(Apologies for the format problem on this)
MANCHESTER, Coon.
On the whole, police officers are far more sinned against than sinning, but
that's why they're police officers, the ones with the badges and guns, the ones
supposed to be the good guys. But it's a difficult job and indications are
growing that many officers are not fit for it.
Those indications -- largely the result of the new ubiquity of security and
mobile-phone video cameras -- are getting scary.
Several such indications have arisen from the recent rioting and demonstrations
in Ferguson, Mo., where a white officer shot a young and unarmed black man.
Of course, many people have rushed to judgment about the shooting. It is more
plausible that the officer shot the young man while the young man was charging
at the officer than that the officer shot him for fun. But rioting and
demonstrations are no excuse for police to go wild. To the contrary, that's when
police conduct must be most careful -- and in Missouri it hasn't been.
The other day in Ferguson an officer was videotaped pointing his military rifle
at peaceful demonstrators and news reporters, cursing them and threatening to
shoot them until another officer led him away. The first officer was suspended.
Another Missouri officer was suspended recently after a video of a lecture he had
given was publicized. In the lecture the officer described himself as an
"indiscriminate killer," adding, "I'm into diversity -- I kill everybody," and,
"If you don't want to get killed, don't show up in front of me -- it's that
simple."
He has been placed on desk duty pending review.
A third Missouri officer was suspended for commenting that the protesters in
Ferguson "should be put down like rabid dogs."
All three officers probably will go back on the beat when the controversy fades.
There's not enough accountability in government.
But Connecticut residents don't have to go to Missouri to worry about police
brutality and psychologically unfit officers.
Two months ago two Bridgeport officers pleaded guilty to federal civil-rights
charges for their stomping an unarmed petty criminal as he lay helpless on the
ground following his disabling by a stun gun. The assault was captured on video
by a passerby. The city will pay the petty criminal $198,000 in damages and the
two officers have resigned and have promised never to seek police work again.
Enfield's Police Department is dealing with the heavy-handedness of an officer
who has been investigated on complaints of misconduct 17 times in seven years.
In the most recent case, cruiser dashboard video shows him pummeling a man said
to be resisting arrest. The state's attorney won't prosecute either man.
And last week cell-phone and security-camera video recorded a Hartford officer
using a stun gun on a young man who had obeyed his command to stop and was
standing still, hands at his sides, 10 feet away. The officer continued to
advance on the young man and shoting the stun gun at him from 4 feet away. Even
Gov. Dannel Malloy, speaking to a meeting of concerned citizens in Hartford, said
he was shocked. The Hartford Police Department is investigating.
For their protection and the public's, all police officers should be videotaped
all the time -- and this would be easy to do, as there
are not just dashboard cameras, already widely in use, but small cameras that
can be affixed to uniforms and can record as much as 45 hours of image and
sound.
The recent death of a man who was choked to death during his arrest in New York
City has prompted the city's public advocate, Letitia James, to propose
equipping all city police with uniform cameras. Connecticut law should require
this.
If Governor Malloy really was shocked the other day, he should propose such a
requirement before the November election. His Republican challenger, Tom Foley,
should endorse the idea as well. It is a matter of basic accountability in
government.
Chris Powell is managing editor of the Journal Inquirer, in Manchester, Conn.
