Does any American seriously NOT know that there is a "Cop Culture" in this nation? Do any of us have a genuine understanding of what goes in inside that culture?
Unless you've lived inside of it, you really don't. Redditt Hudson works for the NAACP and chairs the board of the Ethics Project in St. Louis, Mo. He was a cop with the St. Louis PD for 5 years - enough time to become fully-immersed in the Cop Culture, understand it, and form an accurate opinion on it.
He has written an OpEd for the Washington Post which I link for you here.
Excerpts and commentary in the body of this diary.
Yes, he joined the SLPD. He got inside the belly of the beast and learned. He learned about the attitudes of his fellow officers, how they operate, and why they do what they do - with so much of what they do being wrong.
So in 1994, I joined the St. Louis Police Department. I quickly realized how naive I’d been. I was floored by the dysfunctional culture I encountered. I won’t say all, but many of my peers were deeply racist.
His next paragraph goes on to detail just how racist the organization was (and very likely still is). We've all seen - not just recently, but again and again over the years - how cops will abuse suspects, witnesses, and even bystanders (especially those recording them) with impunity. But how can cops conduct themselves in such blatantly-unacceptable ways and not lose their jobs over it? Mr. Hudson reveals a truth we have only recently come to realize:
But too many times, officers saw young black and brown men as targets. They would respond with force to even minor offenses. And because cops are rarely held accountable for their actions, they didn’t think too hard about the consequences.
Consequences, shmonsequences! When cop misconduct is uncovered and the press and the community get ahold of it, the offending officer is "investigated" by the other members of his department - his coworkers and friends - and found to have done nothing wrong. Even if they're found guilty of violating department policy, the most harsh punishment they receive is usually a brief suspension - a PAID suspension. Which is the equivalent of a vacation from the duties of work while retaining the paycheck they would have otherwise received. Some "punishment", huh? A paid vacation from work for cracking some innocent's skull seems kind of attractive, doesn't it?
Ad the possibility of being charged with a crime? Pretty small. The likelihood of being indicted? Don't make me laugh. Even if they do get indicted, what are their chances of being convicted? Nearly zero. Because the prosecutors are TIGHT with the cops. The DA needs the cops to testify (jokingly referred to as "testilying" by the cops) in order to gain the convictions upon which their careers depend. Prosecutors don't want the cops to suddenly develop mass amnesia in the courtrooms where his cases are being tried. He doesn't want the organization which has unfettered access to information about himself and his family to follow their vehicles - awaiting any opportunity to pull them over for the most minor of infractions. After all, you 17-year-old may make a "threatening gesture" and get shot to death.
This is why Mr. Hudson quit being a cop. In his own words:
But more and more, I felt like I couldn’t do the work I set out to do. I was participating in a profoundly corrupt criminal justice system. I could not, in good conscience, participate in a system that was so intentionally unfair and racist.
The problem is that cops aren’t held accountable for their actions, and they know it. These officers violate rights with impunity. They know there’s a different criminal justice system for civilians and police.
Mr Hudson DOES offer a solution - one I consider to be a good First Step in reforming our police departments. Read about it at the link I provided above. Or, if you're too lazy to scroll up to the original link,
here's a second link to the same OpEd for you to follow.
Until we start holding cops to a higher standard of justice and conduct than we have seen over the years, we will see ever more Browns and Garners and there won't be shit we can do about it. Reform is needed, obviously. Rules must be put in place and procedures changed and a culture of violence, racism, and unabashed disregard for rights and the law must be destroyed and replaced. For I might be next. Or you might be next. Or one of our kids might be the next Eric Garner.
I'd love to read what you, dear reader, feel that we can do to solve this problem. That's what I invite you to include in your comments under this diary.
Celtic Merlin
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EDIT: About 20 minutes after I published, I had to leave the house to attend a family function. I come back to the top of the Wrecked List. You folks never cease to amaze me with how much you really do give a damn. Thank you - not for the recommends, but for being the caring people you are.
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