Armed and Ready

Okay, I hate to sound like a mouthpiece for an institution that makes serious mistakes and ends up on the defensive. But, forewarned is forearmed, and you should know that what is about to follow is a bit of a defense of such an institution.

Some cops in New York shoot fifty rounds into a car holding three black men, including a man who was to be married later that day. The would-be groom dies and his two sidekicks are seriously wounded. A 92-year old woman in Atlanta feels the need to arm herself to answer the door to cops who then shoot her twice, killing her. A man in Oregon is tasered by police over twenty times and eventually dies. The coroner rules it a heart attack from the stress of the repeated shock from the tasers.

We are shocked and appalled by events such as these. As well we should be. But only because we can afford to be shocked and appalled. Only in a place where police violence relatively unaccepted can we freak out when it happens.

Most police officers in this country are good people. I don't blindly follow authority figures. I don't blindly accept that police officers have all the right answers and make all the right decisions. But they have tough jobs. They are placed in difficult situations in which decisions must be made quickly; they are placed in difficult situations in which instincts are often what leads them, not well thought out, rational decisions. In some ways it's actually shocking that every American city doesn't have several stories every month about police overstepping their bounds. Street bureaucrats gone wild. Let's make it a television show and call it Cops. Oh, wait.

On the other hand, because of these news stories, the stories about suicide bombs, insurgent killings, beheadings, and military torture coming out of Iraq and Afghanistan disappear below the fold of our newspapers. Our 30-second news bites on NPR are all about how the narc squad in New York is suspended, rather than about how dozens of beheaded bodies are found every single week in Iraq. This is a country the size of two big western states (let's say two Idahos). Dozens of people die in a horrible way. And instead we're worried about one guy who gets killed by some cops? Don't get me wrong. It's horrible. I feel awful for his family and his would-be bride. But I feel like the constant numbers coming out of Iraq and Afghanistan and Darfur and all those other places in turmoil desensitize us to their power. Six dead in Iraq. Oh, well. A dozen killed by a suicide bomb. Why don't they just leave?

But take it out of Iraq. Six dead in Minneapolis. A dozen killed by a suicide bomb in Tuscon. That would shock.

So, perhaps this isn't a defense of police in the United States. Maybe it's a indictment about the insensitive nature of the media. I don't know. It's just so frustrating to listen to people call in to Talk of the Nation (if my NPR junkie nature was not clear to you before now, it should be abundantly clear at this point) and complain about how horrible the police are. I scream at my radio. Do they know how good they have it? It's not perfect, but if we're arming people we've trained to kill, how can we expect perfect?

Instead, let's discuss how the media could better handle it so that we can get a better understanding of the death and slaughter happening in our world.