A WAR ON COPS?
When police officers are murdered, in addition to the unbearable hole it leaves in the lives of family, fellow officers and friends, it is a blow to all the rest of us, a deeply painful wound to the community at large. Police officers and firefighters are the one’s taking risks to keep the rest of us safe. When they are killed, we should take it personally. We should grieve for those fallen officers as our own.
That’s why so many people tuned in to watch such funerals as those of Riverside officer, Michael Crain, and San Bernardino Sheriff’s Deputy, Jeremiah MacKay, both killed in February of this year, and for LAPD SWAT officer Randal Simmons killed in February 2008, for Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department Deputy Juan Abel Escalante, killed in August 2008, and for Santa Cruz Police Department detectives, Detective Sgt. Loran “Butch” Baker and Detective Elizabeth Butler, both fatally shot in late February when we were still reeling from the trauma of Christopher Dorner and all the havoc he wreaked.
All that said, let us allow these most recent 2013 deaths to be the tragedies they are, and not make them into something they are not—namely a so-called war on cops.
In 2011, when after a mostly steady decrease in officer deaths at the hands of another, there was a perplexing spike, causing journalists and public figures to warn that a war had been declared against law enforcement, despite facts to the contrary. In addition to not being—you know—true, such rhetoric was hardly helpful to the state of mind of officers facing genuine dangers on patrol.
Huffington Post criminal justice reporter Radley Balko wrote about the issue in 2011. And he has written a new essay on the matter in Tuesday’s Huff Post.
Here are some clips:
The recent killings of two prosecutors in Texas, a Colorado Department of Corrections official and a sheriff in West Virginia have law enforcement groups and the media once again buzzing about an alleged “war on cops” or, in some instances, a broader trend toward violent anti-government sentiment. Over at The Atlantic, Philip Bump does a good job debunking that idea. (He also quotes me.)
Unfortunately, thorough and skeptical analyses of police fatality statistics like Bump’s are rare. The “war on cops” talk heats up every time that one or more high-profile police killings hit the news. But there’s just no evidence that it’s true.
I’ve pointed out a number of times that the job of police officer has been getting progressively safer for a generation. Last year was the safest year for cops since the early 1960s. And it isn’t just because the police are carrying bigger guns or have better armor. Assaults on police officers have been dropping over the same period. Which means that not only are fewer cops getting killed on the job, people in general are less inclined to try to hurt them. Yes, working as a police officer is still more dangerous than, say, working as a journalist. (Or at least a journalist here in the U.S.) But a cop today is about as likely to be murdered on the job as someone who merely resides in about half of the country’s 75 largest cities.
You can read the linked pieces above for more evidence that police officers today are as safe as they’ve been in decades. But I want to discuss why it’s important to push back against this “war on cops” narrative.
It should go without saying, though I will: This has nothing to do with trying to diminish the tough job that police officers do or to cast aspersions on those who have been killed. But there are other reasons why journalists need to do a better job of reporting this story accurately. (Beyond the hopefully obvious value of reporting things accurately for the sake of reporting them accurately.)
[SNIP]But there’s a more pernicious effect of exaggerating the threat to police officers. In researching my forthcoming book, I interviewed lots of police officers, police administrators, criminologists and others connected to the field of law enforcement. There was a consensus among these people that constantly telling cops how dangerous their jobs are is affecting their mindset. It reinforces the soldier mentality already relentlessly drummed into cops’ heads by politicians’ habit of declaring “war” on things. Browse the online bulletin boards at sites like PoliceOne (where users must be credentialed law enforcement to comment), and you’ll see a lot of hostility toward everyone who isn’t in law enforcement, as well as various versions of the sentiment “I’ll do whatever I need to get home safe at night.” That’s a mantra that speaks more to self-preservation than public service.
When cops are told that every day on the job could be their last, that every morning they say goodbye to their families could be the last time they see their kids, that everyone they encounter is someone who could possibly kill them, it isn’t difficult to see how they might start to see the people they serve as an enemy….
Read the rest here.
WHEN ANTI-BULLYING POLICIES HURT MORE THAN THEY HELP
On Tuesday’s Air Talk, Larry Mantle talks to Susan Porter, Ph.D, author of “Bully Nation: Why America’s Approach to Childhood Aggression is Bad for Everyone.“
Here’s a clip from the blog post about the segment on KPCC. When the audio goes up, I’ll link to that too.
Educator Susan Eva Porter said that the nation considered the shooters Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold as victims of bullying, and the nation quickly and fearfully adopted zero-tolerance policies to prevent future victims of bullying.
In “Bully Nation…” Porter argues that labeling children as bullies is equivalent to calling them “stupid” because it gives them a “fixed mind-set” about how they perceive themselves.
Do anti-bullying programs cause more harm than help? Is bullying in schools a problem? What’s the best way to help victims of bullying? Are children more aggressive today than in the past?
SHOULD JOURNALISTS EVER BE FORCED TO REVEAL THEIR SOURCES?
Mantle also has an intriguing and smart segment on Tuesday’s show about when—if ever—journalists should reveal their sources.
This relates to a story that broke Tuesday morning about an instantly controversial recording that Mother Jones obtained, an audio that was made of a conversation between Republican leader Mitch McConnell and his staff talking about actres Ashley Judd and what kind of op research might be used against her, should she run for office.
(For the record, everyone we know or respect in the field would go to jail before revealing a source.)
REFORMING LAUSD’S POLICY OF “TEACHER JAIL” GAINS SUPPORT
It has been widely reported over the last couple of years, how public school teachers accused of serious of wrongdoing can be held in what is known colloquially as “teacher jail” for a startling amount of time without any appropriate action—which, among other things, costs the distract a lot of money. A new proposal put forth by school board member Tamar Galatzan wants to streamline this ridiculously broken process.
Hillal Aron at the LA School Report has the story.
Here’s a clip:
Normally, when a teacher is accused of physically and seriously harming a child (i.e., hitting them or touching them inappropriately), law enforcement officials investigate.
During the investigation, the teacher is removed from a classroom and placed in a so-called “teacher jail” or “rubber room” pending investigation of alleged misdeeds .
The time teachers spend there can be lengthy — most of it due the time it takes for law enforcement to do its investigation, according to Galatzan.
According to a November 2012 audit, LAUSD has been required to pay $3 million in salaries to 20 teachers who have been ‘housed’ (removed from site) the longest while being investigated for misconduct – including one who’s been housed for 4.5 years.
In most cases, teachers do not end up returning to the classroom. Last year, only 16 returned, and only 14 have been reassigned as of December this year.
However, sometimes law enforcement, for a variety of reasons, determines that there is no criminal act or decides it can’t make the charges stick.
That’s where Galatzan’s resolution comes in….
Cop funerals say it all. It tears the fabric of our society for the men and woman who do the job others choose not to.
A death of an officer, just like a soldier reminds us all of the disconnect of the human race and why we should be thankful for those who serve to make our world a little safer.
Enough said.