I know I promised not to get political here in my little corner of the world, but sometimes it’s hard not to sound off about something so personal as last week’s comments by President Obama about the arrest of Professor Gates. I let this digest for a while (something we all should practice) before commenting. Here goes:
I have no problem with the situation where Sgt. Crowley arrested Mr. Gates after the latter was questioned regarding possibly breaking into his own house and allegedly became disorderly. What transpired between Mr. Gates and Sgt. Crowley is not for me to judge because I was not present, I do not know all the facts and I do not know the motivation of either individual involved.
What DOES bother me deeply is that a man surely considered to hold one of the most powerful positions on the planet could publicly address this matter by admitting he knows nothing about what happened and then choose sides and make a public condemnation of the arresting officer. Every day cops are asked, often under very stressful circumstances, to exhibit patience, professionalism and, most of all, a demeanor of objectivity when dealing with the public they serve. To think that the President of the United States could stand in front of a national television audience and make a completely uninformed statement to America, condeming a police officer he has never met for the sake of defending a friend . . . well, it angered the hell out of me. Now it mostly just saddens me to know where President Obama really stands when it comes to those who serve the public and risk their lives for others.
Even worse, however, is that the President didn’t stop there. He went on to arbitrarily paint American law enforcement officers - past, present and I can only assume future - as racist people bent on treating African-Americans and Hispanics unfairly. That is quite a large brush with which to paint.
I cannot begin in this space, or in my mind, to dissect the relationship between law enforcement and the minority community in this country. I don’t think any single person has that ability. I am not naive enough to think there are not racist cops in the world - I am sure there are, per capita, as many racist cops as there are racist people in the general population. However, I do know being a white cop working in a majority minority municipality (Did you follow that one?) I have been the target of racial hatred on nearly a daily basis. The traffic on that street flows in both directions.
For the past 15 years, I have patrolled mostly on Saginaw’s east side and, more specifically, the northeast side. I practice law enforcement in an area that is probably occupied by 80% - 90% “minorities.” Simple math dictates that nearly all my calls and traffic stops involve non-whites. Additionally, because of where I work, most of the calls to which I respond are minority-on-minority crime. It’s just a fact of my working life that I must deal with. If the insinuation is that I’m a “racist” simply because my interactions are mostly with African-Americans or Hispanics, then how do I, as a cop, become “not racist?” The only answer, it would seem, is for me not to respond whenever the suspect is thought to be African-American or Hispanic or of some other minority background. That, of course, is not an option because the only persons hurt in that scenerio are the victims - usually African-Americans or Hispanics - that have called for help.
By the way, over the years I have pondered almost on a daily basis why there is so much crime and violence in the minority community in the city I serve. The best answer that I and my co-workers have come up with is that crime and violence are not dictated by skin color; they are dictated moreso by economics and education. Saginaw, like many Rustbelt manufacturing cities, is a fairly under-educated community with a poor economy and a higher-then-acceptable poverty rate. These factors, and not a person’s race, are determining factors in crime and, therefore, crime control. I think most cops understand that.
By the way, I have been in Sgt. Crowley’s situation dozens of times in my career, being sent to a house or business in response to someone of a “minority” background possibly breaking in. Thankfully, most of the time the persons I encounter, if it is their residence or business, gladly provide me with proof of such and the situation is resolved. On a few occassions, the persons I have encountered have become belligerent and accused me of being racist, even when the person who called is of the same race as the suspected offender and of a different race than me. In those situations, I normally take the abuse as best I can and try to explain things logically. Unfortunately, logic is often a useless tool with those bent on racial baiting and illogical temper tantrums.
I am asked every work day to protect the citizens my city - citizens of this great country. Through this incident I have come to one personal conclusion - I cannot shake the feeling that the President of the United States is not a friend to those he asks to protect it. This, more than anything, saddens me. And I don’t think sitting down for a beer will boost my spirits.
Thanks for listening.