The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
No one is above accountability
As Americans, it is our duty to hold those in power accountable. It is an important foundational aspect of our democracy. The ability to lawfully and respectfully hold power accountable encourages fair and equitable treatment for all and calls individuals who are truly concerned with serving the greater good for our communities to seek out leadership positions. Furthermore, welcoming accountability communicates you’ve heard those you are accountable to, care about them, value their opinion and are committed to doing better for them. No one who seeks to serve the public is above it. Which is why it remains disheartening that the state’s police union and countless state Republicans have continued their opposition to the Police Accountability Act.
The Police Accountability Act has already gone into effect. The law bans choke-holds, mandates officers report fellow officers if they’re engaged in acts of police brutality and show their badge when on duty, among other provisions. None of these aspects of the law are oppressive or unfair. In fact, it is fair to say these aspects of the law should have already been police department policy and shouldn’t even need to be mandated by law. Despite the obvious reasons why these provisions of the law are needed, the police union and Republicans still oppose the notion of being held accountable for how they serve the public.
People such as former Republican chairman J.R. Romano previously said: “At the end of the day, this bill has made our communities less safe because it’s hamstrung police officers from doing their job.” So displaying your badge hinders cops from doing their jobs? Are cops unable to protect and serve if they can’t place people in choke-holds? Does the safety of communities hinge on cops refraining from intervening and stopping acts of police brutality?
The Police Accountability Act also demilitarizes the police, eliminates qualified immunity, and establishes a new independent Office of the Inspector General to investigate deaths caused by police, among other necessary measures. Again, these are common-sense mandates to foster accountability and encourage trust among police and the communities they serve ensuring the thoughts, opinions and concerns of folks in those communities matter. Still, the state’s police union and Republicans take issue. Following passage of the law, the Connecticut Police Union only endorsed candidates running for seats in the state house who opposed and/or voted against the bill.
Let’s get real, this law will not lead to increases in crime or make police work harder. The law essentially says police misconduct will be punished. Police engaging in misconduct on the job does not reduce crime or keep neighborhoods safer. According to a 2016 study on police brutality by the Pew Research Center, 86 percent of law enforcement said in 2016 that high-profile fatal encounters between Black people and police officers made their jobs harder.
This law does not make “good cops,” want to quit. If accountability makes anyone want to leave their job, they were never fit for the job in the first place. The reality is police officers opposed to a law that bans violent acts such as chokeholds, or that essentially tells police departments, “you can no longer investigate yourselves when facing allegations of misconduct,” should ask themselves how committed they really are to serving their communities.
Across the country, folks are realizing what people of color have known and shouted for far too long: policing in America needs to be better, equitable and fair. According to a study by Brookings, Black people are 3.5 times more likely than white people to be killed by police when Black people are not attacking or do not have a weapon. A 2019 study by the Pew Research Center found that “majorities of both black and white Americans say black people are treated less fairly than whites in dealing with the police and by the criminal justice system as a whole.”
For those who still believed white privilege not to be apparent in policing, I wonder what they believe now after watching violent white domestic terrorists storm our nation’s Capitol Building and receive far more lenient treatment than Black and brown people who protested peacefully last summer. The tear gas, rubber bullets and aggression that met peaceful protesters of color in 2020 were not seen on Wednesday, Jan. 6, as white supremacists destroyed federal property to protest the certification of votes from predominantly Black and brown counties.
Last summer, most of us watched the last eight minutes and 46 seconds of George Floyd’s life. We watched in horror, cried, then checked in with friends and family. We had difficult conversations, marched, chanted and confronted the ugliest aspects of our nation. In Connecticut, we took it a step further and I applaud the work of state Sen. Gary Winfield and his colleagues in the state Senate. I am proud to live in a state that would swiftly and thoughtfully pass a law that says to all of us, “we heard you, we care about you and value your opinion, and we will do better.” I just wish the state’s police union and Republican party would say the same.