I’ve been retired for 6 years, but I was on the street during the Rodney King incident and the aftermath.
I tried to look at the incident objectively, with what information I had (which was the same that everybody else got from the media). I formed my own opinion of the actions of the officers.
I felt more “under the microscope” than ever before. It may have been just my imagination, but it seemed to me people were angry at me. I noticed stares from people walking down the street as I drove by. On more than one occasion a motorist told me I should be out beating up some innocent black guy rather than writing them a ticket.
I kept it in perspective, as I do now. I realized there were people in uniform who were unprepared to handle high stress situations. They may have been nice guys, but when the ship hit the sand they didn’t have the psychological tools to slow things down and to react in the moment. There were some who were easily drawn into a pack mentality.
And there were some, like a partner I had, who ran and hid when I fought a man for control of a gun he pulled on me.
I think of the officers I worked with for 37 years. I think of the ones who I know who were in shooting situations, and the ones who fired, and the ones who didn’t. I try to imagine what I would do in those circumstances.
Of my 37 years 28 (I think) were spent on the street as a beat cop or as a street sergeant. My city was not New York or LA or Detroit or Chicago, but neither was it Mayberry.
When I think about how I might have reacted, I realize I do not know. Not with any certainty, at least. None of us do until we are there, in it. We can say, “I would do such and such …”, but it is meaningless, especially in a high stress situation.
As I’ve said before, I am pro-police. I am pro-good-police. Pro-honest-police. Pro-professional-police. When I see and hear things that run contrary to that, I am just the same as you. I get angry.
I was also angry when I was falsely accused of brutality when force was necessary. I was angry when I was sued (unsuccessfully) in federal court for excessive force by a handcuffed prisoner in the back of my squad car who beat his own head against the side window, broke the glass, then jumped out through the broken window onto the glass covered cement floor. Fortunately, it was all captured on video. There wasn’t a single police officer within 20 feet of the squad car when he did that.
All I ask for is accuracy in telling the story. To some, accuracy is not relevant.
Sorry for taking a roundabout way, Alecia.
Read other answers by Rick Bruno on Quora:
- Police officers in the US are generally well trained, equipped, and supported. Is it reasonable to expect police officers to apply deadly force only when deadly force was used against them?
- What percentage of times do police officers not show up to testify in traffic court?
- Why might self-defense by a police officer be mistaken for police brutality in the eyes of civilians and the media?
from Quora http://ift.tt/2fG41db
No comments:
Post a Comment