As he prepares to leave his post as the Attorney General of the United States, Eric Holder sat for an exit interview with Politico, the powerhouse Washington political blog site. Interestingly enough, New York Police Commissioner William Bratton gave an interview to Esquire that came out during the same week.
The juxtaposition of the thoughts of these two men on policing in America — one, the head of the Justice Department for the last six years, and the other, a cop with perhaps the highest reputation of any law enforcement officer in the country —makes for enlightened reading … and offers insights that, if heeded, could have a tremendous impact on community/police relations, not only here in Cleveland, but across our nation.
Holder said that during his last few weeks in office he plans to push for a new, lower standard of proof for bringing civil-rights cases against cops accused of wrongdoing, saying that such a change would make the federal government “a better backstop” against discrimination in cases like Ferguson and Trayvon Martin. He could have added the Staten Island case of the strangulation of Eric Garner by a cop that wasn’t indicted, and perhaps even the case of Tamir Rice, which has yet to be adjudicated.
“I think that if we adjust those standards, we can make the federal government a better backstop — make us more a part of the process in an appropriate way to reassure the American people that decisions are made by people who are really disinterested,” he said. “I think that if we make those adjustments, we will have that capacity.”
Lowering the bar, in terms of when the feds could step in on a case of suspected police misconduct, would undoubtedly cause cops to rethink when they deem lethal force is required and necessary. As the situation now stands, local authorities give cops a tremendous amount of leeway and the benefit of the doubt when a killing of a civilian occurs.
And the logic behind such reasoning is understandable: They do a tough job under often difficult circumstances. However, what has happened in this country is that some cops have taken that shield which protects their actions and gone a bridge too far with it. They now feel they can act with reckless abandon and impunity, knowing that local prosecutors and judges will back them to the hilt, no matter how egregious their actions. A few cops — really a small percentage of them — now feel as if they have a license to kill, and to do so without consequences. Holder wants to change that.
The article stated, “Possible changes include toughening hate-crimes laws, which were under consideration in the Martin case, and establishing a broader standard for what constitutes a ‘deprivation of rights under color of law,’ the provision that could apply to the police shooting in Ferguson.”
Bratton, in his interview with Esquire alluded to the fact that in many cases of confrontation, “Time is on your side. Slow the situation down.” Of course this goes against what many cops claim … that they have to make split-second decisions on when to fire their weapons, but as recent history indicates they are too often wrong. In the case of Tamir Rice, no weapon was being pointed at the cop; in fact, the toy gun was still tucked in the 12-year-old’s waistband when he was killed.
He continued by stating, “[You have] to bridge the gap, you need to develop relationships. It’s something that has to be done very intimately, very personally.” This clearly sounds like a call for community policing, something Cleveland residents are now demanding with loud, clear voices.
Bratton related a story regarding his time as the chief of the Los Angeles police department. An African-American woman told him the reason the community supported his efforts was because, as she said, “You see us.”
“This goes back to the Bantu in Africa,” Bratton said in the interview. “You try to ‘see’ what’s going on. Same with the demonstrators — we might not like what fuels them, but you need to understand them to deal with them. It really is all about seeing each other.”
This type of cool, levelheaded policing would go a long way towards ameliorating the situation we find ourselves in here in Cleveland, and indeed the rest of the country. Two of America’s most experienced and respected men in law enforcement have spoken out eloquently … the question is, is anyone listening?
[Photo: Foreign and Commonwealth Office]
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.