This
one’s going to be a bit controversial in much the same way a hurricane is a bit
destructive. Ok? Here it goes. Let’s talk about the current state of law enforcement
in the United States. In one generation, we’ve gone from “Andy Griffith to
Papers Please”. As the title suggests, the state of law enforcement has shifted
from serving and protecting to ENFORCEMENT! The title makes reference to the
Andy Griffith Show and Nazi Germany’s Gestapo. See, told you it was going to be
a “bit” controversial.
In this beloved TV
show (that’s the Andy Griffith Show, not Nazi Germany) the main character Andy
Taylor, played by Andy Griffith, is a small town sheriff. Maybe Andy Griffith
couldn’t remember any other name but his own for the main character. Don’t
know, just a thought. Anyway, like most small towns, everyone knows everybody’s
business and all know the sheriff. However, unlike much of what’s portrayed by
Hollywood, the town sheriff wasn’t the badass, gun fighting, get results while
not following the rules, aka pretty much any Clint Eastwood character, you
might expect.
Instead, he
solved community problems and yes sometimes crimes with his faithful sidekick,
deputy Barney Fife, played by the always hilarious Don Knotts. The Sheriff did
this without a gun and while deputy Barney Fife did carry a gun he only had one
bullet and he kept that in his shirt pocket! They cared more about their
community and keeping the peace then just enforcing the law.
This is where
law enforcement has taken a wrong turn. Let me be clear here, I don’t blame the
individual officers who are out front every day, often putting their lives on
the line. I blame their training. I blame the current law enforcement culture adopted
after 9/11. That is to say, law enforcement as enforcers of the law and NOT
public servants dedicated to protecting and serving the communities they live
in.
So, instead of
having community oriented public servants patrolling the streets in an effort
to keep the citizens safe from the “bad guys”, that’s the serve and protect
part, we now have professionals dedicated to enforcing the law, that’s the “papers
please” bit. The cops demand obedience and immediate compliance with them,
period. This attitude may, but I kind of doubt it, keep us safe from the “bad
guys”. Either way, it does encourage the average person on the street see the
police as threatening.
If you think not,
watch what happens on the highway when drivers see a cop sitting on the side of
the road. They all hit the brakes. It doesn’t matter if anyone was speeding. Why
hit the brakes like Charlee Sheen hitting the smack? They’re afraid of any
confrontation with the cops, of course. And why should they think there’d be any
confrontation, let alone be afraid? Because “we the people” have lost faith in
law enforcement.
We no longer see
cops as the public servants they’re supposed to be, but as enforcers of the law
watching and waiting for us, the average Joe, to screw up so they can crack
heads like Judge Dread on an adrenaline rush. This may not be fair to them and
most certainly isn’t true, but I’m not sure that matters. Perception is
important. What we “see” isn’t what’s actually happening, but what we perceive it
to be.
This creates
fear! Unfortunately, when we’re afraid, we react one of two ways. The “fight or
flight” instinct. We flee, as seen in Dallas as the protesters ran from the
gunfire like gazelles from tigers stalking the heard in the tall grass. Or, when
cornered and with no other option, we fight. I don’t condone climbing tall
buildings and ambushing cops from sniper nests, but I think we can look at this
incident as “a canary in the coal mine” test. Sure, these killers don’t represent
you or I. However, I do think they show how wide the gulf is between us, the average
citizen, and the police; how big the distrust is between us and them. There shouldn’t
be an “us vs. them”. After all, they are us, just in uniform.
And on the cop’s
side, the problem with this attitude towards the job? It makes the police see
all of us as suspect if not downright criminals who just haven’t been caught,
yet. The cops are killing people who aren’t doing anything that warrants death.
Maybe the suspect resists arrest. So what? Fight back and take them down. Yes,
you might get banged up a bit, but that’s part of the job. You’re there to take
the abuse so that we don’t have too. Instead, cops are shooting citizen. True,
we hear about the black citizens, but citizens of every color are being killed
by cops. Let’s not forget that important bit of information.
If we let this
trend continue, eventually we’ll have all out warfare between us and the cops. As
the horrific attacks on the police in Dallas show, the worst of us are already
armed and willing to kill. Even if this was only in response to the police
shootings in Louisiana and Montana, and I doubt that most vehemently, it’s
still the beginning. It shows just how frustrated the average citizen has
become with law enforcement and where, if we don’t change course, we are
headed.
Both sides, the
cops and “we the people” need to dial back the rhetoric and step outside the
current situation. Yes, cops appear (and it is only the perception, not the
truth) to be hunting down and killing black people with little to no provocation.
However, this perception (re-read paragraph 7 about how important perception
is) can be changed. Cops must adopt an “Andy Griffith Show” attitude toward
their job and drop the “papers please” part that encourages the us vs. them mentality
we currently operate in. If not, the “slippery slope” we’re racing down will
destroy us all, cops and citizens alike.
The U.S.
Attorney General, Loretta Lynch, said earlier today, “Don’t let violence be the
new normal”. If she wants that, she needs to change law enforcements attitude
from “enforcement” to “serve and protect”. Maybe she could arm cops with Tasers
in addition to guns and train the cops to use less than lethal weapons first. Whatever
it is, it has to start with her, but we must do our part as well. As the “average”
citizen, we have to trust that the cops are here to help. That they are not a
threat. We can cooperate with them, even if they make us feel violated. And,
maybe most importantly, we must not let their attitude toward us define how we
interact with them.
As always, this
is just my opinion, you could be wrong!
