By Mansfield Frazier
Now that the case of the officers who fired the 137 shots into a vehicle is in the hands of County Prosecutor Tim McGinty, it’s liable to get political real fast … if for no other reason than the first organization listed on his campaign literature when he was running for the job last year is the Cleveland Police Patrolman’s Association. This, of course, doesn’t mean that he can’t or won’t do a thorough and fair investigation that will lead to a strong presentation in front of a grand jury … he certainly has the resources at his command to do so.
But this nexus, this obviously cozy relationship between the prosecutor and the police union, does make many members of the black community understandably nervous and wary — and for good reason: Police have never been held accountable in the past, no matter how egregious their conduct … or how high the body count. The law enforcement establishment would have us believe officers have been right every time; that, indeed, they are always perfect in their conduct and behavior. Of course taking such a stance has proven to be a surefire way of avoiding a lawsuit, but does nothing to insure justice.
But no one should expect the calls for an outside, independent prosecutor (a team from the Department of Justice would do just fine) emanating from many individuals, groups and organizations to cease. The feeling the fox is guarding the chicken coop is too strong, and the opinion that … if the two dead people were members of any other racial group an outside prosecutor would have already taken over the investigation. Our sordid history in racial/legal/law enforcement matters is coming back to haunt us with a vengeance.
There’s a feeling extant in the national black community that fair play is something the majority culture feels is (or should be) reserved almost exclusively for whites; what else can account for such glaring disparities in how justice is administered in America?
It’s entirely possible that in spite of McGinty’s best efforts, a grand jury might not return any indictments; and also in spite of the fact the Rodney King case occurred more than 20 years ago and thousands of miles away, this outcome is still a distinct possibility. Things change very slowly in terms of reining in our country’s paramilitary police culture — if and when they change at all.
However, a grand jury’s failure to return any indictments, in the end, just might be a good thing; since the feds would have little choice at that juncture, they’d then be forced to step in, if for no other reason than to stem civil unrest.
The other part of the issue (bringing officers up on departmental charges) also grows more complicated by the calls from the police union for Chief McGrath to step down. While the chief finds himself in virtually an untenable position (between that classic rock and hard place) replacing him at this juncture will accomplish little, if anything. And there may be a way out of the dilemma.
If there were systemic failures on the night of the chase — and clear evidence exists (like no cars being equipped with spikes) that there were — they were decades in the making, and beyond the ability of any new chief to solve absent a complete overhaul of the department.
Additionally, firing McGrath would only be a symbolic move, but one that would allow for a shifting of blame onto the “system,” thus setting the table to absolve the officers of any misconduct. The message would then become “we changed the system by replacing the chief, so the problem is now solved.” But nothing could be further from the truth.
The problem is not with the chief but with the police culture (not only here but in many other cities across the country) and the union contact, which allows officers to feel they’re above the law. We have a Citizen’s Review Board, but it’s toothless … and now we suffer the results.
They’re so powerful they get away with making specious statements like they “simply want to go home safe at the end of their shifts” which on the surface sounds logical, reasonable, and fair … and then they go and engage in totally opposite behavior … becoming an out-of-control posse that bordered on a being a legal lynch mob.
There’s obviously something wrong with policing in this country: In Los Angeles, as the manhunt for ex-LAPD officer Christopher Dorner continues, two tragic incidents occurred. Police were on the lookout for the former cop gone rogue, who was driving a grey 2005 Nissan Titan pickup truck, when they spotted a newer, blue pickup truck of another model (carrying two women out delivering newspapers in the early morning hours) and opened fire on them. They fired 40 rounds, striking both women but, fortunately, neither of them was killed. A few minutes later, a few blocks away, two other officers opened fire on a black pickup truck but didn’t hit the driver.
Trigger-happy police officers don’t protect society; they are a threat to it.
And the public will continue to let officers have it both ways because their dog whistle message to the citizenry is “we’re keeping you safe from THEM, so it’s in your best interest to support and allow us to engage in this kind of behavior.” And that’s exactly why a grand jury might not return any indictments in the case at hand.
Their other fallback position is “he should not have fled.” This sounds very logical to the average citizen … or at least the average white citizen. The fact remains — in spite of Obama’s election — we still live in two Americas, one black and one white when it comes to policing and statistics continually bear this fact out, again with the body count.
Most blacks have had negative interactions with white police officers, and Timothy Russell (deranged though he probably was from booze and drugs) thought he was fleeing for his life … and considering the eventual outcome, he was proven to be right: stop immediately and risk getting shot, or flee and live for 22 minutes longer.
Chief McGrath should remain, but a trio of retired senior and respected police officers — both Ed Kovacic and Joe Sadie immediately come to mind — should be brought in and put in charge of meting out whatever sanctions (if any) officers might receive. In this way credibility is maintained and cops cannot say McGrath was simply covering his own ass.
No matter how this sick scenario plays out, Cleveland ends up with a huge black eye, and it got this shiner as a direct result of the nonsensical “War on Drugs.” If commonsense reforms to our drug laws had already been in place there would not have been a chase; and two individual’s lives (not to mention the careers of perhaps over a dozen police officers) would have been spared. Continuing down this current path is not only foolhardy, it’s downright dangerous to the body politic.
From Cool Cleveland correspondent Mansfield B. Frazier mansfieldfATgmail.com. Frazier’s From Behind The Wall: Commentary on Crime, Punishment, Race and the Underclass by a Prison Inmate is available again in hardback. Snag your copy and have it signed by the author by visiting http://www.neighborhoodsolutionsinc.com.