In the essential transaction between the police and the citizens, we want the police to protect us and use force in doing so, but we want them to use force judiciously. They should not be hasty, as in trigger happy. Nor do we want them to be belligerent, which leads to police brutality. But we don’t want our keepers of the peace to be hesitant to the point of putting us — or themselves — in harm’s way. Confused? Try being a cop with a Glock 17 on your hip when a bad guy threatens you or bystanders.
Our cops are routinely forced to face life and death situations. They are trained and drilled in how to react. They must study when to use force and how. Each time a D.C. cop so much as lays a hand on someone, he or she must file a “use of force report.”
What I have learned from many decades of reporting, talking to cops and reviewing documents is that the system is out of whack. Time after time street cops face discipline for doing the job of protecting us. The result is twofold:
» The balance of power on the street swings toward the bad guys, who use force indiscriminately and too often without consequence.
» Our street cops are demoralized as a result of the punitive discipline and the chaotic management style of Chief Cathy Lanier.
Case in point: The move to fire Officers Tamika Hampton and Kimberly Sillah. As I wrote in Friday’s column, the two responded to a domestic disturbance in January. They separated Gloria Benbow, who had called 911, and Kevin Jackson. He rushed them and threatened them. They told him to calm down and retreated from the house. They called for backup. He kept coming, followed them into the yard and reached behind to his waistband. They fired their weapons. From reading the reports and listening to Hampton, they acted in self-defense.
They didn’t know that Jackson had a rap sheet as long as his six-foot frame. That he had already pleaded to assaulting a cop and others; been jailed twice for dealing cocaine; been charged with kidnapping.
Their thanks? A use of force review board determined their actions “not justified,” because Jackson was unarmed, and they could have subdued him with mace or a baton. Though both have stellar records, neither “can be rehabilitated.”
Hampton and Sillah are well-respected, hard-working street cops. Word of the department’s move to fire them has further depressed the troops. What, they ask, if Jackson had pulled a pistol from his belt and shot the two cops? Would Lanier have then congratulated them in memorium for not firing their pistols?
Street cops also question the department’s double standard. Assistant Chief Diane Groomes gets caught passing answers to police brass so they can pass an exam, Lanier denies it happened, Groomes says it did, but she suffers no consequences.
Double standards, punitive discipline, lack of respect for street cops add up to a police force rotting from the inside.
Harry Jaffe’s column appears on Tuesday and Friday. He can be contacted at [email protected].
