By Mansfield Frazier
If the videotape from a convenience store in Ferguson, MO is to be believed — and I have no reason to doubt its authenticity — then 18-year-old Michael Brown (an unarmed African-American youth who was shot and killed by a white police officer) was a thug and a bully. And if there’s one type of human being I detest above all others, it’s a bully.
But with that said, if Brown had his hands raised in the air and was backing away from the officer at the time of the killing as witnesses are saying, he didn’t deserve to die for grabbing packages of cigars, and then menacing the store owner who confronted him. A jury, upon viewing the surveillance video, would most certainly have sent Brown to prison, which is where bullies that take other folks’ property by force belong. But it wasn’t a killing offense.
Of course we’ll never know what would have happened if the officer who confronted Brown minutes after the strong-arm robbery occurred had been black, but based on anecdotal evidence the young man, in all likelihood, would still be alive. All of the available evidence confirms that black officers are not near as trigger happy as white officers … no matter the race of the perpetrator they confront.
But the chances of a black officer confronting Brown in Ferguson would have been infinitesimally small since 50 of the 53 officers on that town’s force are white; this in a town that’s 67 percent black. And therein lies the majority of the problem in how policing is done in America.
White officers — in most cases — patrol black communities like they’re a part of an army of occupation; that’s why, according to USA Today, “Nearly two times a week in the United States, a white police officer killed a black person during a seven-year period ending in 2012.” And of course in virtually every case, no matter the circumstances, the killings are eventually ruled “justifiable.” No group could possibly be that perfect.
The article also stated, “The killings are self-reported by law enforcement and not all police departments participate so the database undercounts the actual number of deaths. Plus, the numbers are not audited after they are submitted to the FBI and the statistics on “justifiable” homicides have conflicted with independent measures of fatalities at the hands of police.” In other words, no one really knows how often such killings occur in America, and obviously no one in authority really cares.
But during the unrest that occurred after the seemingly senseless killing of Brown, images of Ferguson police officers in full riot gear, manning the gun turrets on military-style tanks, sent chills down the spines of all liberty-loving Americans. And it’s those images — which cry POLICE STATE in unmistakably loud and clear language — that just might provide the spark that ignites an uproar that just might bring about a change in how policing is carried out in America.
Images of dead black bodies are something the majority population is all to accustomed to seeing … and have by-and-large become inured to the carnage; but tanks that could impinge on their Constitutionally guaranteed freedoms, that could put their liberty in jeopardy are something else entirely.
It all began innocuously enough in the late 1980s when some Pentagon wonk figured out a way to make a few extra bucks by selling war-making weaponry to local police departments, but the program vastly accelerated after 9/11 and the establishment of the Department of Homeland Security. The overblown fear was that sleeper cells of foreign terrorists might be embedded in our society, just waiting for the right time to strike. But in the intervening years authorities have come to the logical conclusion that no such enemies exist on our soil, and additionally know that none will ever be discovered, since anyone who harbors jihadist views in this country is under constant government surveillance.
So having local police armed to the teeth makes no sense, but just let some arm of government — be it local, the state, or the feds — try to take these weapons back from police departments. Go ahead, just try and see what the results will be … and then realize who really is in charge in America.
The term POLICE STATE is by no means far-fetched.
It’s well known that too many police departments in America take an “us versus them” attitude towards the citizenry (be they black, brown or white) and always close ranks, circle the wagons and erect a blue wall of protection that can’t be penetrated … no matter how heinous the egregious actions of an officer. And therein lies the other major problem with how policing is carried out in this country.
But the conflict between the police and the populace doesn’t have to be acrimonious. In Ferguson, just when things were exploding, the governor called in Missouri Highway Patrol Capt. Ronald S. Johnson, a Ferguson native who is African-American, to take command, and he was immediately able to quell the disturbance while still allowing people to peacefully demonstrate.
“I’m not afraid to be in this crowd,” Capt. Johnson declared to reporters, and he proved it by walking among his neighbors, shaking hands and passing out hugs. This was community policing at its finest, and if we truly care to curtail violence on America’s inner-city streets, we’ve just witnessed how easily it can be accomplished.
Of course this won’t happen because there are still too many in this country that feel policing should be the exclusive province of white males, and until we override those notions nothing will change. Just take another look at the racial makeup of the Ferguson police department, and then you understand why Michael Brown is dead, instead of being alive and in custody — which is where he should be.
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://NeighborhoodSolutionsInc.com.
One Response to “MANSFIELD: Life in a Police State”
John Oney
Mansfield
Are we going to go through this again? A young black man is killed by the police, and we have months of racial animosity and rioting caused by the tragedy. This happens multiple times every summer, but we never see at any solutions that will prevent future deaths.
I have a suggestion for a specific change in police procedures that would save lives – including lives of young black men here in Cleveland. My suggestion does not depend on all forms of police racism (or black criminal behavior) being magically done away with.
Here are the facts: Michael Brown was unarmed, but he was nevertheless a huge threat to the Officer Darren Wilson. Brown was 6’4” and weighed almost 300 pounds. He also seems to have been enraged at Officer Wilson, if the reports are correct that he assaulted the Officer while Wilson was still in his patrol car.
Officer Wilson was armed with the stand-issue police 9mm semi-automatic side arm. Considering how dangerous a policeman’s job is, we cannot be surprised that he would be permitted to carry a firearm to protect himself and others. No doubt the Officer had a shotgun or other long-gun in the patrol car, but it was not readily reachable and could not be easily employed. So the Officer’s 9mm is what he had to resist Michael Brown’s attack.
As I write this, the last report was that Brown charged the Wilson, and Wilson fired 6 shots in an effort to stop the attack, killing Brown. No doubt Wilson would have been very afraid that Brown – so much bigger than he was – would take the 9mm away from him and use it. So the Officer (according to the evidence that supports his version of events) was justified in shooting Brown.
Now here is where I have a problem. Officer Wilson had to shoot Brown 6 TIMES(!) to get him to stop. If you have ever seen a 9mm, you know why this is. The bullet is rather small, and unless the first or second bullet hits some very lethal spot on the body (head, heart) the individual will keep coming and will not be “stopped” until a rather large number of bullets have been fired. Then, with so many bullets having been fired into the victim, the victim is almost guaranteed to die.
Here is my suggestion: Patrol officers such as Officer Wilson should be armed differently. Each officer should be provided with what I will call his “Impact Weapon.” This would be a short weapon similar to a sawed-off shotgun. It would have at least two rounds and be carried comfortably across the officer’s chest (in a sling) where it could be accessed instantly. The Impact Weapon would be loaded with rubber bullets, or perhaps with bean-bag bullets loaded with something lighter than lead but heavy enough to deliver a powerful impact. The purpose is to deliver a shock to the attacker, and thereby stop the attack, but do so in a way that the person is not likely to suffer a fatal injury. A rubber bullet shot at close range would have broken 2 of Brown’s ribs, but he would have been stopped – and he would be alive today.
Police officers will still need their 9mm side arms, because they often encounter criminals who have guns and are already using them on innocent people. But for un-armed attackers like Brown, the police should have an alternative weapon that will stop the attack without killing the attacker.
This change in police procedures would save the lives of many young black men. We will never know how Michael Brown might have turned his life around and become a happy, productive citizen all might be proud of – if only he had not been needlessly killed.
This suggestion could be tried right here in Cleveland for a modest cost. It would save lives not just among the men and women who are shot, but it would also prevent the Officer involved from being traumatized for life, subjected to attacks in the media, and possibly being prosecuted for a crime.
Avoiding the needless deaths of young black men will also help avoid damaging race relations here in Cleveland. It would show a sincere attempt by the City to find a less-lethal means of controlling an attacker who might be on drugs, mentally ill or simply despondent and attempting “suicide by cop.” From the standpoint of the City, issuing Impact Weapons to the police (after getting police buy-in on the equipment and tactics) would not be expensive, and could help the City avoid lawsuits and the resulting big cash settlements the City is often required to pay when a citizen is killed unnecessarily.
Mansfield, my phone number (but please don’t publish) is 216-233-0991.