I want to clearly state that I understand the police have a very tough job. Let me also clearly state that most police, most of the time, do that job without significant problems, and without too much hassle on anybody’s part. In the process, they help keep order and provide actual security for most of us, most of the time.
But, at an increasingly frightening frequency, some Portland police officers have gone beyond simply carrying guns to killing people with them.
It is these officers who are destroying the police department and civil life in Portland.
Too strong a statement?
Think about this: each individual officer competed for the job. Each officer went through a battery of physical and psychological tests to get hired. After being hired, each officer received the training the Police Department determined is necessary to do the job. One might reasonably conclude that each officer is a professional, with training and experience sufficient to do the job.
Therefore, it is reasonable to conclude that any action by a police officer that is unacceptable would be cause for discipline or termination, depending on the severity of the seriousness of the action.
And yet, people are being killed by police officers. Unarmed people. Citizens who are already in custody. Folks who have simply been stopped by officers without being suspected of breaking the law. And the officers involved face no serious discipline. The “justification” is often that the officer was “in fear for his life”. The problem with that is of course that it is an extremely subjective evaluation, and absent any meaningful review, is tacit permission to kill people who have done no wrong.
The citizens of Portland have tried, for at least 30 years that I know of, to get some kind of effective citizen review of police activity. It has not happened.
And citizens continue to die at the hands of Portland police.
Increasingly, the police are seen as the enemy. Unfortunately, if this trend is not addressed effectively, at some point the relationship between police and citizenry will go beyond a feeling of fear to one of occupation.
Perhaps it is time that the Portland Police were really held responsible for their actions.
And corporations too, while we’re at it.
What do you think?
