The report just completed by the
Justice Department has declined to file charges against Officer
Darrin Wilson in the death of Michael Brown. I don't think that
surprises anyone because the level of proof required to assert that
Officer Wilson killed Brown as a result of racial bias is pretty
high. However, what the report did deliver was a damning indictment
of police practices in Ferguson, Missouri that indicate a long held
institutional bias in the police force. Now, there will be a lot of
folks that will just not see it that way and will accuse the Justice
Department under Attorney General Eric Holder of being biased itself.
I don't believe that the Justice Department is biased but I do
believe that policing practices are in dire need of realignment in
order to reassert the duty of the police to be servants of the
community. In an interview a representative of the Fraternal Order
of Police who served on the commission pointed out something that
many may consider unimportant but it is a failing that underlies the
financial support of police activities.
The report pointed out how the police
department in Ferguson had become dependent on fines and court
ordered costs to finance the operations of the police. For instance,
a person could be fined for a taillight out and be unable to pay the
fine. The courts would assess court costs and more fines for failure
to pay and the amount due would continue to increase placing undue
stress on a family already having difficulty making ends meet. In
addition, being required to show up in court takes time and will
often place a person's job in jeopardy. The costs can escalate to
hundreds or even thousands of dollars and have no comparison to the
original fine. The FOP representative said that this practice began
to take wing when state and federal dollars for local police began to
dry up after the Great Recession. This abomination that was foisted
on the American people has had many unseen costs to our society and
this is one that impacts citizens that are very often the least able
to pay or obtain adequate representation. It is a revenue stream
that does not cause negative feedback from sufficient numbers of
voters but which perverts the role of law enforcement.
With this model the police are
encouraged to write tickets to generate revenue. This was confirmed
by messages from the financial offices to the police command in
Ferguson. That it is a commonplace method used by police forces
everywhere is in little doubt. I myself have been cited for causes
that were improper. In one case the officer even admitted that I had
not actually committed the offense and wrote the citation anyway. If
I had not had knowledge of how the system operates AND had
representation I would have been required to pay the fine. In many
cases people just find it more convenient to pay the fine than appear
in court. In many more cases the alleged offender just goes to court
and takes whatever is meted out because he or she is ignorant of how
the system works. I am also personally aware of instances where
fines have been levied and when the person can't pay that person is
either fined more or given court costs which further increase the
likelihood of failure to pay and the cycle repeats. I even know of
alleged offenders who have been incarcerated because of failure to
pay and that only generates more costs since, in many ways, we charge
people to be locked up. The original offense is not subject to
incarceration but failure to pay is. Our jails are full but not only
because supposedly crime is worse but in order to generate income to
support those institutions.
Often these are the dregs of society
and so they command little compassion. It is unfortunate that we
care so little about these people that we can't generate compassion
for their plight. After all, they brought it on themselves. They
deserve whatever they get. What is most unfortunate is that it
allows justice to be perverted and people become inured to it. After
all, it happens to someone else. But justice denied is justice
belied and all of us suffer for it. When our system that is supposed
to mete out justice to all is applied differently to some than it is
to others then we are all complicit in the perversion. The worst
perversion is to ourselves when we allow our moral compass to drift
off true north because we know how or have the resources to work the
system. Or because we know that the people that matter to us will be
little affected.
This is what the Justice Department
report uncovered in Ferguson. Heaven help us, it could have been us
or any other local jurisdiction. If there was a racial component to
the bias in Ferguson it was due to African Americans often occupying
the strata of society with the least resources. However, in at least
one instance there was verifiable proof of racial jokes and
statements. When these things are allowed to persist in any
governmental institution they are like a cancer that eats away at the
respect that all citizens are due.
I want to make it clear that I am not
singling out police. This is something that permeates the entire law
enforcement structure right up through the responsible judicial
entities. And it is not just in Ferguson, it is everywhere.
My Take is this. It does not have to
be this way. Justice for all can sit at the very top of our
governmental system just as it should. How? First, fund law
enforcement and courts independently of the fees they generate to
remove the profit motive. That is what taxes are for. Second,
emphasize the community as the focal point of police service, become
a part of that community. Third, never allow bias and discrimination
of any sort to enter into loose office talk or in any other aspect of
service to the people. I admit to sometimes being cynical having
experienced so much of it in daily life but, as the saying goes, hope
springs eternal. Without hope we have nothing.
No comments:
Post a Comment