Oregon Department of Transportation
Each day, my Google alerts inform me of two or three officer-involved shootings. That seems about right. Since the The Washington Post began counting two years ago, the lives of 2,000 citizens have been taken by police.
There are many reasons for this high level of carnage, including that America have a high number of firearms per capita, and that many of these deaths involve persons who point a firearm at police or refuse to disarm. But one factor here is the growing militarization of our nation’s police in both image and equipment.
Journalists including Radley Balko in his book Rise of the Warrior Cop, have documented this troubling trend. While President Obama put restrictions on the federal government sharing surplus military equipment with police, President Trump has reopened the supply line.
According to The New York Times, “Police departments will now have access to military surplus equipment typically used in warfare, including grenade launchers, armored vehicles and bayonets.” The paper quotes Attorney General Jeff Sessions calling this equipment “lifesaving gear.”
It is no such thing. In fact, it is likely to result in more loss of life.
Years ago, I was one of the few police chiefs in the nation who outfitted our officers in identifiable blazers and moved away from military titles like sergeant, lieutenant, or captain. Why? Because police in a democracy are not to be viewed by those whom they police as occupying soldiers but rather community co-workers.
When I see military-grade firearms, rocket launchers, mine-resistant vehicles and camouflaged clothing positioned as part and parcel of today’s policing, I become very worried. This presentation to the community gives all the wrong messages. People do not obey the law because there’s a cop on the corner; they obey it because it is the right thing to do and it is best for community life. That’s the message police need to highlight.
When police become an occupying force in a neighborhood, they lose their effectiveness, which is in large part based on the degree of trust that residents have in law enforcement. Conversely, when citizens trust and respect their police, they work with them and police, in turn, do better and work in a much safer environment. I learned that years ago during the tumultuous years of civil rights and anti-war protests.
Policing a free society is a difficult job and we need our best citizens to do it. Police should model who we want to be—a people who can negotiate difference without resorting to violence, and who are respectful of one another’s individual rights. This is the key to creating safe and stable communities.
David Couper, an Episcopal priest, was chief of police in Madison, Wisconsin, from 1972 to 1993.