Cops And Race

Thus far I have avoided commenting on the shooting of Michael Brown and the subsequent events in Ferguson Missouri because so many people were saying so much about it that I did not see where I had anything to add. Obviously the shooting of an unarmed black man by a white police officer is going to raise questions about the racial attitudes of that officer, and the almost military response to protests are going to raise questions about the racial attitude of the entire police department. The recent rash of incidents in which police officers have killed unarmed black men is a rude awakening; it says we have not made as much progress as we thought we had in regard to racism.

I should like to point out, however, that the use of excessive force by police officers is not strictly a racial issue. I will grant you that black men are far more likely to be beaten or shot by police officers than are white men, but I can think of at least three fairly recent instances where police officers have used excessive force against white men. One of those instances happened close to home when sheriff's deputies sadistically beat and tased a man to death for running a stop sign and being frighteningly large. In fact, anyone who has studied it will tell you that law enforcement officers are macho guys who live in a dangerous physical world. They have to use force far too often, and they will get out of hand if you do not keep an eye on them. While I certainly do not want to unreasonably increase the risks they face every day, I do think that we often give them too much leeway in regard to not holding them accountable when they go too far! Policies, procedures, and behavior should be reviewed frequently, and in the case of departments where there are too many instances of questionable behavior on the part of its officers some outside agency should be called in investigate and make changes.