Enough

At least in North Carolina, a police officer’s authority to use deadly force comes down to defense of self or others. It’s not really that simple but for purposes of this post it’ll work. Bore Patch posted this and this. Vin Suprynowicz posted this. New Orleans police officers opened fire on unarmed civilians during the Katrina clusterfuck then tried to cover it up. They failed. El Reno Oklahoma police officers used a Tazer on an eighty-something year old bedridden woman because she took an aggressive stance toward them…ten of them. Las Vegas PD officers carried out a drug raid for marijuana and took a resident into custody. As ordered, he was on his knees and raising his hands when he was shot in the head by one of the officers. The reason given? He made a furtive movement. The use of the Tazer, I’d argue was a potential use of deadly force when used on an infirm eighty year old. I also argue it was unjustified with ten officers on hand. I feel the same about the other incidents. the scale of the New Orleans incident makes it unusual but incidents such as the use of the Tazer and the shooting of the suspect are happening way too often.

There are always some bad seed, but most police officers are hard working, upstanding citizens whose goal is to provide protection for the citizens for whom they work. The problem as I see it is that most police officers out there see themselves apart from those they serve. It’s encouraged in basic law enforcement training and law enforcement culture. Those they serve are “civilians” and the police aren’t. That and the ongoing militarization of the police have built a wall between us and them. When that happens it’s easier to justify their actions and use of force by citing officer safety. When the officer’s safety is more important than that of those they serve you have improper uses of the Tazer, search warrants served with SWAT teams, firearms drawn in situations where they may not be needed, and /or a finger on the trigger when the use of deadly force isn’t justified. And then people die. The police aren’t held accountable [and they aren’t, not to the degree they should be] and ill will and distance increases. It has too change. If it doesn't the endgame will be interesting times for us all, and then more people, on both sides, will die.