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Tuesday, June 22, 2010 | 5:53am
VERDICT: Black Cops Support Beat Down of Jaywalking Teen, Girl Apologizes
What does this change?
Last week a firestorm of debate broke out when I asked The Nation who was to blame for the beat down of a 17-year-old jaywalking female handed out by a Seattle police officer. It seemed there was a divide and tensions ran high as many of you passionately stated your case.
Well now The Black Law Enforcement Association of Washington (BLEAW) has thrown in their two cents publicly defended the actions of Seattle police officer Ian Walsh who duffed a 17-year-old black female in the grill after an altercation during an attempt to confront her friend for a jaywalking infraction. The incident which like every other thing in life today was caught on cellphone video. The teen was charged with juvenile third-degree assault, which is punishable by a maximum 30 days in detention.
In a statement released Friday, BLEAW supported Officer Walsh’s actions and said they did not believe the force used was racially motivated.
“This incident was unfortunate and clearly the behavior and actions by both females was embarrassing. As regrettable as it looks, the officer had used great restraint in dealing with the female that had pushed him. He maintained a professional demeanor while in an adverse and potentially volatile situation.”
In accordance with trained tactics used by Seattle PD and many police departments, BLEAW supports Walsh’s need to “defend himself with a punch.” after being threatened by the teen.
“Based upon standard police defensive tactics training, and in accordance with the use of force continuum, as well as local and federal laws; we assert that the officer acted in a justifiable manner to defend himself and to affect the arrest of the female offender,” the statement concluded.
On Friday, The Urban League of Seattle organized a meeting between the teen and the officer at a community center to settle tensions. The teen was said to have privately apologized for her actions of which Walsh accepted.
I think a vast majority of the Nation would agree with BLEAW and their support of Walsh’s actions however “regrettable” they might be. I don’t quite know how I feel about the fact that she apologized. Apologies admit guilt and I can’t remember the last time a police officer “apologized” for any action right or wrong so why should a citizen. Its not going to change her charge. If anything it will seal her fate.
I still contend however the disparity of African American’s exposed to such altercations with authority needs to be addressed from BOTH angles. As many of the Nation pointed out, there is a protocol of appropriate behavior when being confronted by police that clearly isn’t being respected by many African American’s particularly young black males. However, the level of respect for the public for which the need for policing exists needs to be addressed as well. It is the job, responsibility and duty for police officers to protect and serve the community. Unfortunately in many neighborhoods their presence is feared more than anything else.
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My father (a former Detroit cop) thinks it started to go downhill when police stopped walking a beat and started to drive around in squad cars.
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In the old day, the same cop patrolled/walked the same neighborhood every day. They got to know the people, the people got to know them.
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Sure, there were times when the cop had to give some guy a knock on the head, but everyone in the neighborhood knew that it was only happening to the guy who needed a knock on the head.
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The real problem, as I see it, is that there is a cultural distrust of the police in the black community. At any given time in some neighborhoods, there are 5 generations of people who all share a common distrust of the police.
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Because of the long historical beef between the black community and the police (who are seen at times, (justifiably), as working against the welfare of the people), I think there may be a need for a more radical solution.
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In my opinion, you could do two things that would fix the problem: Have the cops walk the beat, and use only minority police in minority neighborhoods.
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For better or worse, nearly all police incidents take on a racial flavor when the perp is black and the cop is white. While (I think) everyone would agree that there are some seriously racist cops carrying guns in this country, there are also a good number of cases where racism is used as a convenient excuse for criminals who get caught red-handed.
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(Note: We get the same thing in the Italian community. As an Italian-american, I frankly get sick of hearing mob associates trying to stir up trouble claiming that their prosecution is only due to a deep prejudice against Italian-Americans. That may play in the sticks, but it just embarrasses everyone. )
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So I say: use only black cops in black neighborhoods. Use only Hispanic cops in Hispanic neighborhoods. You automatically remove the racial question when arrests happen, and by walking a beat the police and community can begin to rebuild their relationship.
But doesn’t it then become a racial profiling of a neighborhood to determine that this cop belongs here and that cop there because of the color of his or her skin? Invariably, black cops will complain because their patrolling the hardest neighborhoods while their white counterparts are largely living it up in the hills.
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I think you’re very right about walking the beat. I’m not sure how feasible that is any more. I think police officers should be more encouraged to engage in ordinary pleasantries which is something I don’t see. It seems the only time a cop talks to me is when I will very shortly be pulling out my ID out of my wallet.
U got dat from da Wire. LLS.
Greatest TV Show ever.
I live in st. louis, last night a group of teens shot at the police,last week someone else shot at the police with a semi weapon,about a month ago a police officer was shot atleast seven times doing a traffic stop,the passanger in the back seat shot the officer, if it wasn’t for his vest he would have died.There is no respect for the police here in st. louis,i would be afraid for the police to walk in certain parts of st. louis.I remember when i was little i was walking from a friends house and the police stopped me pulled his gun and said he would shoot me if i moved, he thought i robbed someone, come to find out the person who did it was much taller and the officer knew that when he stopped me.I believed the young lady was wrong for interfering with the police officer, we don’t know if the young lady that j-walked almost caused an accident or what, all we saw was the officer fighting the girls.I can only imagine whats going through a police officer mind when he’s confronted.We live in a much differnt time now than back then. Walking the beat would be nice but i would think thats open season on an oficer. Where i live we have block meetings and we know the police officers in our neighborhood. What might work in my neighborhood might not work in another all i know is that if we are going to solve this problem we as a community are going to have to work together and take back our community.
Grassroots public relations. The Block Association meetings are good. But I think there needs to be more of a macro level effort as well.
its been 800 years! they say we go thru this because god is testing us. well can somebody please tell me how are we doin on this test! are we passing it? the color of our skin? wow! we get beat down by the cops everyday, harrased, falsely accussed, racially profiled just in everyday life. dont get me wrong i know its a lot brothas out there living unjust but thats not an excuse. we had to dam near burn a city down just to say stop doin this to us. well they stoped for about 2 years.
I feel ya, bruh! I basically said the same thing on the original post.
I live in the DC area (which is off da hook), and the cops ride bikes thru different neighborhoods and what not, some might even walk the beat. Years ago when I was much younger, I used to hate all police, but as I got older and wiser, I grown the have a little bit more repect for them (not that much though), but I still do. Ya’ll right,(she was wrong for grabbn at him)and we don’t know what the girl did for him to stop her, besides jwalking, but I strongly believe his actions was wrong. It didn’t look like the girl was rearching for his gun or anything, hell he could had just backed up, pulled out his mace, and sprayed her ass. Cause if the same cop, responded to a domestic volence call, him would’ve told the guy, there’s no reason to hit a female…NO REASON..RIGHT?, in less his life was in danger. And to me, his life was not in danger, the cop was outta da pocket..point blank, there’s no sugar coating the fact.
Exactly. When you straight up punch somebody in the face, you’re saying that you fear for your life and you are ready for anything. I HAVE NEVER seen footage of a white cop cold cocking a white woman in the face. If it has happened, and prolly it has, I’m sure he was defending his life.
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