Lately, the Independence Police Department has been enduring a lot of negative press. It seems like when they aren't initiating a fatal car chase that harms an innocent bystander then they are beating the shit out of white people for simply asking for a form.
Last night's much anticipated late breaking, live investigative circle jerk represents everything that's wrong with corporate journalism. Mainly that it plays to what dumbasses like myself find interesting. I have to admit that my face was pressed against the TV screen waiting for the Independence doughnut eater to hand the hippie his ass. While there might be some pointless debate over whether or not the cop pushed the guy into the glass . . . The video clearly indicates that, in fact, the guy got a minor beat down for taking the wrong tone with the cop and not immediately following orders.
So what?
While the baby beatdown and the guy screaming, "My arm, dude! Don't break my arm! You're ripping my clothes (Dockers)!" Did elicit a chuckle, I didn't see a serious miscarriage of justice.
Thing is, this is such a white, Kansas City, television news controversy because it involves a white guy contending with police brutality and accountability. Any person of color (silly term but you know what I mean) knows that you don't get to ask a cop "Why?" Ever. Not on Cinco De Mayo, not on your birthday. When a cop gives you an order, you follow it or risk dying in a jail cell and then having your demise blamed on you and your parents. That's the practical. Blacks, Mexicans and the poor lowly black sheep of the Asian world (Vietnamese, Cambodian, etc.) deal with the reality of police violence while this story attempts to make a controversy out of the theoretical . . . The way police should respond, what should be the proper procedure for taking complaints, the way an undercover white person gets a beat down. Hell, come to think of it, the hippie reporter type wasn't even representative of the majority of poor whites who get beat down by the fuzz on a regular basis because he wasn't high on meth and shirtless. In the final analysis, watching this white guy take a crack to the head was so out of the ordinary and unrepresentative of the many brown people (and po' whites) who get regular beatdowns by cops that it's akin to the sheer fantasy of a Rocky movie where a white man is capable of fighting for and actually winning the Heavyweight Championship of the World.
I don't pretend to know a lot about the Independence PD because I don't have a substance abuse problem so there is no reason to hang out in that part of town for me. However, what this story makes evident is that every po' dunk city and county that surrounds KC is full of police officers not good, smart or brave enough to cut it in the (relatively) big city. They are glorified security guards either baby sitting rich white kids and protecting McMansions or they are not quite on the level of Barney Fife but have more of a Buford T. Justice kind of vibe. Cops on the outskirts of KC are really only good for writing tickets.
What this story really demonstrates is the lesson that people in this country and this city still haven't learned from AIDS, 9/11 or the war in Iraq . . . Basically that white people don't care about any of the suffering in the world until it happens to them. Still, I guess this story gets people talking about police brutality and the role of law enforcement in addressing complaints . . . Until, a real, brown person is the victim of a similar police beat down and the media and people in their living rooms eventually go back to blaming the person on the receiving end of a nightstick, Taser or bullet.
posted by Tony Permalink
Steve Chamraz for Mayor of KC!
What about the "chief investigative reporter" for mayor?
Finally, you wrote something with some truth to it. Good job
P.S. Tony loves his Dockers.
P.P.S. Bmoose is scared money. Poker night > Cuddle night and Olive Garden with the girlfriend.
Yawn.....
huh?
Cuddle and come to olive garden, no exceptions, ever
Son, you come to my part of the metro and you better have your green card or I will nip you in your bud.
Minorities being afraid of the cops is like a coal miner being afraid of catching a cold from his co-workers. Yeah okay, there are cops out there who will smack you around, but on the scale of shit to be afraid of in da hood, the cops rate around 350th.
reefer and beer
Talk about irresponsible. The guy working for channel 5 was the worst. I have no problem with police arresting some guy who is amaking a nusiance of hmiself.
Yeah right. Oppression of entire communities is no big deal. The sad part is if you're poor and white you also have to deal with cops beating you for looking at them the wrong way but most people don't wanna take a stand against the po-po. The investigators did a great job and for all the static that 5 gets they are more brave than any of the local stations for checking to see if people in this town really have the right to file a complaint. I guess you can't even mention complaint in Indy without going to jail. That ain't right, that shit is wrong.
Anyone that thinks the behaviour of the Independence Police Department was not reprehensible is a fool. Not only did they rough up the investigator but all of the police personnel who reported on the incident apparently lied in their accounts. Unfortunately, most people don't seem to care that the police are totally incredible and prone to abusing the citizens whom they are supposed to serve until they are the victims of police misconduct. I would hope that all citizens called to jury service and all judges when acting as a factfinder in any case will listen to police testimony with a bit more skepticism (if not downright disbelief).
The way to curb the police mischief problem is to revamp hiring practice. It has been a long time since these practices were reviewed by someone other than police administrators. An analogy may be drawn to the problem with the priesthood and pedophiles. It is not that all priests are pedophiles, it is that the priesthood is attractive to pedophiles (access to victims, etc.). The same can be said for law enforcement. Many are drawn to a law enforcement career for the wrong reasons--the opportunity to wield power over others without the necessity of much intelligence. The problem can become acute because the same wrong-headed people can very easily be promoted inside police departments and thus hire similar rogues.
The car chases that IPD has engaged in are another symptom of the hiring problem. Only an idiot would chase a car solely for traffic violations through crowded city streets. Obviously, the danger to the public outweighs the need for capturing the offender. It is interesting to note that the law as to civil recourse against a police department with regard to a chased suspect crashing into an innocent third party was set forth in a case against IPD (Stanley v. City of Independence if anyone is interested). Hopefully, the Missouri Supreme Court will revisit this decision and at least afford citizens the opportunity to strike at the pocketbooks of police departments that hire inept officers.
Finally, I would urge all citizens to contact their elected officials to tell them that they will not stand for this kind of behaviour and that the offending officers and those in the "chain of command", including the chief, should be fired. Additionally, citizens should contact the county prosecuting attorney's office and ask for an investigation into possible criminal charges for all allegations of police misconduct (whether it be based on criminal negligence for chasing cars and injuring innocent bystanders or purposeful crimes like assault).
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