OCT 2020 Blues Vol. 36 No. 10

OFFICERS FOLLOWED THEIR

OFFICERS FOLLOWED THEIR TRAINING FFor those who don’t know, I spent many years at HPD working behind the badge. Today’s fir-ing of four HPD officers is very disturbing. Consider the following. We ask men and women to step into the gap and protect us all from those with true evil in their hearts and a desire to do us great harm. We ask these brave few to run toward danger, to place themselves between us and violence. We make this request, so we don’t have to confront these issues ourselves. Instead we sleep soundly at night secure in our prosperity, safety and security. We ask these things from our police officers and have assured them if they take these risks for us, we will stand behind and support them - provided they follow the rules we, as a community, establish. We pass laws governing the use of police force. Each department establishes policy, which each police action is measured against, and we provide training to make sure our police under-stand. We promise, in effect, if they follow the law, follow policy, and use their training, we will support them. Today’s action breaks that social contract between law enforcement and the community they serve. To be clear, anytime there is a life lost, as the result of an encounter with police, it is a tragedy. To be equally clear, I have never met a police officer who wanted to harm anyone. To be crystal clear, police officers absolutely do not want to work around any police officer who breaks the law, violates department policy, or fails to use their training. Those who do are considered rogues and officers are glad to be rid of them. This video released by HPD clearly shows a group of officers trying their best to not injure the suspect in this case. These officers followed the law. They followed HPD policy, and they followed their training. And they were fired. As tragic as this situation was, the real issue is never addressed. Use this incident to press for change in the law, change in department policy or change in training. To hold these officers accountable for doing exactly what we, as a community, asked them to do is unconscionable and smacks of an attempt to politically placate a vocal anti-police movement - at the expense of these four officers. This unfortunate decision by the Chief of Police breaks the social contract between the com-munity and law enforcement. Police officers in Houston are now on notice; following the law, adhering to department poli-cy, and relying on the training they have been given is ... insufficient. Mike Knox Campaign, FB AN OPPOSING VIEWPOINT “Defund the police” means reallocating or redirecting funding away from the police department to other government agencies funded by the local municipality. That’s it. It’s that simple. Defund does not mean abolish policing. And, even some who say abolish, do not necessarily mean to do away with law enforcement altogether. Rather, they want to see the rotten trees of policing chopped down and fresh roots replanted anew. Camden, New Jersey, is a good example. Nearly a decade ago, Camden disbanded (abolished) its police force and dissolved the local police union. This approach seems to be what Minneapolis will do in some form, though the nuances are important. Different from abolishing and starting anew, defunding police highlights fiscal responsibility, advocates for a market-driven approach to taxpayer money and has some potential benefits that will reduce police violence and crime. Below, I outline some of the main arguments for defunding the police. CALLS FOR SERVICE Data show that 9 out of 10 calls for service are for nonviolent encounters. Now, this does not mean that an incident will not turn violent, but police at times contribute to the escalation of violent force. Police officers’ skillset and training are often out of sync with the social interactions that they have. Police officers are mostly trained in use-of-force tactics and worstcase scenarios to reduce poten- Continued on Next Page 10 The BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE The BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE 11