Over the course of the last few years we have seen video of too many innocent people getting killed by police. At this point, a reasonable person inserts the sentence that "most police are good people and do their jobs." This is true. However, the destruction of trust that events such as the shootings in St. Paul, MN and Baton Rouge, LA hinder any effort to make the streets of our communities safer. In Chicago, past false confessions brought on by brutal police abuse and the video of an innocent victim, Laquan McDonald being murdered by a police officer, have severed any connection of trust many residents have with the police.
Why did this happen? In almost all cases, a bad police officer wanted to be a hero, took procedure into their own hands and decided to be a rogue. In the aftermath, their colleagues are left dealing with the community relations problems and the citizens are dealing with the breakdown of order on their streets. In Chicago, we are seeing this manifest itself in a huge increase in shootings. Police morale is said to be at an all time low here and in other American cities. There are two sides to improving morale. We need to realize that police are citizens, like us, and not ostracize people in uniform. On the other hand, police forces across the country have to tackle and eliminate the glorification of the "Dirty Harry" lone officer. Policing is a team effort, not the purview of a lone dispenser of their view of justice.
Also, there are way too many guns on our streets. With too many people, with too many agendas using them. Vigilante justice is completely Un-American. We have glorified the myth of the Wild West. People taking the law and justice into their own hands is completely unacceptable. It was wrong of a person to take a rifle and start shooting police officers in Dallas, TX for the crimes of other officers in other cities. It is wrong for an individual to shoot another person on the streets of our major cities, because of the perceived injustice of getting "dissed" on social media. Yes, that is the reason many shootings take place in the United States.
Unfortunately, we hear the "dog whistle" of "it takes a good guy with a gun to stop a bad guy with a gun" as a defense of the right to own firearms in the United States. On CBS Face the Nation this weekend, the police chief of Dallas, TX gave this clear insight, "In the fog of a firefight, it is impossible to know the good guys from the bad guys." Having more guns on the streets of the United States, one for every man, woman and child has turned too many places into shooting galleries. We need to start getting guns off the streets and make them far less available. We have to stop merchandising the message that there was a better time and place when people took the law into their own hands with a gun. The history of the United States, particularly as we moved west is replete with lawlessness and injustice done at the point of the gun. It is not a mentality or a time that should receive esteem and glory.
In Chicago, there are citizens banding together to work with other neighbors such as Mother's Against Senseless Killing (MASK). While the founder of this group Tamar Manasseh is a hero, she realizes that peace is a team sport. We need to realize that our safety, and the future of our society is a team sport. Don't expect government to makes streets safe. Get to know your neighbors, hold events to build community. Do the peaceful outreach. Let's celebrate the pronouns of We, Us and Our and downplay the pronouns of I, Me and My. Law and order, justice and social justice cannot be achieved when a a rogue goes vigilante. Peace only happens when we act together.
No comments:
Post a Comment