\u201cMuch of the history of policing is not flattering,\u201d Juneau Police Department Chief Bryce Johnson bravely admitted to the entire Juneau community just days after the horrible ambushes of police officers in Dallas and Baton Rouge. \u201cAt many points in American history, the police enforced the status quo that was often unfair or brutal to disfavored groups.\u201d <\/p>\n
This is precisely why Colin Kaepernick\u2019s protest should be respected by us all, including the members of the Santa Clara Police Officers\u2019 Association (SCPOA) who threatened to boycott their job at 49er\u2019s Levi stadium.<\/p>\n
Now I don\u2019t know what oath is taken by officers of the Santa Clara police force. But their response to Kaepernick\u2019s protest violates the one Johnson may have sworn to uphold. The International Association of Chiefs of Police requires him to hold himself and others accountable for their actions.<\/p>\n
Whether or not you agree with Kaepernick, his act is protected by the Constitution. But the SCPOA accused him of \u201cinappropriate workplace behavior\u201d that infringed on their right to work in \u201cenvironments free of harassing behavior.\u201d<\/p>\n
However, that grievance is based mostly on a twisted interpretation of Kaepernick\u2019s remarks about \u201cbodies in the street and people getting paid leave and getting away with murder.\u201d The SCPOA stretched his words into an \u201callegation that police officers are getting paid to murder people\u201d and \u201cblanket statements that police officers in general, murder minorities.\u201d<\/p>\n
There is a long list of cases that Kaepernick could be protesting. Just a few days before the first game in which he refused to stand for the playing of national anthem, Colby Friday, a 30-year-old African American was shot and killed by an officer in nearby Stockton, California. <\/p>\n
A police department spokesman initially claimed Friday had matched the description of an armed robbery suspect when he was contacted by the officer. However, the next day he said Friday had been mistakenly identified as a domestic violence suspect. He still claimed Friday was armed and had dropped his gun while running away. The officer \u201cordered him not to pick up the weapon, but Friday bent over and grabbed the gun\u201d and was killed. Apparently, there weren\u2019t any witnesses to corroborate or challenge the officer\u2019s account. He was put on three-day administrative leave.<\/p>\n
My intent here isn\u2019t to question the officer\u2019s actions because I obviously don\u2019t have all the facts. But the manner in which the Stockton Police Department\u2019s official statement evolved, and the immediacy in which they defended the officer\u2019s actions, are too similar to other cases, including the 2014 shooting of Laquan McDonald in Chicago.<\/p>\n
About the same time Friday was killed in Stockton, the Chicago Police Superintendent recommended firing several officers for making false reports in the McDonald investigation two years ago about. Officer Jason Van Dyke had claimed the African American youth was threatening him with a knife when he shot him 16 times. Seven officers had backed Van Dyke\u2019s account.<\/p>\n
Van Dyke was put on paid administrative leave after the shooting. But 14 months later, his story was completely undermined by the release of dash cam recording of the incident. Soon afterwards he was charged with murder. A month after that, two other officers, including his partner who was at the scene, were put on administrative leave.<\/p>\n
Now five officers may lose their jobs because they tried to shield Van Dyke from facing any consequences for his actions.<\/p>\n
But if Chicago\u2019s Fraternal Order of Police had their way, those officers would never have been implicated in the shameful cover-up because the video evidence would have remained suppressed. And Van Dyke would likely still be in uniform.<\/p>\n
The timing of the Stockton police shooting and the Police Superintendent recommendation to fire those officers may be coincidental to Kaepernick\u2019s protest. But the SCPOA is probably aware of both stories. And it\u2019s not hard to imagine they\u2019re even angrier at newspapers like the New Your Times whose editorial board suggested last week that union collective bargaining agreements \u201cactually encourage officers to lie.\u201d<\/p>\n
Where did the Times get such information? From the Police Accountability Task Force appointed by Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel after the national outrage over the McDonald shooting and cover-up. They reported that \u201ccollective bargaining agreements between the police unions and the City have essentially turned the code of silence into official policy\u201d which discourages reporting of officer misconduct. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe absence of accountability benefits only the problem officer\u201d the task force wrote, \u201cand undermines officers who came into the job for the right reasons and remain dedicated to serving and protecting.\u201d <\/p>\n
And that\u2019s exactly what the SCPOA is doing by denying that the unflattering history of policing and police union practices gives legitimacy to Kaepernick\u2019s protest.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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