Funding Polite Policing
re:TALE a return story
April 14, 2022
Getting to the Root of Your Data
April 14, 2022
I’m a black man in the whitest state, with the smallest population in the country; I have never blended into the crowd. Despite my family connections to the police, I freeze when passing a uniform on the street and put my wallet on the passenger seat when I see a cruiser behind me.
I’m also relieved that I have on-demand drivers with guns, eagerly racing for any cause. The need to state your race and outfit before they arrive seems natural as does that urge to run once you see the assistance you ordered arrive.
The town halls, joint committees and special task forces assembled to resolve this funding debate resemble condominium association meetings to discuss the landscaping guidelines in middle school gymnasiums, the meeting minutes show change is years away.
However, hope springs eternal that judicial appeals, landmark rulings, policy mandates, sweeping regulatory changes and oversight councils will deliver new legal statutes governing the laws by which the enforcement officers must uphold and abide by.
Marching down the streets with picket signs waving in rhythm with justice and peace chants gives a sense of relief for those too timid to act. There’s a tranquility and comfort of knowing the fight is being carried on by others. Triumphant confidence that comes from supporting the cause at a distance, silent protesters with bumper stickers and signs on their lawns.
Perspectives of class impact the change sought and the intensity of the fight is tempered only by the proximity of the repercussions and discomfort the badges shielded from their eyes. The rural pacifists will ignite a Twitter firestorm the moment their ring camera captures someone breaking down their white picket fencing or stealing their Amazon shipments, demanding more policing in their community.
The fight from the hill, quietly carried out behind granite walls and velvet ropes, is deaf to the shouts from the streets below. A room filled with lapel pins and starched shirts, with fewer members than a football team, can change the rules of the game played by the entire country. The fans are equally divided on their favorite team. Politicians share the outrage through silent boycotts, sternly written appeals on formal letterhead, mutiny against the formal decorum and raised voices with bitter retorts on the media outlets of their home team.
As few police patrolling a city, the need for diplomacy and de-escalation tactics has replaced the SWAT team solution and rolling armored tanks down the street for a jaywalking violations. Many officers resigned in protest, unwilling to enforce peace and no longer a sentinel for justice hunting the streets in camouflage.
What’s left in the wake of this chaos is the domestic assault victim who is calling 911 and the officer who is waiting for backup before responding to that call.
Suddenly the righteous citizens who demanded funding a community of social workers to protect their neighborhoods are no longer comfortable walking their barking dogs at night.
So what is next? There is no clear solution and the binary decisions are too complex for a single op-ed to resolve. Corporate investments into slogans and marketing campaigns will only deepen the trenches and fortify the walls between opposing views, leaving the low income communities isolated from equality and justice being sought.
Eliminate tranches for tanks and tactical armor, instead reallocate those dollars into trainings, technology enhancements and community events. The few trending examples of police helping their community is so rare in reality, but seen by millions distorted by Instagram filters. Give the police money, but purchase goods for those they serve, not weapons to protect against them. Vermont is home to Ben & Jerry’s and with a pint can empower a protest, the same impact on free cone day with cops and peace pops with police, we can find a way to swirl both sides around a shared love.
Those who shudder at the sight of a blue light cruiser and badged officer are those who want a presence and connection from the force in their community. If you listened to their demands muffled in the fireworks of mace and exhaust from tanks blocking the street, you’re hear them say, “We want more police, that resemble us, more black faces behind the blue lights and lines. Apply the same rigor by which justice has been enforced against the black community to protect us.”
Photo by RODNAE Productions, Kelly, Life Matters
