So I'm continuing the topic from last week's posts about how pathology is being attributed to a person's race only when it comes to people of color, the militarism of law enforcement and the complacency of those who ignore the pathologies that have a negative impact on their communities because they may share a similar heritage as the perpetrators.
One of my reader’s comments from last week had me nodding my head in agreement. I’m going to post it here with my response in blue: via Brother OMi
1. In my experience, I run into VERY few people who join the police/military because they wanted to. Most, especially enlisted and lower ranking police officers, join because of being unable to get hired for several reasons OR because there are no jobs. Thus, the police and the military are filled with people from the lower dregs of society. That says alot. Police/military should be high paying jobs that seek QUALIFED and MENTALLY STABLE applicants.
So we have quite a few people serving who join due to the high unemployment in their residential areas. Also people who should never be allowed to serve. We see so many officers who shoot first, who overreach their authority and lack proper training (I'd say common sense). Thanks to the NRA guns are readily and illegally available with a thriving market. I'd like to think if some of the threat to bodily harm was removed the police would have to adjust how they respond to crime. Just look at the preponderance of rape against female service members. It's a huge problem and due to the coverups by the higher ups it will not be resolved any time soon. Some have also suggested it's one of the biggest reasons why the military doesn't want "Don't Ask Don't Tell" revoked because a lot of men would become targets.
2. I will say that when it comes to the police, they are poorly trained. They get sent to handle situations that are way beyond their abilities (domestic violence issues, etc.) and are expected to handle them professionally and efficiently.
Why are situations still beyond the abilities of an officer to appropriately respond to? It's 2009. If counterintelligence tactics can be used by groups like PETA in the guise of helping animals why can't the police get appropriate strategies in place to respond to a variety of issues. They have gang units, major crimes, special victims: why not other specialties? How much impact can individual communities have on the implementation of law enforcement if all they do is complain about brutality?
3. Our communities have to do a better job of policing ourselves. oftentimes we give a safe haven to the criminal element. If (Louvelle) Mixon was not harbored by friends and relatives, this might not have happened.
Ah yes the 800 lb. elephant in the room. Black people tend to make all kinds of excuses for all sorts of depravity when it comes in the form of a Black male. A Black woman can be called all manner of derogatory terms and be told its her responsibility to rescue others and she will not get a break. The protectionism of those with melanin and a penis knows no bounds though. As if it's a birth defect for someone to make the choice to engage in criminal activity and they have no responsibility for it. This also extends in the world of entertainment and the promoting of smut as music but that's another post! You cannot hold police officers to a higher standard by allowing criminals to run free to steal, rape and kill.
4. Our concept of crime and punishment is extremely flawed and will not work unless we do a proper re-evaluation of it. Being tough doesn't seem to work.
A nation built on exploitation and hypocrisy will always be an iffy prospect for appropriate behavior. The US also suffers from this hyper-masculine hero complex. Sometimes charging in trying to take over and intimidation tactics require more thought, scrutiny and a gentle hand.
Basically it’s an acknowledgement of class differences and pathologies and how they may manifest themselves in certain situations. I am in complete agreement about how the quality of services is affected by the quality of those providing it. Lack of training will yield poor results. We don’t train people how to be parents either. We don’t value motherhood, though some women tend to equate motherhood with being a woman. The ability to breed has nothing to do with quality parenting. When people (mostly men) who are ill-equipped to face societal challenges, with borderline psychoses and/or are otherwise unhireable or come from areas of high unemployment that’s a breeding ground for a killer.
We know the military had to lower their standards for admission to avoid a draft so can you imagine how dangerous it would be to serve alongside someone you’d normally have nothing to do with in your regular life? Or join a police force with those ready to explode? It’s why there's such a preponderance for rape. Women aren’t safe in any area of society where its citizens don’t place a high value on their person AND while other people remain silent. It can't be left solely up to women to speak out against these things. It can't be just women who are deemed "worthy" of protecting because that means some are not. Of course since these incidences are shrouded in secrecy that also fosters a breeding ground for this sort of activity.
As it was pointed out on certain blogs had the police valued the lives of the sex workers Louvelle Mixon had raped, they may have arrested him before he attacked a 12 year old and got pulled over at that traffic stop with the ensuing gun battle. He didn’t value his life at all so why would have valued yours? The former officer Powell didn’t value the lives of an entire population of those he was supposed to be neutral about on paper at least. You know the whole innocent until proven guilty tenet that’s supposed to be one of our strongest foundations for justice?
