On Tuesday, Attorney General William Barr suggested communities who don’t show police respect don’t deserve police protection at all.
It’s unclear what Barr’s idea of showing respect for police looks like. But suggesting police protection be contingent on whether communities show blind support for police is problematic at best. Especially when speaking to a room full of cops at a Justice Department ceremony honoring police officers. This type of rhetoric only helps to further instill the “Us vs. Them” mentality that infects our law enforcement apparatus today.
“But I think today, American people have to focus on something else, which is the sacrifice and the service that is given >by our law enforcement officers. And they have to start showing, more than they do, the respect and support that law >enforcement deserves — and if communities don’t give that support and respect they might find themselves without >the police protection they need.”
The entirety of his statement is a clear dog-whistle because we all know which “communities” he was speaking of. If you’re not sure, let me explain, he was talking about the inner-cities. Where people of color are routinely oppressed by law enforcement at an astounding rate in comparison to other, less diverse communities. In other words, he doesn’t want anyone protesting or questioning all that is wrong with every aspect of law enforcement today. Which sounds familiar to other eras in history, but I digress.
This is not to suggest we shouldn’t respect and honor the inherent dangers of the job. Nor am I suggesting anyone be anti-cop. However, we were all raised with the notion that respect is earned, not granted. As true as that is, and given the systemic problems within our law enforcement apparatus — from not properly vetting potential officers to the culture of creating false narratives and testilying in court to the “Blue Wall of Silence” that prevents officers from being held accountable — the onus is on citizens to ensure we have a more reliable and trustworthy system of policing and criminal justice.
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