This post originally appeared as a Letter to the Editor in the Sacramento Bee.
I am very grateful to the brave and honest men and women who work as police officers, sheriff’s deputies and prison guards. But as a taxpaying citizen, I feel that I am culpable in their acts; that not only do they protect me, my family and my community, but they also represent me, my family, my community and our values, as well.
We entrust them with deadly force, the power to incapacitate and incarcerate – to deprive persons of life and liberty. We need to insist on a system that ensures civilian accountability and oversight of corrections and law enforcement personnel, to make sure that dishonesty and brutality – in our names – are not tolerated.
In my heart, I believe that we cannot pay cops and guards enough for the work they do. Nor can we allow the unjust acts of corrections supervisors and front-line staff to go unpunished. Unjust acts by justice officials breed contempt for authority and law, and undermines the safety of our neighborhoods. Get the bad cops and bad guards out, for the safety of good cops, good guards and our neighborhoods.
Glenn Backes lives in Sacramento and is a Public Policy Researcher and Consultant. He also serves on the Board of Directors of the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights.
7 Comments
That was written carefully, so as to be almost impossible to take issue with it’s point. So much so that it’s rather pointless.
However, I’m going to offer a differing point-of-view, because everyone needs a devil’s advocate.
Oakland is among the most dangerous cities in the United States. It has a huge problem with violence. Binding the Oakland police with chains of iron, even as we whittle down the size of that force to below that of far less challenging places to police, means that we’re going to deprive Oakland’s residents of something very important: discipline.
We forget that discipline is a gift. When we talk about truly privileged children, it’s often the thing the have that at-risk youth have never been given.
That starts at home, with a strong family, of course. And it continues with a community that can support — and, when necessary, rebuke a child.
Police are part of the picture. It’s part of what I call the hidden infrastructure of privilege in many communities. Just knowing that the police will step in if things get out of hand, means youth subconciously know that not only SHOULD they play it cool, but that they CAN play it cool without seeming weak.
The only part that I agree is that risk children, and frankly all children need a strong family. This does not necessarily include a corrupted police force that has very little community accountability.
We live in a country that looks at people through a polarized lens. Either you are this -or -that. At risk youth or not, our system does not need to instill the need for unjust use of force in our communities. This point is often lost.
I feel that all Glenn is asking for (As many people in the country are begging for) is for police officers who are paid with our tax dollars should have some system of accountability to the community. Time and time again they are walking free after killing us, wrongfully accusing us and terrorizing our communities. (And yes I am fully aware there are good cops out there, I have a few in my family)
There still needs to be a place for community members to have an equal footing with police enforcement agencies since we are paying the bill. I would feel this way even if they were all perfect angels and did everything right. Either way we are still paying.
In Ireland and Singapore, if you’re a kid, and you screw up, the cops will give you a very sound thrashing. We can’t do that here — for a variety of reasons — but it solves a lot of problems in those countries. Violent crime is lower, drug use is lower, and public order is better. Best of all the kid gets a very serious warning, without being criminalized.
Oh, and here’s another thought. We all know the situation in our prisons is completely out of hand. It is an insecure and unsafe environment that is a breeding ground for criminals. Frankly, we need the guards to dole out a good solid thwack to anyone who gets out of line. It’s the only way to maintain order. That’s because if the guards aren’t in charge, the prisoners will beat, shank, and rape each other to establish dominance. That’s not fair to anyone.
No one’s talking about “good solid thwacks” — that’s out of left field, and that’s suggesting we solve violence with violence — which is NOT the answer, if you look at what’s already happening on the street.
Glenn is talking about making sure people aren’t unfairly or disproportionately punished, in a way that could forever change — or end — their lives and ability to sustain their livelihood. When injustice occurs in the justice system, law enforcement officers need to be held accountable.
Actually, Glenn and I are talking about the same thing. Because law officers can’t box someone about the ears for misbehaving, they have to wait until they do something really bad — and then send them to jail for many years. That’s a waste, all around.
In short, we need fewer rules and regulations, and clearer lines, for everybody. We live in a society where if a kid is caught with a few grams of weed, they’re sent to jail for YEARS. That’s wrong, on every level.
When the Dhali Lama came to america for his first trip and he was picked up by U.S. delagates. He was asked after he had been here for awhile how he liked american civilization. His response was ” it would be nice”. We live in one of the most richest industrialized nations in the world yet our common citizen thimks that a good thwack to unruly prisoners is the answer. And we wonder why our country is in the state that it is. We are having a war on minorities as we speak yet it seems no one cares. I truly hate to make this a racial issue but it is. Some may say it is a financial issue and I would agree as well. yet the majority of Americas families living in poverty are famalies of color so we still land in the racial arena. So what we are saying as a country is that it is ok to lock up and “thack” people of color because they need to assimilate. That reminds me of beating the name Toby into Shaka. I am a man of color and understand the responsabilities of an individual but our nation needs to take some responsability as well. More black men from my community goes to prison than jail. This can be contributed to a number of reasons the majority of which is out of the individuals control. I will be the first to hold someone accountable for their actions yet we seem to have forgotten to hold the system they live under accountable. I have the upmost repect for law enforcment and the work they are suppose to do but yet somehow we feel that the work teachers do is less valuable. What about the fact that a teacher in the California Youth Authority Makes more then twice what the average teacher from our community makes. The excuse is its more dangerous in jail, I completely disagree. Yes there are dangerous people in jail but you dont have to worry about a columbine going on in chad. They are more protected than any teacher on the street and I say this from experience I volunteered there for a year. So while our community teachers are struggling to pay rent these folks are buying homes, boats, cars, and sending their kids to private school because they dont trust the system with their children. I am a firm believer that good people sometimes do bad things so i dont feel comfortable with giving my community member a stiff “thwack” just like i wouldnt feel comfortable with killing my sister because she slept with someone out of wedlock like some countries. Which by the way those countries dont have the fornication or adultry issue we have either so it might be something we should look in to. I would hope that statement would be as shocking to most as the other one was to me. Yes we have a problem. But it started in the community and must be solved in the community for us to be successful.