I didn’t want to post much of my viewpoint on this because I know it would run counter to what many others would perceive. However, I was sickened by the details of Freddie Gray’s final trip that was released this morning. Knowing that he was handcuffed, shackled, and rode face down in the transport van without being secured by a seat belt runs counter to any transport policy that I’ve ever heard of.
There have been so many “leaks” from law enforcement that turned out to be false narratives that it’s almost impossible to think the police or someone close to the officers were not trying to control the narrative in the face of the facts presented this morning. This story has followed the same trajectory as the previous issues of people dying at the hands of the police. It’s always “protect the officer’s reputation/credibility at any cost and slander the victim no matter what the truth says”.
As an officer, I have no problem with defending fellow officers when their actions are lawful and necessary to do the job. At the same time, I cringe when I see people going out of their way to defend officers who are in the wrong. Many times, we’re faced with split-second decisions where there is no right or wrong action at the moment it’s needed. I don’t Monday morning quarterback such decisions because I don’t think you can justifiably criticize those decisions when you are not in the same environment that the decision was made. However, there’s no way to justify covering up every day procedural violations which is what I picked up on first in this case. Even then, I had no idea the issues were as bad as they’ve been told.
Lisa Mahone was on the way to see her mother at John H. Stroger Jr. Hospital of Cook County when she was pulled over for a seat belt violation by Hammond [IL] Police officers. She also had her boyfriend, Jamal Jones, and two kids in the back seat. The video above shows how that traffic stop ended. During the course of the 20 minute traffic stop, Mahone spent time on the phone with 911 operators explaining that she was in fear of her life because the cops pulled their guns on the family.
“I’m scared for my life,” Mahone is heard on the video telling a 911 dispatcher with officers looming outside. “He just pulled a gun on us and we don’t have a gun.”
The guns were pulled when officers asked Jones to produce ID and he reached into the center console of the car in what I guess was him retrieving that requested ID. The officers claimed that they were fearful that he was reaching for a weapon, so they drew their guns. Now, where have we heard that one before? Yeah, South Carolina.
With guns drawn on them, Jones claimed to be afraid to exit the vehicle because he didn’t know what was going to happen. Given the high profile police shootings of unarmed Black men recently, there may indeed be some justification for that fear. That said, there doesn’t appear to be much of a sympathetic ear amongst the law enforcement community. Why do I say that, let’s compare this traffic stop with another one involving a seat belt infraction.
EMMETT TOWNSHIP, Mich. — He could have given her a ticket and a fine, but a public safety officer from Emmett Township, Michigan chose a different route when he stopped the driver.
Officer Ben Hall was on his patrol when he pulled the vehicle over for a traffic violation.
When he talked with the driver, he noticed a small child in the car who was wearing a seat belt but not in a child’s car seat.
The young mother told the Officer she understood the importance of having a child in a car seat, but could not afford one because of her limited income at the time.
Rather than giving the young mother a traffic ticket, Officer Hall had the mother pull into a Walmart parking lot, where he went inside and purchased a car seat for her daughter.
Officer Hall is being hailed by many for considering the moment and doing a good deed.
Sp, what is the difference between these two stops? Could the Hammond stop been handled differently? I guess that depends on who you ask. The police do face the threat of people turning weapons against them in quick order. They have to be ready to deal with any threat they may encounter. Sometimes, the threat rises with the way people are treated. According to Lt Richard Hoyda of the Hammond Police:
“In general, police officers who make legal traffic stops are allowed to ask passengers inside of a stopped vehicle for identification and to request that they exit a stopped vehicle for the officer’s safety without a requirement of reasonable suspicion, Hammond Police Lt. Richard Hoyda said in a statement.
Hoyda added that officers feared for their own safety because one officer said he saw Jones drop his hands behind the center console of the vehicle. They removed him after repeated requests to exit the vehicle and after they say Mahone “shifted her car into drive and moved her vehicle in a forward motion.
Is it a training issue where people are approached differently based on the situation? I don’t want to make this a racial issue as there are people treated like this across the board. However, the cases that make the news typically involves Black people getting stopped by the police.
Will I have guns drawn on me while complying with an officer’s request to produce my ID? I don’t think I should fear the very people who are sworn to protect my safety, but there are a few instances that make me really wonder about this. I’ll have to get me a suction cup and clip to attach my license to my window before I leave my driveway from now on. That way, I’ll have at least one potential problem mitigated if I happen to get pulled over.
As a person who lost a dear loved one because of a traffic accident, please pay attention while driving. The life you save may be your own. Accidents, such as this one, are very sad to hear about, and they are extremely painful when it involves someone you know and love
I know we’re all guilty of doing something else while driving, and even I’ve been guilty of that in the past. One second is all it takes for something bad to happen. A sudden loss of a loved one is very hard to deal with, so don’t put your family or friends in that situation.
Don’t text and drive. In many states, it is illegal. If it’s very important, then pull over to the side of the road where it’s safe to use your phone. If it’s not that important, then let it wait until you reach your destination or somewhere safe to respond.
If you haven’t heard about the case of Marlon Brown, then you will likely hear about it before too long. On May 8th of this year, Brown died after being run over by a DeLand police officer, James Harris, during a chase that began as a seat belt violation. Officer Harris, who was a rookie officer at the time, was fired on May 31st after DeLand Police Chief William Ridgway had a chance to view the video from the incident for himself.
Since that time, the case was sent before a grand jury for possible criminal charges. As one would expect from the State of Florida, the grand jury decided that the former police officer should not face any criminal charges.
One interesting thing about this case is that the medical examination report that was filed in this case stated that Mr. Brown did not get hit by the car but was run over after slipping and falling. I have not seen the report or know if it’s been entered as evidence, but the person who filed the report is the same medical examiner who testified in the Trayvon Martin case.
Here’s the dashcam video from Officer Harris’ vehicle that recorded the entire incident. A word of warning beforehand, the video is graphic in nature. It is not edited nor does it stop prior to Mr. Brown being run over.
I can’t answer for anybody other than me, but in seeing that video, I could not determine whether Mr. Brown was on the ground or if he was laying against the fence when he was struck. If he were laying on the ground, you should not have been able to see his head, but you can actually see him staring right into the headlights just before he was struck.
I know there are cases of justifiable homicide that don’t get prosecuted. I can understand having to kill someone in order to save yourself or others around you. What I don’t understand is how someone cannot face criminal charges for running a person over in a vehicle. It’s not like you’re facing an armed perpetrator who’s shooting up a public space full of people.
Mr. Brown never had a chance once he slipped up. Maybe it was just me, but I could hear what sounded like the engine revving up a bit as he started to turn the corner right before he fell. There was likely a great deal of adrenaline involved in this incident as most any police officer will own up to entering a heightened state during stressful situations such as a car chase. I won’t pass judgement on the innocence or guilt of Harris, but this incident will likely become headline news before too long. It seems like Florida is having more than its fair share of people getting killed without the killer having to face criminal charges. I don’t have any plans to travel to Florida anytime soon, but if I did, I would probably try to cancel them out of an abundance of caution.
The Mind of Brosephus 