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Perception matters not if it’s the ‘Right Thing’
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How some police bosses can look themselves in the mirror these days is beyond my capacity to understand. And how persons under their command can sit silent causes equal consternation.
Scenario: Assume for a moment you're a police chief in a city of, say, about a half million people. You've got a mixed race officer-involved-shooting which appears even to you (after pouring over initial reports/statements/evidence), a bit indistinct in terms of justification. All signs point to potential civil unrest in the minority community. Demonstrations are taking place with as many as 2,000 people rallying in front of the courthouse downtown. No-justice-no-peace tempers are reaching a fever pitch.
I'll offer you two distinct paths to travel as it is now about 48 hours post incident.
1. Placate the rabble rousers, suggesting the cop had no justification for pulling the trigger, and in one fell swoop toss cooling water on smoldering race relations in the city and avert potential riotous behavior, loss of life and property, and injury to countless citizens and police officers... at least for a time.
2. Remain neutral at this stage, even risking some criticism by citizens and/or media, by making a public statement that once the criminal and internal inquiries are complete, then and only then will you engage in commentary regarding the in/appropriateness of the shooting and whether the incident was in accord with departmental policy and procedure.
Sell the cop and save the city.
-or-
Remain neutral (read: ethical) and risk chaos, property loss, and potential loss of life as well.
As for me, I don't give a damn if the perception we're dealing with here is over racial profiling or the spectre of an ambiguous shooting which is up in the air until fully investigated (and, potentially, tried). It's hard to swallow the feigned goody—goodness displayed by some in this line of work—“better to let ten guilty men go free than lock up one innocent man!”—when the next day burnt offerings in the form of a police officer can be handed forth and these same folks either (a) look the other way, or (b) rationalize it as acceptable because it's only some young cop who can get another job and, heck, we saved the city from ruin.
We shouldn't be enacting legislation, empowering police auditors where data suggests they're not needed and taking other steps to mollify the squeaky wheelers among us. Perceptions be damned. We ought not do things for the sake of perception, but rather the sake of righteousness.
When did doing the Right Thing come to have anything to do with perception?
Isn't the Right Thing the right thing, no matter what people think of it?
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Note: No use or reproduction w/o express permission of author and only then with full credit given in reprint. E-mail Sgt. Baker at opdsgt@yahoo.com
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