether they committed any crime or not. People should not run from the police and the police have no need to start screaming at suspects when their hands are up and they are cooperating. Shooting a kid in the back running at full speed to get away is simply senseless murder. He could easily be picked up later and given jail time for running away from the police. There was no reason for any screaming at any point in this situation.
The police who shot the kid in the back have no business being policemen. They should be fired and given jail time for their actions. Policemen need to be professionals, and those who cannot, should be fired and in this case get serious jail time for needless murder.
Why is it so hard to draw up strict rules for police and citizen behavior during police apprehension situations? There is no need for screaming by either party and that itself should draw a fine. Being aware that someone has, or might have, a gun is no longer a valid reason for the police to shoot anyone. The government can hardly make guns legal and then claim if the police are aware you have a gun they can shoot you. The police have good cause to feel threatened when they are asked to police a public that is often now well armed, in many cases better armed than the police. These bad policeman are directly responsible for an exponential rise in angry citizens killing policeman, often by minority citizens, who are tired of the endless prejudice against them. A couple of years ago a white policeman pulled over a young black for a tail light infraction. The black informed the policeman that he was carrying legal hand gun. The policeman asked to see his license. When the black reached into his pants pocket for his wallet the policeman shot him to death in front of the passenger in the car, claiming he thought the man was reaching for his gun. All the cop got was a short suspension.
We need a federal standard of conduct for police and citizens in these situations and a federal panel which decides who gets fined or jailed for what misconduct. All citizens and policemen need be bound by the same rules nationwide. Calm civilized talk, no name calling, threatening, demeaning anyone by either party is permitted and the fines stiff. If a suspect bolts and runs requiring later apprehension for a minor infraction of the law, jail time is automatic. If the person or persons apprehended are in the process of shooting others, then of course the police can shoot to protect other citizens.
It is always good to remember that all ethnic groups living in our ghettoes are far more likely to commit crimes and be violent. That includes all ethnic groups (including whites) who live in urban, suburban, and rural ghettoes. Endless studies, for example, demonstrate that blacks who grow up in affluent neighborhoods do just as well in school and are no more likely to commit crimes than the white people who live in that neighborhood. Thus, painting a genetic basis for bad behavior is simply ignorance—prejudicial ignorance. Another blood spilling civil war is the most likely outcome of the present cultural situation in our country. As I say over and over, it is got going to be a civil war with uniformed soldiers fighting battles on a battlefield. No, the battlefield in any coming civil war is going to be in everybody’s neighborhood with no uniformed soldiers except the police and army. We are well suited now to behave like they do in the middle east with organized roving bands of angry citizens behaving like the Vietnamese did in our military invasion of Vietnam. Hit and run, first here and then there. In all these military adventures, our military might could not be everywhere, and even when somewhere, our soldiers had little awareness of exactly which citizens were the enemy. The same kind of wars were fought in Iraq, Afghanistan, Somalia, numerous countries in South America, etc. Now it seems we are setting ourselves up for the same kind of conflict in our own country. It is just sad and there will be no winners. The situation is dire right now and will remain dire no matter who wins the next Presidential election. After a news article on the internet where comments are permitted, almost all the comments are simply vile highly emotional name calling insults instead of any logical input to the subject matter at hand. I suppose all of us, to varying degrees are guilty of this, but the level of this hate is over the top now and very prevalent.
The best teachers learn not to prejudge any student because of their race, culture, religious preference, sexual preference, dress, or rough edged appearance. In fact, the more different a student appears, the greater the effort needed to make them feel comfortable in our midst. Most of the time, when some minority expects the worst and gets the fairest and kindest treatment, they will respond in kind. A good cop, and there are many of them, once those two kids had their hands in the air when calmly told to do so, the conversation would have been calming, not hysterical—explaining that they need be questioned a bit about a theft in the area. Why is that so hard?
Of course police often become hardened about those living in our ghettoes. After all, if kids are raised like animals with bars on windows and doors, trapped like cages, with it unsafe to venture out, many will end up behaving like animals by the time they are young adults. The damage is done and the police see the results daily. There are no easy ways to make police feel differently. The best we can do is make these bad apples in the police force understand that if they don’t treat suspects with the proper demeanor, they can no longer be policeman and will be held responsible for senseless killings. The onus is on the police to get citizens of all ilk to trust them, not expect those living in our ever worsening deplorable ghettoes to trust the police. They often learn to trust no one in such living environments.
Every time, while traveling to and from a theatre in the evening, when I get disoriented as to how to get to the El train stop, and I ask assistance from potential ‘bad ass young people’ I have been amazed at their response. Once I couldn’t figure out which direction to head to get to the theatre and the only person around was some young black teenager, pants at half mast, rough looking features, leaning up against a wall. “Young man, I need your advice, which way do I go on this street to get to such and such a street?” He looked around, “You talking to me?” “sure, you look like you would know the answer” He pointed the direction for me to go. About two blocks down I suddenly hear someone running up behind me. It was him and I thought the worst. Out of breath he says “I told you wrong, you need go the opposite direction.” “My friend, it is really kind of you to run two blocks to correct things. This idiot here may have gotten totally lost” I reached in my pocket and pulled out $5 for his help. He wouldn’t take it. “You cool man, no white man ever asks me anything, you be careful out here.” And off he went. It makes one think about the nature of ethnic relationships.
Another time I couldn’t remember the way back to the El around 11PM and this lone tall young black guy comes walking down the sidewalk. “Say chief, am uncertain which way to go to get to the El station. You look like the man with answers.” “You got to make a few turns to get on the right street to the El Station.” He starts to explain, then says, “Look, you come with me, I will walk you to the right street.” And he did. Another time I was uncertain and came across two young women, one black and one white getting into their car. They gave me directions and said “go this way and after three blocks turn left and that will take you to the El Station”. So I did and when I got to were I should turn left there they were in their car double parked. “You didn’t go very far” I remarked, and they smiled and said:
“Just wanted to make sure you turned at the right corner”
The whole point of babbling about such minor interactions is to illustrate that most people, of every ethnic background, are perfectly capable of empathetic interactions with each other given the proper national leaders. Given the diversity which prevails in this country today, there is no hope if tolerance and empathy is blocked by fear, prejudice, and hate. There is no hope if a large percentage of our citizens are left living in ghettoes which are becoming more and more deplorable with every passing year, with a President who actually encourages everyone to talk and act toward others as he himself has his whole life. What is happening in this country right now, at an exponential rate, is rapidly reaching a point of no return. Perhaps we are already past that point. Any illusion that our species is any kind of end point to the evolutionary process seems to be collapsing. Our species is too violent and our ethics (the Golden Rule) overwhelmed by greed for money, power over others, and intolerance for diversity. It would be interesting to envision what will be the reality of our planet—say a thousand years from now, but predicting the future is way beyond human intellectual capability. Our world is the now, and we all have a front row seat. All in all, I would rather listen to the Louvin Brothers, watch T.O. play football, cook a good meal, read about history and unique individuals from the past, and wander around solo contemplating the people and nature I encounter en route. Nothing makes me more contented than thinking that I really understand this or that. Of course I don’t always really understand, and like everyone else I don’t even know what my batting average is for correct understanding.
Even my fading years are interesting as long as I can manage to go gently down the stream to oblivion. Losing control over our own lives and abilities is not all bad given the need for relief from all the intensity of our productive years. At least for me, turning the baton over to the next generation, has been welcome enough.. Enough is enough for everything, including our own efforts during our prime time in existence. It is all simple enough—we begin to tire, Father Time starts catching up with us, and if we are smart, we accept the inevitableness of death as a consequence of being born. Death, after all, is the one event in everyone’s life which brings a permanent peace with no stresses ever again. Fair enough. No, I don’t fear going to hell. What kind of God would allow so many individuals to be born with a horrible genetic hand and/or coupled with a terrible environment for their nervous system to mature during their formative years? Evolution works, but requires diversity as a mechanism to help it work and this generates a lot of victims en route whose chance for some contentment depends exclusively on the number of people who use the Golden Rule as the basis for their behavior toward those less fortunate.
Yesterday I helped a frail old lady to cross the street as an act of kindness. When we got across the street she was mad as hell. She didn’t want to go across the street. No, that didn’t really happen, but if anyone could pull such a stunt I guess it might be me. Aside from sometimes being a bag of wind, I, am, more often, a bag of surprises.
Lincoln once said, “Die when I may, I want it said of me by those who know me best, that I have always plucked a thistle and planted a flower where I thought a flower would grow.” I always had that in mind at the start of every semester. Lincoln was a tad more successful than I.
