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My 2 cents on the Ferguson riots
11 years ago
Over the past several days police in Ferguson were heavily criticized for use of, what people who don't know any better described as, excessively forceful crowd control tactics. This is in spite of the fact that the local PD's initial reaction was subdued, only escalating to the deployment of SWAT teams and riot gear after incidents of looting (and a shooting involving an armed man wearing a face mask).
To address complains about the way the situation was being handled by Ferguson Police, control was transferred over to the State Police. Surprise surprise, the State Police immediately determined that the methods being employed by local cops were indeed appropriate for the situation and continued doing the same damn thing. The past few nights there have been looting and firebombings of local businesses. This isn't a peaceful protest against police violence, this is a riot. With the declaration of a state of emergency and imposition of a curfew by the Governor, I think a lot of armchair activists online owe an apology to the Ferguson Police Department for criticizing their response without knowing what the hell they were talking about.
Moral of the story: Don't tell people how to do their job if you aren't qualified to do so.
To address complains about the way the situation was being handled by Ferguson Police, control was transferred over to the State Police. Surprise surprise, the State Police immediately determined that the methods being employed by local cops were indeed appropriate for the situation and continued doing the same damn thing. The past few nights there have been looting and firebombings of local businesses. This isn't a peaceful protest against police violence, this is a riot. With the declaration of a state of emergency and imposition of a curfew by the Governor, I think a lot of armchair activists online owe an apology to the Ferguson Police Department for criticizing their response without knowing what the hell they were talking about.
Moral of the story: Don't tell people how to do their job if you aren't qualified to do so.
Also, keep in mind this is one of those shitbag states that you constantly criticized for having misplaced priorities. It isn't a stretch to say that mishandling the situation from the start led things to get so out of control. By that I mean leaving the body of the kid uncovered on the street for hours while onlookers were asking, "Where is the ambulance?"
In any case, all most of us can do is sit back and wait for the official investigation. Until then all we are doing is speculating from our keyboards.
The ambulance was on scene in minutes, but sent away because the suspect was DOA. This is what I'm talking about when I tell civilians not to act like they know a cop's job. In a homicide you DO NOT cover the body. This was a crime scene and the guy was already dead. Body doesn't get touched, let alone covered or removed. Crime scene unit needs everything exactly as it was when he died. Often times, even in cities where resources are swiftly available, that could mean a body laying in place all day long. It all depends on how long it takes investigators to process the scene. Especially in a police shooting where there's going to be a lot of scrutiny, investigators need to take their time and make sure stuff is done perfectly.
In a homicide such as this, is it standard procedure to not engage with civilians on the scene? Can officers tell the people of what procedures are being conducted and why? Is there anything else you think I should know about with all of this?
In law enforcement you rarely have time to stop and reason with people. A handfull of cops are trying to watch the perimeter for anyone trying to get into the scene, look out for threats, monitor radio, probably move the perimeter a million damn times, etc. Chances are all while being screamed at by bystanders when many of whom are either too emotional or agitated to convince of anything anyway. It's a basic understanding in law enforcement that you won't be able to break down your actions barney style to people on scene. It sounds shitty, but the best you can do is intimidate or force people into compliance and sort it out later. I get that in the ivory tower that seems like a flawed method, but it's what we've worked out as most effective over the course of hundreds of years.
I also understand that while working at a scene there might not be time to break down every aspect of what is going on to onlookers, but that doesn't mean the onlookers need to be kept in the dark about things. Resorting to intimidation and force to coerce people into compliance is a pretty shitty method. You never know, doing that could just start a riot. I also don't buy the idea that it is the most effective method. If anything I would argue that the insistence of using force and intimidation is the reason why people have a dim view of police in general. Using force and intimidation as a means of crowd control seem more at place for 1914 than it does for 2014.
Intimidation may seem like a shitty method to you, but that's 90% of police work (not just crowd control). I'm going to tell you to do X or not to do Y because otherwise you'll be arrested/cited. As I said, in the ivory tower this doesn't look good but it's done for a reason. You're most likely absolutely right that it's probably why so many people have a dim view of police in general, but the bottom line is that police would prefer the contempt but compliance of most rather than the respect and noncompliance. That's how it works in the field. If this were 1914 we would be doing crowd control with live ammunition and bayonets.
This isn't a peaceful protest, it's a riot. There's been looting, firebombing of businesses, murders, masked men with guns (one killed by police), and shots fired at cops.
If I am not mistaken Al-Jazeerah reporters and camera men were attacked.
Fortunately, we are entering a period of higher technology. LRAD, drones, and public surveillance are abundant.