Why Did the Police Fail Us?

Posted @ Nov. 29 2011 05:47AM by Michael A. Sand - city-beat

When the “Arab spring” protests were taking place last year in countries throughout the Middle East, Americans were horrified at the brutality shown by the police in many places where individuals were protesting peacefully. Turning on our evening news, we witnessed police using excessive force to attack unarmed citizens almost on a daily basis. That display of authoritative violence would not happen in America, we told each other. After all, our Constitution guarantees the right of peaceful protests.

Earlier in our history, Bull Conner used water hoses to injure citizens protesting for civil rights. Police killed four peaceful protestors at Kent State. And it is easy to recall the police riots in Chicago and other cities.

We told ourselves. “that was then and now is now.” In fact, there have been more than a few recent instances where the police acted responsibly when placed in like positions. In many hostage situations, for example, police are trained to reduce violence rather than causing it to exacerbate.

When the Occupy Wall Street movement occurred in cities throughout the world,

we expected the police in the United States to act responsibly. Of course, we knew that protestors would violate some laws. In many communities they wanted to interfere with traffic. In Harrisburg, they wanted to sleep in a park all night in violation of the law. In turn, we waited to see citizens who wanted to exercise their free speech rights negotiate with the police. It is, after all, the responsibility of police to protect the rights of citizens

as well as to enforce laws.

But the police let us down again… and again and again.

In Seattle, an 84-year lady was hit in the face. In other cities, veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan were beaten. At the University of California, Davis we were all appalled at the sight of police pepper-spraying unarmed citizens who were sitting on the ground in a circle singing. And in Harrisburg, police destroyed property of peaceful citizens.

I feel that not only is a clear example of police misconduct, but it is senseless and unAmerican. Invariably, police overreaction only leads to more citizens’ protest, and ultimately, more examples of police brutality.

We plead with the law enforcement community to come up with a system of compromise to protect our citizens. We all agree that individuals who shoot police or who put police in danger should be arrested. But surely, we can find a place for individuals to exercise their constitutional right to protest, can’t we? When the police decided to have a discussion with the Occupy Harrisburg protestors rather than destroying their property, an alternative location for the protestors was found at a local church.

As Rodney King said “Surely, we can all get along.”