The reasons that I, a former police officer, have become such a fierce critic of American police are myriad.
Not the least among those reasons is their general inability to think critically and overall disrespect for the forty million black Americans living in the country.
That is not to say that all police officers are dumb racists; far from it. Still, far too often, we see instances where police officers abuse their oath and escalate infinitesimal infractions, and sometimes, no infractions at all, into events where people of color lose their lives at the hands of police.
Many argue that most police officers are good and decent people who go out to do a good job every day.
I do not quarrel with that assertion that in almost all-white communities in some states, that assertion may be true.
Not so in larger, more racially diverse communities. Members of the minority communities experience police in ways that people in predominantly white communities do not.
What still amazes me is, as it has done for decades, the American Government comprising both political parties continues to chide and berate other nations for alleged human rights abuses but steadfastly refuses to address human rights abuses here at home committed by police.
One could reasonably argue that in larger, more diverse communities with more crimes, the police are much more likely to encounter violence directed at them. There is some truth in that, even though that narrative may be up for debate in light of the frequency of mass shootings and other violent crimes that have their genesis in white communities — additionally, the rise proliferation and threat posed by white supremacist terrorist groups changes that paradigm undoubtedly.
Arguably, the threats posed by organized white terror groups are exponentially greater not just to the police but to the entire nation than some random guy with a gun trying to pull off a robbery or defending a street corner he sees as his turf.
It is also reasonable to conclude that on a day-to-day basis, a cop doing the rounds in Memphis, Tennesee, or on Chicago Southside may be more exposed to gun violence than a cop in Beverly Hills, California.
Even with those considerations, it would be naïve to conclude that the many instances of gun violence in Chicago’s Southside stem from the fact that some people have a greater propensity to be violent than others.
Were we even to accept that conclusion, we would still be better served if we asked why.
If we lump human beings together, regardless of race, animals, or any other species, deprive them of enough space, enough freedom, enough opportunities, and food, they develop a survival mentality.
They will kill each other to survive. It is as simple as that, so when we consider violence within communities of color and specifically the black communities across America, the overwhelming specter of institutionalized and systemic racism must be factored into the equation.
There can be no rational or meaningful conversation about crime and violence within the black community or even black-on-black crime without an honest acknowledgment of the role institutionalized racism and redlining play in the Black community.
Juxtapose that with the genesis of law enforcement graduating from slave patrols, and we better understand the attitudes of police and the reaction of many in the black community towards what they see.
Not protectors in the police but overseers who come into their communities to subjugate and control, not as servants there to help.
https://mikebeckles.com/progressive-elected-officials-should-not-be-deterred-in-changing-entrenched-policing-culture/
The police are people from the communities; they are not aliens from Mars or Uranus, and so as products of their environments, it is incredibly disingenuous to ask that reasonable people suspend their intelligence and accept that a badge, gun, and a whole heap of power cleanses officers of a lifetime of racist socialization.
You have seen me argue that American policing emanated from slave patrols; you have also seen me point out that it was the nation’s law that a black man had no rights that a white man was obligated to respect.
For the most part, those laws are not on the books anymore, but the mentality persists not just in the police but across the entire American spectrum.
Republicans have painted those who speak truthfully about race in America as radical extremists and other scary names. Afraid of being branded extremists, Democrats tread lightly for their own political survival.
I find the Democrat’s position hypocritical on the central issues of race, as I am old enough to remember when they were petrified of being called liberals.
Now they openly embrace the mantra liberal and progressive; they also embrace the Bernie Sanders wing of the Party even though Bernie Sanders runs as a Democratic Socialist.
https://mikebeckles.com/defund-the-police-sound-principle/
Even Black elected Democratic leaders address police violence and racism in nuanced terms, in mealy-mouthed language not to rankle police unions and the racist Republican extremist party and their followers.
Why would you care what they think when it is clear that everything they stand for is dangerous for black people?
That question remains true every day on even the issue of defunding the police. Media types and many in the Democrat Party have been running scared of the issue of defunding the police.
Even Joe Biden, the President, is scared of even being asked whether he believes the police should be defunded. Prognosticators and pundits tell us that the rise in violent crime results from talk about defunding the police.
What a load of balderdash.What a load of cockamamie. American police have more armaments than any other country in the world, yet there is more violent crime across America than in most developed countries. In fact, Quora.com places the United States as the second most violent society in the world, but just by a tiny margin, behind Saudi Arabia.
Here is the important part, according to Quora [The peace index is a complex indicator considering factors like homicide rate, violent protests and demonstrations, and terrorist activity. The US falls slightly behind Saudi Arabia, which is a developed middle eastern country. According to the index, internal conflict and political terror are the things that put Saudi Arabia slightly above the United States because by homicide rate, for example, the Saudi Arabian rate is much lower, and there’s an overall lower perceived criminality].
Two things here it is doubtful that even on a per capita basis, Saudi Arabia has a higher homicide rate than the United States. It is debatable whether one could even consider a society like Saudi Arabia a developed one.
Additionally, with the increasing threats posed by white ‑supremacist terror groups across the United States, it is a stretch to suggest that Saudi Arabia is more violent, all things considered.
Even so, with over 18,000 police departments across the country, almost a million sworn law enforcement officers, and armaments, including (MRAP) Mine-Resistant Ambush, Protected Tanks, politicians continue to fool the public that the answer to America’s violent crime epidemic is to give more money to police departments.
According to maneygeek.com, the U.S. spent $205 billion on law enforcement, amounting to $123 billion spent on policing and $82 billion on corrections in 2019 before the social justice protests across the country.
Although police departments are receiving large sums of money, crime which has been decreasing for the past two decades has been on the rise.
It is impossible to make a case for throwing away more money on incompetent, racist cops when the fix has nothing to do with more money for cops or even more cops, for that matters.
The revelations in Uvalde, Texas, prove that we do not need more police or armaments; we need a different mindset and approach to law enforcement.
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Mike Beckles is a former Police Detective, businessman, freelance writer, black achiever honoree, and creator of the blog mikebeckles.com.