Massachusetts Daily Collegian

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A free and responsible press serving the UMass community since 1890

Massachusetts Daily Collegian

A free and responsible press serving the UMass community since 1890

Massachusetts Daily Collegian

American police are scared and lack all decency

(velo_city/Flickr)
(velo_city/Flickr)

It is becoming more and more clear that police officers in the United States are entirely irrational. Earlier this month, a white Cleveland police officer shot and killed twelve year-old African-American Tamir Rice because he was carrying a BB gun that resembled a real gun. Now several white and one Latino Cleveland police officer have filed a lawsuit, claiming that non-African American police officers are treated more harshly than African-American officers in incidents involving deadly force. In any normal circumstance, a lawsuit of this nature would be completely ridiculous and unfounded. In the wake of Tamir Rice’s death, this suit is not only idiotic, it is sickening.

Discussing the circumstance involving Rice’s death is only pointless, because police killing an unarmed twelve-year-old boy is completely unjustifiable. If anything at all, this case is just new and amazing evidence of police brutality and racism in this country. It’s almost impossible to imagine a white twelve-year-old ever being shot, regardless of circumstance.

In the United States, African-American police officers account for a little more than 10 percent of all fatal police shootings. In Cleveland, African-American police officers represent an incredibly small percentage of the present police force. The number of black Cleveland police officers is so low, that when I examined charts displaying the ratio of black to white police officers in Cleveland, it was nearly impossible sometimes to see any of the light blue representing African-American officers in different regions of Cleveland. The green representing white officers was almost exclusively all that was visible.

So, this sparked my curiosity a bit further. I began to do a bit of searching online. It’s possible I wasn’t using the right key words or looking quite deeply enough, but I couldn’t even find a publicized incident of an African-American officer using deadly force in Cleveland. Considering the tiny number of African-American police officers in the city this isn’t surprising. I’d love to hear of an example of African-American officers in Cleveland using deadly force – that way we could possibly use the information as comparison and see if African-American officers really aren’t reprimanded as seriously. Unfortunately, for the case of the officers filing suit, I couldn’t find any incidents.

It is also important to examine the police shooting that sparked reprimand for a handful of officers, and thus the eventual lawsuit. Two years ago, African-Americans Timothy Russell and Malissa Williams led police on a high-speed chase that ended with 13 police officers firing a total of 137 shots into their Chevy Malibu. No weapons were found inside of the vehicle. Both Williams and Russell were shot over 20 times. What ever happened to shooting a tire out or disabling a vehicle? It seems to me that an officer of the law would have been much more heroic by ramming the car in chase off the road, or honestly done anything else rather than stand afar from any possible danger and shower the suspects in a hailstorm of bullets. I don’t know about you, but I’ve seen plenty of police chases on television end in a much less execution-like manner.

Interesting also, is the actual reason that many of the officers involved in the chase and shooting are angry. The officers were placed on three days administrative leave and then a short period of restricted duty, usually about 45 days. These officers are upset to the point of lawsuit, because they lost work for less than a week and then had more, “boring and menial tasks,” such as desk duty during their period of restricted duty. So, typical of the police, they got upset because they were bored. After all, boredom is a pretty harsh punishment for obliterating life without regard for reason. These cops aren’t only reckless – they don’t even have a shred of conscious or self-doubt after causing the death of unarmed citizens. There is a serious problem when our police force doesn’t even blink in the consideration of the death of people they are paid to protect. It seems like they only care for their own lives. Our police officers are immoral, fearful and reckless. I don’t say racist, because they are blatantly racist. How much more obvious could it be?

We need a complete overhaul of our police force in this country. Consistently they are allowed to act completely out of order and hide behind their title without any serious repercussions when they seriously screw up. It’s obvious in Ferguson with the lack of indictment for former police Officer Darren Wilson. It’s obvious in Cleveland where in the same month police officers shoot and kill an unarmed 12-year-old African-American boy and file a suit for wrongful discrimination over slight discipline after brutally killing two unarmed people. The police are supposed to put their life on the line to protect us, not cower behind their gun and badge at the first sign of danger. People are supposed to be innocent until proven guilty, but apparently in the United States a gun can proudly serve as a judge and jury.

Ian Hagerty is a Collegian columnist and can be reached at [email protected].

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  • L

    LauraJan 1, 2015 at 3:41 am

    GREAT article! Another big part of the problem is half the populations unconditional lover affair/fetish with anything in a uniform. Some will go to absurd lengths to defend a bad cop. They’ve drank the Blue Kool aid they just won’t admit it. They get their ideas of police from TV. I don’t think all cops are bad but those that are bad are making the other 0.000002% look really bad.

    Reply
  • W

    wDec 6, 2014 at 7:54 am

    Now people can see why blacks can’t be properly defended or protected in this country. We’re dogs compared to law enforcement, and the comments thread knows it.

    I just thought that if I did the right things and was a good person, that I would be fine. That I could be a shining example of an average black person and maybe show consciously and subconsciously racist whites that I’m not scary.

    Apparently I’ll always be scary.

    Reply
  • B

    BillDec 5, 2014 at 11:12 am

    To generalize police officers like he does is appalling. How would the author feel if an editorial was titled “African Americans are all criminals”, just because they commit crimes at a higher rate than most other races.

    Reply
  • S

    School parentDec 5, 2014 at 12:05 am

    As a school parent who is paying the Student Activity Fee that subsidizes the Collegian, I am disgusted by this foolish rant. Police Officers put their lives on the line every day, and risk their safety so that ignorant columnists can spew their bile while drinking lattes in the warm comfort of their dorm rooms. While I have no cops as family or friends, I recognize that they allow us all to live in peace. In very rare instances, there is the use of excessive force. There are a few bad apples in every profession, even on college campuses.

    Reply
    • Z

      Zac BearsDec 5, 2014 at 1:17 pm

      Student Activities Fee doesn’t subsidize the Collegian. We are independently-funded.

      Reply
  • J

    Jay AllainDec 4, 2014 at 3:27 pm

    No one likes to be stereotyped. To say the police en masse “lack all decency” is absurd. It’s about as logical as saying “All dentists are butchers.” Hardly.
    Granted, one has a right to be incensed about police abuses. But labeling all cops is just ridiculous.

    Reply
  • J

    Jay AllainDec 4, 2014 at 3:27 pm

    No one likes to be stereotyped. To say the police en masse “lack all decency” is absurd. It’s about as logical as saying “All dentists are butchers.” Hardly.
    Granted, one has a right to be incensed about police abuses. But labeling all cops is just ridiculous.

    Reply
  • R

    Richard HertzDec 4, 2014 at 1:56 pm

    Generalize much? What a disgraceful rant. You better really hope you never need a cop. I can’t believe I am saying this, but Charles Barkley of all people is the only person talking any sense on this issue. Police racism is an absolutely false narrative, a total fiction, in Ferguson, in NYC, in Cleveland, and anywhere else. Real racism…you can find it alive and well in St. Louis, where white people have been bludgeoned to death by TEENAGERS out of race reprisals. Or maybe as a gang initiation. Or maybe just for fun. If black people stop targeting white people for crime and stop perpetrating such an amazingly disproportionate amount of violent crime, perhaps the police can start being more “color blind” about who they go after. I watch all of this media coverage and faux outrage about Ferguson and Staten Island with utter disgust. No one is actually focusing on the real issues, nor the result. Charles Barkley is more of a leader than the Jackson, Farrakhan, Sharpton band of criminal opportunists. These college editorials about racism are about 40 years too late, and very light on correct facts, proper context or with any understanding of the law whatsoever.

    Reply
  • S

    StephanieDec 4, 2014 at 1:42 pm

    Apparently, no one in this comment sections know what an Op-Ed is… Awkward. Yes, he’s opinionated about the issue. The article is clearly categorized as OPINION & EDITORIAL. Just saying.

    I thoroughly enjoyed the article. And I’d just like to say that the whole “Who is he going to call when he’s in trouble?” question is hilarious, because most, if not all, African Americans feel (and rightly so!) uncomfortable calling the police when they’re in trouble. Somehow, the police always turns the frame around and blames it on them. I won’t say all our cops are blatantly racist, because we have to recognize that there’s a system in place that unconsciously forces them to believe that people of darker skin colors are more suspicious, but we’d be lying if we didn’t admit that there’s a problem with a police force, and racism is one of them. (There clearly are, however, blatantly racist cops on the force.)

    My point, I guess, is that you can’t deny that there’s an issue with our police force, and it’s important to talk about it. It’s dishonest to say that these policemen are reacting the same way to issues with African Americans and issues with white Americans. When was the last time you heard about a police officer shooting a white 12 year old boy? Go take a look at the #CrimingWhileWhite and #AliveWhileBlack hashtag, and educate yourselves. There’s a difference, and it won’t be changed until you all recognize it.

    Reply
  • J

    John Lloyd ScharfDec 4, 2014 at 1:04 pm

    The inconvenient truth is Wilson was not defending himself. He fired his weapon twice – hitting Brown once and the wall of an apartment once. Then he chased Brown 50 yards and then shot ten more times to execute Brown.

    The inconvenient truth about the NYPD is the officer used excessive force prohibited by policy in the form of a chokehold. When the man was having a heart attack, like most, he said he could not breath. Bottom line? The man was killed by a negligent homicide for selling cigarettes and resisting arrest when he was pounced on. Neither of those are capital crimes.

    https://fbcdn-sphotos-c-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xpa1/v/t1.0-9/10511239_712501888857995_7529229313901480760_n.png?oh=9714f8961e02f4bb799d03dd3ee958f1&oe=550F3AB0&__gda__=1427990024_4ee164ca18aef3014aa4de27ab784f20

    https://scontent-a-sjc.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xaf1/v/t1.0-9/1508987_712501885524662_2762226530205091113_n.png?oh=4b7fa5f9ccae06419cae488570423424&oe=55036E84

    Reply
  • P

    PigStateNewsDec 4, 2014 at 11:39 am

    At least 1,018 people have been killed by U.S. police since January 1, 2014.
    At least 1,772 have been killed since May 1, 2013.
    https://www.facebook.com/KilledByPolice

    Reply
  • D

    DeanDec 4, 2014 at 2:34 am

    Police brutality is not fiction. You will not see such police ruthlessness in Europe. As long ad police have full control of the situation, weceill never have democracy. I am not calling for lawlessness, but I am calling for review if police engagement rules and what level of control and brutality they are allowed. This situation cannot continue. Police now are the judge andthe jury and the executioner. Where is due process please….

    Reply
  • O

    ozzie osDec 4, 2014 at 2:31 am

    ..Everything you said is so true,,but the sad thing about. It is anything. Going to change.HALF A Dozen cops. With guns in fear for their l
    ives from one. unarmed man. Its songs like the klan all over again

    Reply
  • R

    Robby McCarrellDec 4, 2014 at 2:11 am

    Somehow this headline and a link to this disgusting piece of tripe you are trying to pass off for journalism ended up on my homepage via a Google News widget.

    The first line of the “article” says it all…about your level of maturity that is.

    “It is becoming more and more clear that police officers in the United States are entirely irrational.”

    Really Ian? Is that anything like an accurate statement or some Freshman over-generalization? You tell me.

    The rest of the “article” is filled with stereotyping, misinformation, and outright nonsense. Its really sad.

    Clearly you are a student writer in need of a competent editor and a good spanking from your father.

    Please do us all a favor, learn some respect for the vast majority of police officers that keep you and I safe each day and grow up.

    YOU LACK ALL DECENCY.

    Reply
  • O

    Oladapo OdumosuDec 4, 2014 at 2:06 am

    God bless you.

    Reply
  • A

    A. MericanDec 4, 2014 at 1:55 am

    You’re a moron.

    Reply
  • J

    joyce jenkinsDec 4, 2014 at 1:07 am

    You are suppose to print news, not rant and rave about something you don’t have a clue about. Get yourself hired has a cop, put your life on the line for pittance pay. Then, come back and write about something you know, then maybe you might be able to write a piece worth reading.

    Reply
  • P

    PatDec 4, 2014 at 1:06 am

    Ian Hagerty is obviously a cop hater. What a disgusting, biased article.
    ..
    Next time he’s in trouble who is he going to call???

    Reply
  • J

    Johnny ShaughnessyDec 4, 2014 at 12:28 am

    This author is s jackass.

    Reply