I think cops, firefighters and emergency room staff are
heroes. These are people who, all day long, deal with humanity’s most dire
circumstances. Today, speaking of cops in particular, I can’t imagine how
difficult it is to deal with not just the worst of us on our worst days but
with the violence, heartbreak and always-imminent danger. I’m not unselfish
enough to have taken on that challenge and, perhaps, because of this I should
be cautious about my criticism. I believe
I am.
But there are some seriously bad cops out there. And because
they are cops they, unlike any other professional, should police their
own. In too many cases they are not
doing a thorough enough job of it. And in too many cases, they protect their
own. This is nothing new. But as we find
some of the current presidential party nominees wanting to replace the
constitution with the Bible, profile neighborhoods based on religion or
ethnicity, deny rights based on sexual orientation, or have this immigrant
nation round up immigrants and, without due process, send them back to what may
be a deathtrap, it is clear that authorities, including police, are taking
advantage of their power to support their personal prejudices while some police
are required to enforce illegal (read unconstitutional) policies set up by
small minded governors, state legislators and mayors. North Carolina and Mississippi are prime
examples. So is my home state, Indiana, whose governor, Mike Pence, has taken
his personal and bigoted opinions and signed or tried to sign them into law.
Recently, an Indiana state trooper (after a couple of lawsuits) was finally fired for stopping
motorists for legitimate traffic infractions, asking the drivers if they
accepted Jesus Christ as their savior and what church they belong to. Reading this reminded me of an incident in 1970 when I was stopped in Carmel Indiana, a
ritzy suburb of Indianapolis, for having a peace symbol decal on my Karmann
Ghia. I was told to peel it off or face
the consequences. The Carmel cop wore what seemed to me to be a pretty big gun
on his belt. Sitting beside me was my lover, who was fearless and who, when
pissed off, became angry in a stereotypically, intentionally queenish way, sometimes with a "snap" at the end of his tirade. I begged him to remain silent while I, losing
any shred of dignity I might have possessed, scraped off the peace
symbol. My thinking was if a decal made
this cop belligerent, what would two gay guys do to his tiny reptilian brain. I
didn't’ tell the cop I was a veteran, including a stint in Vietnam and as well
as being constitutionally entitled to my opinion. He had already appointed himself
sole arbiter of what rights he thought I should have and no doubt any other “hippies”
who crossed his path. One of my regrets is not doing something about this. I
can only tell you it was 1970, and I wasn’t as brave as some cops who put their
lives on the line to protect us no matter who we are or what we believe. I
wasn’t as brave as those drag queens at Stonewall in 1969, demanding equal
rights in the face of armed opposition. Had I made a row, I would likely have
lost my job and our home. It was a battle I didn’t think I could win. I was
cowardly but pragmatic. Even with my small humiliation, I dreamt of ways to get
back at the cop. To get revenge, even if it made me an outlaw.
Yes, this is all minor compared to the inordinate number of
deaths that un-armed African Americans endure at the hands of police in various
parts of the U.S., the number of African Americans who are stopped, searched
and questioned without probable cause, or the percentage of African Americans
who populate our prisons.
However, if we tolerate police officers who feel empowered
to enact their prejudices or turn a blind eye to those police among them who do,
we have a society that perpetuates inequality and its offspring – bitterness
and violence. It is how abuse of the law
by those who are supposed to enforce it fairly can create criminals and
terrorists.
