Hallway to Nowhere

Tag: police force

  • Minneapolis Burning And The Social Contract

    The American Heritage Dictionary defines SOCIAL CONTACT:

    • n.A usually implicit agreement among the members of an organized society or between the governed and the government defining and limiting the rights and duties of each.
    • n.An implicit agreement or contract among members of a society that dictates things such as submission of individuals to rule of law and acceptable conduct.
    • n.an implicit agreement among people that results in the organization of society; individual surrenders liberty in return for protection

    I argue, along with many others, that African Americans in Minneapolis were demonstrating that for them, the social contract has frayed to breaking point. Or indeed has not even existed, since America refuses to grapple on any systemic basis with the institutional and deep-seated racism that is built into the foundation of society here. The question is not “Are the African American participants of the Minneapolis riots justified in their actions,” but rather, “When will MORE take place?”

    AND WHY SHOULDN’T THEY? If I were a person who had black or brown skin, I’d be angry (and also scared but more angry) ALL THE TIME now. In the background somewhere, at least. Maybe the reason EVERYONE in local African American communities isn’t rioting, throwing things, and burning down their local police department is just that they are one, living their lives AT THE MOMENT and two, they haven’t gotten pissed off enough yet. But we -every community EVERYWHERE-have our moment of reckoning coming. We can do better: START TRAINING OUR POLICE DEPARTMENTS IN IMPLICIT BIAS TRAINING; HIRE MORE OFFICERS OF COLOR; START COMMUNITY-WIDE PROGRAMS IN RACIAL JUSTICE AND RECONCILIATION; ELECT MORE DIVERSE ELECTEDS ON A LOCAL LEVEL AND MOVE ON UP; TRAIN AND HIRE MORE TEACHERS OF COLOR. Just For a start. I’m no expert.

  • Alabama Church May Get Own Police Force

    Alabama Church May Get Own Police Force

    The Alabama senate passed a bill on Tuesday that will allow Briarwood Presbyterian Church in Birmingham, Alabama the right to create its own police force to patrol its grounds and schools.  These officers have to remain on the church property but will be “invested with all the power of law enforcement officers” in Alabama, according to the bill that won by a 24-4 vote in the state Senate. A version of the bill failed last year, after passing both houses but the governor at the time, Gov. Robert Bentley, refused to sign it into law. Concerns over the creation of private security forces were cited by the administration. But apparently that concern has been muted for the new governor, and so the bill might actually get signed into law.

    The orignators of this bill cite the fact that religious educational institutions of higher learning, such as BYU and other universities, have their own police forces. They claim to want to “mirror” a code of Alabama law that allows for the employment of one or more law enforcement officers at a college or private educational institution. They cite practical reasons, reaching back to the tragedy at Sandy Hook for their justification as a need to have first responders on hand for their members and to coordinate with the local community.

    Let’s look at this. First of all, I want to ask, WHY does a church, specifically a predominantly WHITE mainstream-denomination church need a police force of its very own? Historically, the churches that have been the scenes of violence have been the BLACK churches, particularly in the South. Just ask any member of the Emanuel African Episcopal Church in Charleston, SC. This sounds suspiciously like a case of Christian paranoia running rampant.

    Secondly, I want to know what oversight there will be for this police force? Quis custodiet ipsos custodes? Will there be transparency, or will there be the usual religious exemption from scutiny? Alabama has already encountered a problem here, with its religious day schools. They have been the subject of a number of articles detailing abuse and neglect. But, due to the fact that they are run by RELIGIOUS organizations, and that means CHRISTIAN, in case you were wondering, the State Department of Human Resouces has no way to even investigate these stories. I imagine that, should Briarwood be allowed to establish its police force, a similar religious exemption from accountability will most likely be part of the bargain. Just one of those little believer’s perks….

    Third, I’m wondering if Alabama (and other states to follow) will grant similar privileges to NON-CHRISTIAN places that might want their own police force? I’m willing to bet that mosques and synagogues need police officers (for the congregants’ protection) WAY more than churches do! (Unless you are an African American Christian. Then you DO need your own police force. Plus, a police force to protect you FROM the first police force.) And Hindu temples need them, too. Ignorant people now think Indians are Muslim terrorists and want to kill them. And let’s not forget the Pastafarians! The Church of The Flying Spaghetti Monster deserves a police force! Seriously, can you imagine Trump’s America giving a MOSQUE, even one with a madrassa, permission to have its own police force? Or even a synagogue? Snort! I don’t see it happening. (Though let me just say, that as a Jew, the idea of a bunch of goyishe policemen surrounding me at shul would NOT make me feel safer….my bubbe would be whispering from her grave, “Run, kindele, run!”)

    I’m going to keep an eye on this story. Alabama…sigh. Doing its best to make Mississippi look “not so bad”. But, hey, at least no-one from the state made any Hitler references yet (publicly, that is).