I come from a neighborhood where "the boys in blue and red" (cops and fire fighters) are about the most respected of us all within the community. A lot of kids where I live and whom I grew up with, particularly males, hope to follow in the footsteps of their fathers and uncles and become police officers or fire fighters. Because 'cop culture' has been so present in my own life, I was particularly invested in these readings.
I wish I could say I am shocked about white cops responses to questions about their black co-workers, but sadly I'm not. Something along the lines of , How much you wanna bet they were hired because they are black was stated by a white officer. To say that one thinks that hiring standards are lowered for an African American officer sends a clear message of superiority, which will only make matters worse within the police force.
Programs like Lifeline sound like a good idea to me. I don't know enough about them to make any claims really, but from the looks of this article, it seems to have done some good in Oakland. I'm wondering what other cities versions of this looks like, or if they even have any (I was trying to look into Chicago's programs but was pretty unsuccessful). Binary thinking is dangerous. By this I mean, high crime and poor living conditions and lifestyles cannot be "cured" by police simply arresting "bad people". That's not the answer. Just like Jordan mentions in the article, "Traditional police work hadn't done the job" (Smith, 4). There has to be more, and it sounds like the people who started Lifeline acted on their knowledge and understanding of this. Perhaps programs like this, with people other than police officers, working within communities can provide a more trusted outlet for residents and community members.
No comments:
Post a Comment