Most of us assume that when we see an act played out in front of us, we’re all seeing the same thing. Of course, we know intellectually that there are some variations in perspective, but we generally believe that no reasonable person can see the same thing we do yet arrive at a diametrically opposed conclusion. Wrongo.
Via Injustice Everywhere, Packratt’s new blog, what happened to Christopher Harris in Seattle is both a horror story and a cautionary tale. From the Seattle Times :
Via Injustice Everywhere, Packratt’s new blog, what happened to Christopher Harris in Seattle is both a horror story and a cautionary tale. From the Seattle Times :
There’s a dispute as to whether the cops identified themselves in the first place, or left Harris to think at the outset that he was being chased by black-clothed attackers. If he knew they were cops, then he shouldn’t have run. But once he stopped running and posed no threat, the running officer continued toward him, slamming him so that his head struck the wall behind him causing him grave injury.The deputies, who are assigned to Metro Transit, were working the graveyard shift patrolling downtown bus routes and shelters. They were searching for a suspect in connection with the beating and stabbing of a man at a convenience store, but detectives later determined Harris was wrongly identified by a witness and wasn’t involved in the assault.Seattle lawyer Sim Osborn, who has been retained by Christopher Harris’ family, said both deputies wore black uniforms and yelled to Harris from a half-block away in a darkened alley. He said one witness reported the two deputies didn’t identify themselves as law-enforcement officers until after Harris began running down the alley sometime after 1 a.m. Sunday. Osborn said Harris stopped running a few blocks away, apparently after realizing the two men chasing him were deputies.“He was blindsided,” Osborn said of Harris. “It was not a tackle but an absolute, bone-crushing hit.” Harris’ head struck a concrete wall. Since then, he’s been in a coma and on life support at Harborview Medical Center.
At this point we stop and take account. Excessive force? Needless violence? An officer who went one giant step too far? Bear in mind, Harris wasn’t the man they were seeking. He was mistakenly identified and had nothing to do with any assault. Except as the recipient of a blow that will change, if not end, his life. We can all agree that the officer should not have delivered the final blow, right?
Not right. Not even close, as demonstrated in comment after comment by a group of men who, like this officer, consider the people on the street a crash dummy to sacrifice to the God of their own safety. If the pain of watching Harris isn’t bad enough, consider these comments from that safe-haven forum for our boys in blue, OfficerOne.com :
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Report AbuseIt’s unclear whether Harris’ flight was appropriate, there being a dispute whether the officers yelled out “police” before chasing him. But even giving the officers the benefit of the doubt on this one, the absence of humanity on the back end should cause any viewer to feel both deeply saddened by the cops reactions as well as deeply afraid. It is a resoundingly clear view that our lives, the lives of those they are paid to protect and serve, are subject to sacrifice with the full support of the brotherhood.
As the comments make clear, there is a depth of loathing by officers toward citizens (not to mention lawyers, but they are on firmer ground there) that makes them view this video and see a world that eludes the rest of us. We cannot improve our condition until we understand and appreciate that a primary difference exists between what cops see and what seems obvious to everyone else. I don’t think the commenters at PoliceOne are being disingenuous; I believe that they have enunciated exactly what they see on this video. I believe that their vision places us in a state of perpetual fear that our most vicious assault will come from those we believe are there to protect us, and that afterward, they will applaud themselves for the harm they have done.
A few commenters at least felt badly that Harris was so badly injured, though he still deserved it, as opposed to those who called Harris “dirtbag”. Is this the best we can hope for? Will we ever share the same image?
H/T Karl Mansour at Blue Must Be True.
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Seeing It Through The Cops Eyes, Part 2
In an effort to appreciate the “new professionalism” that guides our police, as noted by Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia whenever he explains why
Seeing It Through The Cops Eyes, Part 2
In an effort to appreciate the “new professionalism” that guides our police, as noted by Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia whenever he explains why
Seeing It Through The Cops’ Eyes, Part 2
In an effort to appreciate the “new professionalism” that guides our police, as noted by Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia whenever he explains why
I’m a kind of creative guy, in a need-to-take-my-meds kind of way. Yet I myself find it difficult to imagine a use-of-force scenario that some cops — or their cop-wannabe fans — could not justify and support somehow.
Any encounter between cop and non-cop can be spun by cop to require violence on cop’s part. The question is — will society accept the “you just don’t understand” appeal to being outside logic and normal rules, or will society apply logic and reason to the situation?
For the better part of my legal career, my answer would have been that no one cares until it happens to them or someone they love. Today, I am cautiously optimistic that with video and blogs, there is a greater potential for unaffected people to recognize and maybe even care about the problem. If that happens, maybe society will reject blind faith in the police appeal to trust and emotion. Maybe. But in my naive optimism, I keep trying to help move the idea forward. As do you.
You covered it about right, cops today feel above the law, also when I was a cop there were many people who were not guilty of anything and would run from the police. Most of the time it was because people fear the police. The attitude of police today leaves much to be desired. If they want respect they must earn it.
As a former LEO, I understand how the events in the video happened. Some departments ask officers to detain at gunpoint in these situations. Others mandate “positive physical police action.” I myself might have pepper sprayed the suspect, or more likely, ordered him to the ground at gunpoint.
I’m not comfortable with what I see in the video, but it is impossible to look at 25 seconds of tape and make a judgment. I would note that the deputies appear to be in uniform, making the argument about identification a little silly. If you run from a uniformed police officer, regardless of reason, you assume a risk of physical peril. Right or wrong, that is the state of the rule of law in America today.
The most troubling aspect of this post is the vitriol of the comments of the apparent police officers on policeone.com. The “Thin Blue Line” mentality is totally out of control, and I am disturbed that people who think this way are sworn to protect us.
a dark uniform at night in low light is indistinguishable from generic dark clothing.
Until police officers are required to wear fluorescent, highly reflective gear with an obvious police pattern from dusk to dawn they should not be allowed to use any type of direct physical contact force until the person verbally acknowledges that the person is a police officer; or you know, pulls a gun on the officer.
Anything other than a similar policy and the current arguments held by the police hold no logical ground.
With all due respect, Steve, you are being silly. Highly reflective gear from dusk to dawn would be tactically dangerous to officers. Also, your assertion that an officer should be required to wait until a suspect “verbally acknowledges” the LEO is flat out hilarious. Subjects contacted by police officers range from curious to uncooperative to intoxicated to dangerous. If they subject refuses to acknowledge the officer, he or she would simply be able to ignore the rule of law.
Your premise and proposal are ill considered at best.
Thank you so much for drawing attention to the disturbing and nauseating trend among police officers to view the public as pawns to be sacrificed to the officers’s safety.
Amazing how they keep telling us they are risking their lives for us, and then in the same breath make it clear that they would rather risk and take the lives of countless innocents than face whatever risk they’d encounter from very usually unarmed people in vulnerable positions, while the officers possess number, bulletproof vests, guns, helicoptors, vehicles, et cetera.
When we question injuries and deaths, rather than respond with regret, they attempt to bully us into submission.
In Stalinist Soviet Russia the KGB told people its officers risked their lives for the public. Yet this didn’t make it true of the tens of thousands of KGB members who hastened death for the 100,000,000 victims of Soviet fascism.