thecrimeshop

Police shootings – to react violently is the answer

Or is it?

I read an article today with a headline that read “Maybe violence is the answer.”

The piece was about the recent violent protests in Charlotte, NC because officers shot and killed Keith Lamont Scott and the decision in Tulsa to prosecute officer Betty Shelby who shot and killed Terence Crutcher.

The article was well thought out and well written and it even made some really valid points.

I was shocked by it however, I must admit because it was rather suggestive. 

I do not believe that reacting in a violent manner will win this battle, I also do not believe that it is warranted. People’s lives who, are not cops paid the price for the violent reaction in Charlotte. Store and shop owners paid the price, people who had a car parked in the wrong place at the wrong time paid the price.

I also do not believe that the decision in Tulsa had much to do with the violent reaction from Charlotte that was splashed all over TV networks. They were two different decisions, in two different cities and in two different states, that police the communities they serve, differently.

Two different cities who also had two entirely different takes on whether or not to release the video they had, some or all, didn’t matter. One city was for it, the other didn’t really want to.

I worked for a number of years with the Arvada, Colorado Police Department. For the most part they have really good cops on the force. Citizens love the police in that town.

That department as a whole however is really quite successful in terms of its relationship with the community that is serves.

They had a problem with a group of officers once. They resolved that problem really, really quickly. Those problem cops, they didn’t end up working for the department after the issue.

You tend to see that throughout quite a few towns in Colorado. Police seem to have found the niche for being able to maintain the delicate balance between law and order and developing long standing strong relationships with the communities they serve.

Now take a look at the Oakland, California Police department and its history, they seem to have no issue letting things go until the Feds have to step in. The same with Chicago.

Different departments, different leadership and different ways of handling problems.

And it does make a difference.

I get that people of color are fed up, hell many whites get it, and guess what, we are just as fed up. We are on your side, but trying to make the whole of today’s white society pay for what a cop did or what the whites of generations past did long ago is quite ignorant.

We can only fix the future, not the past.

It makes no sense to make today’s world pay for a past none of us, had a hand in dealing out. And by us, that means all of here in america.

Isn’t our species trying to evolve past the need to react to a situation as if we are animals who cannot think past violent behavior?

I keep seeing a lot of talk going around about this, from congress to neighbors, I’m just not seeing it being put into action yet.

Why are we not reacting the same way as the citizens of Chicago gun each other down or is that still eh-okay? Is it easier to justify a citizen killing another citizen/child who may or may not have had a gun? It’s just ok?

It is just as bad as a cop shooting someone.

Throughout history violence was always the answer, always. It’s how wars were won, it’s how slaves became free, it’s how religious leaders converted non-believers.

Did winning really win a whole lot?

Today’s generations are less likely to believe in any religion let alone practice it, black’s are still facing issues with racism and oppression, we may have won wars but what did we really end up with? Land if we were lucky, but mostly just bragging rights and debt.

The question is, is being a society that reacts to violence with violence truly who we are today?

We still feel that violence is the way?

Isn’t that the pot calling the kettle black?

I find it funny, our nation as a whole, for the vast majority of citizens, doesn’t matter what race they are, balk at the violence in the middle east, which is now spreading across Europe.

That violence is largely due to sectarian, different religious views and ideals. Not to mention oppression, rejection, meaning other countries and/or societies treat those from the middle east as lesser than they themselves are…and many no longer want to take in refugees from certain places because, we have decided they are all bad, evil and so much less than we are.

Those Islamic terrorists, they justify their violent tactics and behaviors through interpreting the Quran and Hadith according to their own goals and intentions.

In a way, when you think about it, our violent reactions to what is happening in our own country is sort of the same.

We react violently sometimes and in some cases, against innocent individuals because of our own personal goals and intentions.

Using violence to fight police shooting and police use of force is a dangerous game that neither player will win.

Cristal M Clark

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