Former Baltimore Detective Michael A. Wood Jr., in direct contrast to the derisive screaming and racist accusations of former NYPD Det. Harry Houck, has been one of the police officers who has openly admits the inherent blue wall of silence that protects the over use of police violence against people of color. This week he has made another bold statement, that even he an officer with 12 years experience has no idea what the “right way” to get arrested is.
I am often asked: how can I make sure I get home safe after I am pulled over by the police? Following the killings of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile, I feel I should know the answer to that question – but I don’t.
You might think I’m the ideal person to answer: I served four years in the US Marine corps’ version of Swat, and 11 years as a Baltimore police officer, detective, sergeant and shift commander. I’ve participated in innumerable car stops, 400-plus arrests and every training event that I could. And yet, I have no idea how to respond to that basic question.
Following Castile’s death, my friend, Frank MacArthur tweeted: “Brother got gunned down for no reason. He had a burned out tail light. Complied. Did EVERYTHING cop asked. STILL not good enough. For America.” He is right. Based on what we know from available reports, Mr Castile did nothing that could have jeopardized his life. There is nothing he could have done differently.
It is frustrating that I cannot offer foolproof advice on how to stay safe from taxpayer-funded state-sanctioned violence. You can run, or not run. Make eye contact, or avoid eye contact. Assert civil rights, or be submissive. There simply is no rule on how to stay alive when you interact with the police. And that is a problem.
There is a cold hard truth here. Did Alton Sterling do something to get himself shot, or were the Officers over exited, over reacted and wrongly escalated the situation until it became deadly? How exactly could Phillando Castille, after having been stopped over 50 times, not have a fairly clear understanding of the proper police stop procedure?