If There Are Good Cops Out There, Prove It

There are no good cops. Suggested Reading Flint’s Water Crisis Ends With A Major Development Songs by White Artists You Can Add to Your Black Cookout Playlist NBA’s Mike Beasley’s Alleged Gambling Issues Have Him Owing Money to Who?? Video will return here when scrolled back into view Trump’s Tariffs Might Stick Around. What Should…

There are no good cops.

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Trump’s Tariffs Might Stick Around. What Should We Buy Now?
Trump’s Tariffs Might Stick Around. What Should We Buy Now?

Yes, you read that right. From where I sit, right now, in this moment in time, in the wake of tragic incidents that have transpired over the last few weeks, there are no good cops in this country.ย Not when another innocent black manโ€”this time, 18-year-old Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo.โ€”is gunned down while minding his damn business and yet another unarmed black teen โ€œsuspectโ€ lies dead on a city street.

I didnโ€™t always feel this way.ย As I started my radio broadcast career, whenever an incident of police misconduct would cross my radar, I would say things on air like, โ€œThis isnโ€™t a reflection on all the decent police out there every day serving the public good โ€ฆ โ€ or โ€œLetโ€™s not let one bad apple โ€ฆ โ€

But no more.

There are a lot of bad apples out there spoiling bunches of departments, and every incident of police brutality or an unarmed teenagerโ€™s death reflects on every police officer in his or her respective ranks.ย Weโ€™ve seen too many incidents, after the fact, of police attacking the reputations of their victims, fabricating reports and planting evidence, all in the name of covering up the truth.ย And my question is, whoโ€™s policing them?

I donโ€™t know exactly when I changed my view.ย Maybe it was after 92-year-old Kathryn Johnston was killed in her home after a drug raid on the wrong house; or maybe when Sean Bell was shot down the night before his wedding; or maybe it was when a Philly news helicopter taped more than a dozen cops beating three โ€œsuspectsโ€ after a brief car chase. Iโ€™m not sure when it was, but one day I realized I was tired of the silence.ย And one thing all these incidents and the countless others around the countryโ€”reported and unreportedโ€”have in common is silence. We donโ€™t hear from the โ€œgood cops.โ€

No press conferences denouncing the actions of a few bad apples. No open letters putting the bad guys on notice that abusing the color of authority will not be tolerated. No public petitions demanding action from higher-ups and local governmentโ€”and absolutely no change in police-union leadership. Sure, there are the requisite pressers after an incident by a police chief and possibly the mayor, but nothing from the rank and file, nothing from police groups and associations.

The Blue Wall of Silence is deafening.

What we do hear are plenty of excusesโ€”police brass and city officials all but tripping over themselves to get to a microphone to announce, โ€œWe thought he had a gun,โ€ โ€œShe refused to complyโ€ or โ€œThe suspect had priors.โ€

And before you know it, the police officer in question is the victim and the whole incident becomes the communityโ€™s fault or the parentsโ€™ fault, until finally it falls on the person in the hospital or the morgue, and now this person is responsible for his or her own condition. And then thereโ€™s the catchall phrase you hear from police commissioners everywhere:

โ€œBeing a police officer is stressful.โ€

Maybe. But being an innocent civilian confronted by police is pretty damn stressful, alsoโ€”especially if you are black or brown. And if it seems as if thereโ€™s an uptick in incidents lately, itโ€™s probably because of the sheer number of cameras around and more officers getting caught in the act, but the feeling isnโ€™t purely anecdotal, and police violence isnโ€™t something new. In 2007, USA Today reported Justice Department statistics that showed a surge in cases of police brutality since 9/11.ย In addition, the Cato Instituteโ€™s 2010 National Police Misconduct Statistics and Reporting Project found that โ€œthe overall U.S. average police misconduct rate appears to be climbing in comparison to both last yearโ€™s rate and the previously reported rate 3 months ago โ€ฆ โ€ and โ€œthe number of officers involved in excessive force reports appear to be demonstrating an overall trend increase since the beginning of 2010.โ€

So where is the change?ย Right now thereโ€™s really none, and there will be none as long as so-called good cops stay quiet.

From my own experience taking numerous calls from Philadelphia police over the years, I know there are officers who want to speak out and take action to change the culture.ย But theyโ€™re afraid, afraid of reprisals from higher-ups, afraid of retaliation from their peers. Some were even afraid that cops wouldnโ€™t back them up on the street.

The โ€œbad policeโ€ culture is so broad and so deep that even the department designated to go after them is called the โ€œrat squad.โ€ Think about that.

Meanwhile, as we march for justice, police departments demand that we, the citizens, help them solve crimes.

So Iโ€™m challenging you, good copsโ€”if youโ€™re out thereโ€”show yourselves. You canโ€™t solve crimes without us, and we canโ€™t solve the problem of police brutality without you. We need you. Michael Brown needed you. Eric Garner needed you. Marlene Pinnock needed you.ย Kenneth Chamberlain Sr. needed you. Aiyana Jones needed you.ย Now more than ever.

If there are good cops out there, prove it.

Also on The Root: โ€œBlack and Unarmed: Men Without Weapons Killed by Law Enforcementโ€

Albert L. Butler is a Philadelphia-based writer and broadcaster. Follow him on Twitter.

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