Post-Ferguson Police Response To Protests?
Radley Balko asks, "After Ferguson, how should police respond to protests?" in the WaPo, first nutshelling what went on there:
An unarmed black man was killed by a (reportedly) white police officer who had stopped him as he was walking home. The police have since refused to release the officer's name. They've said they have no intention of releasing the autopsy performed on Michael Brown. Police Chief Thomas Jackson refused to even say how many shots were fired at Brown. (He claimed he didn't know, though that would be pretty easy to figure out.) Though the police department has body cameras, it hasn't required its officers to actually wear them. All of this only adds to perception of a Ferguson Police Department that is detached, unaccountable, opaque, and unconcerned with how it is perceived by the community it serves. (Gassing, arresting, and threatening journalists doesn't help with the perception that they feel they're above transparency.) The police then showed up at a peaceful protest with military vehicles and weapons. If a town's citizens are reminded over and over again that the law has no respect for them, we shouldn't be surprised if they begin to lose respect for the law. This isn't an excuse for the looting and rioting. But it does contextualize what we've seen.This raises a question I've seen on Twitter and Facebook from a number of people -- how should police respond to protest? And how should they respond when protests turn violent?
One of the pioneers of community policing -- a form of policing that stresses interaction over reaction, deescalation over brute force, and that police should have a stake in the communities they serve --is Jerry Wilson, who was appointed police chief for Washington, D.C. in 1969. Wilson was of course appointed during a very turbulent time in America, and he took office just after the riots following the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. had ripped the city apart. But Wilson went to great pains to recruit police officers from the city's residents, and to try to make the police force more reflective of the city. He also took a much different approach to protest. I interviewed Wilson for my recent book on police militarization. Here's a passage from the section about Wilson's approach to protest:
Wilson believed that an intimidating police presence didn't prevent confrontation, it invited it. That didn't mean he didn't prepare, but he put his riot control teams in buses, then parked the buses close by, but out of sight of protesters. Appearances were important. In general, instead of the usual brute force and reactionary policing that tended to pit cops against citizens--both criminal and otherwise--Wilson believed that cops were more effective when they were welcomed and respected in the neighborhoods they patrolled. "The use of violence," he told Time in 1970, "is not the job of police officers."It's worth noting that during Wilson's tenure, not only did Washington, D.C. not see the level of rioting and protest violence we saw in other parts of the country, crime actually fell in the city, even as it soared across the rest of the country.
Balko notes something important at the end, about Wilson and other of his ilk that he uses as examples in his piece:
Note the contrast between that and the approaches recommended by Geron, Burbank, Couper, Stamper, and Wilson. They all pit police officers not as enforcers, but as servants. Their primary function isn't to impose order, but to preserve and protect the rights of citizens. In a strictly academic sense, preserving order and protecting rights are the same thing. Operationally, they're radically different approaches to policing.
Oh, and about the "militarization" of police, via BoingBoing, via Storify, the military consensus via some tweets: "if this is militarization, it's the shittiest, least-trained, least professional military in the world, using weapons far beyond what they need, or what the military would use when doing crowd control."
More on that from Walter Olson at Cato who says the response in Ferguson "will be cited for years to come as a what-not-to-do manual for police forces":
Why armored vehicles in a Midwestern inner suburb? Why would cops wear camouflage gear against a terrain patterned by convenience stores and beauty parlors? Why are the authorities in Ferguson, Mo. so given to quasi-martial crowd control methods (such as bans on walking on the street) and, per the reporting of Riverfront Times, the firing of tear gas at people in their own yards? (" 'This my property!' he shouted, prompting police to fire a tear gas canister directly at his face.") Why would someone identifying himself as an 82nd Airborne Army veteran, observing the Ferguson police scene, comment that "We rolled lighter than that in an actual warzone"?...The dominant visual aspect of the story, however, has been the sight of overpowering police forces confronting unarmed protesters who are seen waving signs or just their hands.
One answer? Follow the money. Olson writes: "Federal grants drive police militarization."
If you have equipment, you're likely to use it -- whether or not that actually makes sense.
What the truly tough guys think about Ferguson.
Try and understand how close this came to no cultural impact whatsoever.
After all…
Crid [CridComment at Gmail] at August 14, 2014 10:43 PM
…After all, Twinkletoes had the time of his life.
Crid [CridComment at Gmail] at August 14, 2014 10:44 PM
Finding an issue on which Vox Day and PZ Myers agree is tantamount to a Bigfoot sighting, but both have called the police "militarized thugs" (not just in Ferguson, but in general throughout the US).
Rex Little at August 14, 2014 11:12 PM
"That didn't mean he didn't prepare, but he put his riot control teams in buses, then parked the buses close by, but out of sight of protesters."
Yeah, and at the 1999 WTO riots is Seattle the chief of police (a liberal Democrat) did the same thing. And what happened? The little black-flaggers from Eugene, Olympia, and Capital Hill took it as an invitation to riot. Guess what, in the middle of a 50,000 strong anti-WTO protest, and a black-flag riot, it took the cops forever to get where the riot was happening. Plus, the little shits could see the cop buses coming from blocks away, letting them get away.
Amy, guess what, one size does not fit all.
David Crawford at August 14, 2014 11:23 PM
State Troopers sans riot gear and armored vehicles seems to have helped out there Thursday night.
I think most people would be a lot less upset about an officer walking up and having a normal conversation then one in riot gear shouting through a bullhorn.
drcos at August 15, 2014 3:56 AM
The increasingly-paramilitary mindset is one reason I quit being an LEO, now almost 2 decades ago.
One size does not fit all, indeed - no truer words were spoken on the matter. But that concept goes both ways. When LEOs show up dressed, armed and conditioned for a very violent confrontation, perhaps we should not be so surprised when that is what they get. There is such a thing as instigation.
If some moke I don't know comes running towards me, carrying a club and a gun, wearing a helmet and covering his face to prevent me from identifying who he is, he (and you) should not be surprised if my responsive reaction is highly defensive, and possibly violent. In the instant case, just because the moke has the word 'Police' written on his coat doesn't automatically assure me of his good intentions - since the very reason I'm out on the street is to protest the excessive force that police officers have used on others.
Sure, there's been a some violence against property, and some looting. But nobody who's seen the footage coming out of Ferguson really has any doubt that most of the police activity up to this point has been directed at trying to contain and limit public protest - to keep people off the streets and intimidate them into staying indoors and keeping their opinions to themselves. You don't stop looting with tear gas, baton rounds and APCs with snipers. Even in Missouri, the use of deadly force is not justified in response to petty larceny and MDOP. The police went out prepared for a riot, and nothing else. No surprise that that is just what they got.
I don't know the answer to situations like this. But if I were in charge, I think I would be looking for ways to temporarily disempower the local police department, and to place public order in the hands of disinterested but highly-trained enforcers. The local police are the perceived cause of the problem, it is only just short of insanity to leave them the task of maintaining public order in the aftermath. A couple of companies of MO NG just back from a tour in the sandbox would probably do a fine job - especially since they would do, just exactly as they were told, plus they are likely to have a much more diverse headcount than the local PD. Dress them appropriately (seeing those fat-ass local coppers all decked out in their battle-rattle is just plain laughable), make them answerable to the Governor or even to the Feds, and publish their ROE, and make them stick to it. No helmets, no MRAPs, no 50-calibers, no sniper rifles, no ghillie suits, no sap gloves, no bundles of plastic handcuffs hanging from the belt.
There might still be issues - but it can't be any worse than what there is now.
llater,
llamas
llamas at August 15, 2014 4:08 AM
Reporter Wesley Lowery's account of media arrests -- while they were sitting in McDonald's, charging their phones:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/in-ferguson-washington-post-reporter-wesley-lowery-gives-account-of-his-arrest/2014/08/13/0fe25c0e-2359-11e4-86ca-6f03cbd15c1a_story.html
Amy Alkon at August 15, 2014 5:54 AM
What a cluster. Yeah, the Ferguson police are a bunch of five-year-olds playing army, with real guns. That said, a few things:
1. St. Louis is the armpit of the Midwest. The Arch and the baseball stadium have succeeded in putting a pretty face on a Detroit-like level of decay. Ferguson is not inner city -- it's right next to the airport, and only a couple of miles away from one of Boeing's largest installation.
2. The community response is out of proportion to the original incident. Four nights of rioting? Really? Some reports I've read have it that Brown went after the officer's gun. That makes it combat, and the only goal in combat is to survive, by whatever means necessary. I really hope the state attorney general and/or the FBI are going to take over the investigation so we can find out what really happened.
3. Jerry Wilson did not have to contend with communities full of people who firmly believe that other people's rights are an intolerable imposition upon their own rights.
4. You do realize that the QT owner's insurance policy will not pay, right? All insurance policies have exclusions for acts of war and civil disorder. That guy is screwed.
5. Did I mention that St. Louis is the armpit of the Midwest?
Now, none of this lets the police force off the hook for a moment. On the other hand, the police reaction doesn't excuse the "fine citizens" of Ferguson either. Maybe they deserve each other.
Cousin Dave at August 15, 2014 6:23 AM
"Federal grants drive police militarization."
That and civil forfeiture. The city council is not likely to pay for such toys out of their budget. They need to buy votes for themselves...
I R A Darth Aggie at August 15, 2014 6:27 AM
The community response (looting a shoe store and others) and the police response (we don't need no stinkin' accountability) isn't quite enough to inflame everyone, so let's pump it up a bit with this morning's CNN main-US page headline (although it might have changed by now):
Why Do Whites Run Mostly Black Town?
Yeah, totally not pimpin' the tragedy with complete disregard for the impact. Not at all.
Gog_Magog_Carpet_Reclaimers at August 15, 2014 6:39 AM
> The community response is out of proportion
> to the original incident. Four nights of
> rioting? Really?
How many nights of rioting would be advisable for the brutal, abject and hushed murder of, say, your son?
Crid [CridComment at Gmail] at August 15, 2014 9:39 AM
"How many nights of rioting would be advisable for the brutal, abject and hushed murder of, say, your son?"
Zero. I'd choose a course of action that might actually stand a chance of doing some good, and not destroy the property of innnocent bystanders. I have absolutely no sympathy for rioters, no matter what their "cause".
Cousin Dave at August 15, 2014 9:52 AM
Michael Brown Was A Member Of The Ultraviolent ‘Bloods’ Street Gang
http://patdollard.com/2014/08/meet-the-real-michael-brown-violent-gun-toting-gangbanger/
Snoopy at August 15, 2014 10:17 AM
Very predictable - photos released of Michael Brown robbing store before shooting:
http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2014/08/breaking-photos-released-of-suspect-michael-brown-robbing-store-before-shooting/
Snoopy at August 15, 2014 10:18 AM
The press sort of did the same thing in the Zimmerman/Martin case.
The press portrayed Martin as an innocent kid nd used a four year old photo for a long time. He was about 200 pounds and taller than Zimmerman.
In this case they are calling portraying Brown as a sweet innocent angel. He was over 18 and he was no angel. So I'll leave it up to a prosecutor and their investigators to put a case together, if they can.
Jim P. at August 15, 2014 1:07 PM
The point is not if Brown is a choirboy or not, the point is one should not expect capital punishment by cop for being a suspect in a robbery. I think it's safe to say if Brown were a white boy, he would not have been gunned down in the street.
Janet C at August 15, 2014 2:14 PM
No, I think it's a fair assumption that anyone of any skin color is going to be met with deadly force if they go for a police officer's gun. I'm am so tired of this always being about race. I'll have to google and post the links later, but not too long ago in Texas a black cop shot and killed a white guy (military) and there was minimal mention of it in the news, no rioting, no looting, no cries of racism. It's just a bullshit excuse people scream as often and as loudly as they can and it's rarely justified.
BunnyGirl at August 15, 2014 2:42 PM
http://www.12newsnow.com/story/22945856/family-of-veteran-killed-by-off-duty-police-officer-still-hopes-for-justice
Brief summary: Whitehead tried to return something and got angry when the store wouldn't take it back. Arnold (off duty cop) shows up, eventually leaves. Whitehead and friend leave store and are confronted by Arnold in the parking lot who is yelling and waving handcuffs and flashlight. Whitehead yells back, gets into passenger side of friend's truck. Arnold follows, still yelling and now waving a gun. Pulls Whitehead out of truck and shoots him. Police rule it was self defense by off-duty cop, but fire him. He is now suing to get his job back. Fellow officers want him charged with murder. Dead guy is white, cop is black.
BunnyGirl at August 15, 2014 2:58 PM
> I have absolutely no sympathy for
> rioters, no matter what
> their "cause".
You're having what we used to call a "concept" problem: They don't care about your sympathy, which is of no discernible utility.
Y'know, when you see the absolute savagery of the police actions in that town —certainly in this week, but deep into the past as well— it's just incredible that someone could think the problem is that protesters are gettin' too uppity.
Crid [CridComment at Gmail] at August 15, 2014 3:42 PM
Something that the police in the US seem to be forgetting is that "the thin blue line" is real, and that policing depends largely on consent and trust. Act like a thug, and you'll lose it. And no matter how much you militarise law enforcement, that moral high ground won't come back. This is not about right or wrong, but about effectiveness. A cop used to be someone you went to for help. No longer, I'm afraid, and it's not much different here in Australia.
Cops have to protect themselves and the public. But if you go looking for trouble, you'll get it.
Ltw at August 15, 2014 4:58 PM
One of the pioneers of community policing... Jerry Wilson
I'd go further back to Robert Peel, the actual pioneer.
Ltw at August 15, 2014 5:04 PM
"Cops have to protect themselves and the public."
Not really. Here in the States, "Protect and Serve"is just a catchphrase on a door decal.
Supreme Court says citizens are on their own.
Gog_Magog_Carpet_Reclaimers at August 15, 2014 5:40 PM
So what kind of cops are the Ferguson cops, anyway?
I mean, they're not the kind of cops who would arrest the wrong guy, put him in a cell, beat him bloody when he complained about having to sleep on the floor - and then charge him for bleeding on their uniforms, are they?
Yeah. Apparently they are.
Gog_Magog_Carpet_Reclaimers at August 15, 2014 5:57 PM
"You're having what we used to call a 'concept' problem: They don't care about your sympathy."
Which is good since they aren't getting any.
" it's just incredible that someone could think the problem is that protesters are gettin' too uppity."
Protesters? Who said anything about protesters? I'm talking about rioters.
Cousin Dave at August 15, 2014 8:36 PM
> Who said anything about protesters?
> I'm talking about rioters.
DOOD, LOOK AT THE FUCKING PICTURES FROM MISSOURI.
I don't believe for a shimmering millisecond that the police knew or cared about the difference.
Want links?
1.
2.
Crid [CridComment at Gmail] at August 16, 2014 1:27 AM
3.
Crid [CridComment at Gmail] at August 16, 2014 1:37 AM
4.
Crid [CridComment at Gmail] at August 16, 2014 1:38 AM
5.
Crid [CridComment at Gmail] at August 16, 2014 1:38 AM
6.
Crid [CridComment at Gmail] at August 16, 2014 1:41 AM
7.
We can keep going, if you want.
The Declaration and the Constitution command me to arm myself and deal when the authorities unprepared to do so in a competent fashion.
Let me know.
Crid [CridComment at Gmail] at August 16, 2014 1:43 AM
> Something that the police in the US
> seem to be forgetting is that "the
> thin blue line" is real
Well, Hi there, Bunny!!
Howthe Fuckare ya?
Or do you even bother to check anymore? Because we certainly aren't checking your headlines for you.
Crid [CridComment at Gmail] at August 16, 2014 1:48 AM
I'm fine thanks Crid. I got bitten by a few poisonous spiders and snakes last week but I shrugged that off and hopped on my kangaroo to go to work.
Ltw at August 16, 2014 2:27 AM
If you want, you can pretend your problem with Americans is that we're distracted by stereotypes about your society... Knife-wielding crocodile hunters tossing boomerangs over the shrimp on the barbie.
The sad truth is that we just don't give a fuck. And by giving so much of your attention to our internal affairs, you backhandedly reassure us that we're not missing anything... You don't give a fuck about your culture, either.
crid at August 16, 2014 11:58 AM
No, not intentionally... But it was worth saying twice.
crid at August 16, 2014 12:40 PM
Oh, did I trespass on your little bit of the internet Crid? Contrary to what you might believe, it doesn't take much of my attention to comment occasionally.
You don't give a fuck about your culture, either.
Where the fuck did you get that from?
Ltw at August 16, 2014 12:43 PM
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Photo sex
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photo sex at August 16, 2014 1:12 PM
> it doesn't take much of my
> attention to comment
Yeah?
Just curious, did you have anything to say about this?
'Cause I'd thought that stuff had ended in the 1970's.
Well, maybe not.Crid [CridComment at Gmail] at August 16, 2014 3:01 PM
I thought the sad truth was you didn't give a fuck? You cared enough to Google up some dirt, obviously. Shame you couldn't find anything better.
John Pilger and some bullshit study that got a run on the (very left-leaning) ABC don't impress me. They're both rubbish. And by the way, have nothing to do with the issue - militarisation of police.
Ltw at August 16, 2014 4:24 PM
> You cared enough to Google up
> some dirt, obviously.
Well, we'd hate to think the information wasn't available. We can check in on Aussie events any time we want. We just usually don't bother, until we need to be sure that you aren't fussing around with things up here just because you can't find out what's going on in your own country....
> They're both rubbish.
That's interesting! The media and elite perspectives on events on your country are rubbish... But news presented by our media, at a distance of eight thousand miles, is reliable enough to stir your interest!
> have nothing to do with the issue
> - militarisation of police.
Sugarbun, the issue is whatever people wanna talk about. (Americans, I mean....)
Crid [CridComment at Gmail] at August 16, 2014 5:09 PM
Awww, poor Criddy-widdy is upset. You'll feel better after a lie down diddums. Did the nasty foreigner challenge your views baby?
Ltw at August 16, 2014 5:49 PM
Sugarbun, the issue is whatever people wanna talk about. (Americans, I mean....)
I must have missed the "US citizens only" sign. It was probably behind the one telling me to go to the back of the bus.
Ltw at August 16, 2014 5:52 PM
> Did the nasty foreigner challenge
> your views
Well, I've visited Oz and enjoyed the hospitality. But your countryman Robert Hughes correctly identified the popular American perception of your nation: "a sort of Texas conducted by other means at the bottom of the globe...."
> It was probably behind the one telling
> me to go to the back of the bus.
Yeah, commenter Tressider used to to that too... Invoke all these profoundly American passages and then pretend she was being ironic... Nonetheless acknowledging, however backhandedly, that America's dramas describe the human experience and human improvement more meaningfully than narratives from other cultures.
As do our media. I'd not be at ALL surprised if coverage of American happenings is clearer for you than news of your own country. That happens a lot. America gave the world Hollywood, television, and the internet... Of course we're more fun to look at than you are. We communicate better, even when things aren't pretty.
…Doesn't mean you'll have insights about our news.
Besides, we never pulled any shit as grotesque as the Stolen Generations....
Crid [CridComment at Gmail] at August 16, 2014 7:34 PM
(I love doing that... Even when it's mostly reruns... Just thinking about it to find new words reminds me how cool it is to be an American.)
(There's really nothing like it.)
Crid [CridComment at Gmail] at August 16, 2014 7:35 PM
Did you really take that seriously? Wow, you are thin-skinned.
I like America and Americans. You, not so much.
Besides, we never pulled any shit as grotesque as the Stolen Generations....
Splitting my sides laughing at your ignorance.
Ltw at August 16, 2014 11:43 PM
Right? You're so entranced by American character, you know more about it than even *Americans* know!
!!
The human heart may never see a deeper condition of emotional engagement than the crush of the schoolgirl.
Crid at August 16, 2014 11:54 PM
Yes. I'm insensible with emotion. Take me now.
Ltw at August 17, 2014 12:15 AM
What in the world happened on this thread?
Jenny had a chance at August 17, 2014 5:20 AM
> Take me now.
You're already ours.
>What in the world happened
Clarity.
Crid [CridComment at Gmail] at August 17, 2014 8:20 PM
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