WHY DOES IT SEEM LIKE POLICE MISCONDUCT IS INCREASING, AND WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO ABOUT IT?

Rook Elizabeth Ringer, Esquire • April 4, 2020

To begin, let me state right from the beginning that I do not hate cops. Given my experiences with corrupt cops, one would think I would have developed a pretty stereotypical anti-police attitude. Another stereotype of people who fight against police misconduct is that we are “pro-crime”, have no respect for the law, or something similar. That is also equally absurd. In fact, the reason that I am so passionate about going after police misconduct is because I believe in the law. I am one of the most law-abiding people you will ever meet. (I have a Doctorate in Law, a BS in Forensic Science, and am ex-Army Intelligence.)

In fact, because I have put on a uniform to defend this country in the Army, I have a certain reverence for those who serve in any capacity (law enforcement, fire department, emergency medical, etc.). And it is that reverence that makes me personally offended and disgusted by police misconduct, whether it is unlawful shootings, excessive force, evidence tampering, et cetera, I have personally witnessed these kinds of crimes being swept under the rug by judges, prosecutors, and police administrators.

To that I say: Not on my watch.

For example, one of the first trials I worked on, not all that long ago, involved a woman charged with two misdemeanors: disorderly conduct and resisting arrest without violence. The defendant, a 50-something African-American woman and former Army sergeant, had come to the sheriff’s office to file a complaint about some teenagers harassing her at her apartment complex. The sheriff’s deputies (likely because she had little to identify the perpetrators) declined to file charges, and this upset the defendant. As she stormed out of the sheriff’s office, she said something to the effect of, “You’re all f#$%ing bull$#%!”

One deputy, operating under the misguided assumption that it was against the law to curse at a law enforcement officer or in front of a child (there was a mother and child in the lobby), decided to arrest the defendant. She did not want to be arrested for such a ridiculous and plainly unlawful charge(1), so the deputy swept her legs out from under her and body slammed her. She then spent the next few weeks in the county jail, as she did not have any money for bail or friends or family to bail her out.

Now, throughout the months of preparation for this 2-day trial (you heard it right: a 2-day trial for misdemeanors), the prosecutor’s office and sheriff’s offices both claimed that no security video of that date existed. And on day one of the trial, multiple deputies took the stand and said that (1) she was actually in the lobby screaming and yelling profanities, flailing her arms around, throwing things, and causing all kinds of mayhem for approximately 15-25 minutes before the deputies intervened, and (2) there was no video.

However, things changed when one desk clerk took the stand and, having apparently not gotten the memo to lie to back up her fellow deputies, told the judge she knew exactly where the video of the event was located. The court adjourned so that she could obtain the video. (You can watch the entire video here.) It shows that the defendant calmly walked through the lobby and was out of the sheriff’s office in approximately 7 seconds. Not 5, 15, or 25 minutes... In fact, approximately 2 minutes after walking out of the interview room, she was already body slammed and on the ground.

So the question that is on my mind regarding the trial is: Why did those law enforcement officers perjure themselves just to support a misdemeanor disorderly conduct charge? Unfortunately, the “thin blue line” is often not about protecting the public, but about protecting fellow cops. Those cops who perjured themselves committed a felony...to uphold a misdemeanor conviction. Think about it. Luckily, the jury was not impressed and found the defendant not guilty on all charges.

In any case, when law enforcement officer puts on that uniform and swears an oath to defend civilians, and uphold the law, we have to hold them to a higher standard than that of your average criminal. We, the civilians of the United States, have entrusted that person with not only the duty to enforce the laws...but we have given them weapons, body armor, etc., in order to do that job. They have to be held to that higher standard, or society risks collapsing into some kind of dystopian nightmare. Here, cops lied, and someone spent weeks in jail for a “crime” that was not legally even a “crime”. But at least nobody died. That is not always the case.

For example, one night in May of 2010, officers of the Detroit Police Department’s Special Response Team (i.e., a local variant of a “SWAT team”), threw a “flash-bang” grenade into a home while serving a warrant trying to locate a murder suspect. The first problem, however, was that they were at the wrong house. And that is when things were about to get much, much worse.

First, the grenade landed near 7-year old Aiyana Jones, so her grandmother, Mertilla Jones, reached towards her to help her. At that point, a cop shot Aiyana with his MP-5 submachine gun, killing her. As is too often the case, the cop made up various stories about Mertilla grabbing for his gun and other nonsense (disproved by forensics, as her fingerprints were not on the gun), but the elephant in the room is that no civilian should ever be put into a position where, if they are awakened at night by police illegally throwing grenades into their house and busting in the door with submachine guns...they are “responsible” for their own deaths if they make a move that frightens the guy in the body armor carrying the ballistic shield.

These are just two examples of police misconduct, but they are symptomatic of a much larger, and far more pervasive problem. And frankly, it is not that the police misconduct is increasing, at least in my reasoned opinion, but rather...it is that we are starting to believe the victims. Over the last decade, people have begun video-recording police interactions, and those stories that were often disbelieved (by those of us who did not want to think of cops as being capable of criminal behavior) are now being seen in full 1080p HD video. And if you, like me, have spent a good deal of time watching those videos, then you have also seen what I have: a cop shooting an unarmed man in the back as he flees; cops shooting children holding toy guns; a father shot dead in front of his child for reaching to get the driver’s license that the cop had just told him to get... These are not easy things to watch, but we must watch them and learn from them. And frankly, every cop out there needs to watch them and in doing so remember that their oath to uphold the law includes turning in and arresting the dirty, corrupt cops that commit those vile, reprehensible acts. It is not about “hating cops”. It is about having a moral consistency regarding the law.

In short, there must always be those who watch the watchmen. I would love to live in a society where law enforcement officers were always trustworthy, courageous, and brave...but the only way we will ever get there is by rooting out, punishing, and removing the bad apples that spoil the bunch. Because I once wore the uniform of an American soldier, I have great reverence to the symbolism imparted by the uniforms of those we trust to serve and protect. However, too often cops will put their own safety above that of civilians, like Aiyana Jones. They allow their own fears and lack of courage dictate their actions. However, there is a quote from a TV show from more than two decades ago that has always struck me as embodying the true spirit of how a soldier or a police officer must conduct themselves when dealing with situations where civilians could be hurt. It is from an episode of the show Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, and the character of Captain Sisko is explaining why one of his subordinates should not have fired on a vessel that he thought was a threat, but which turned out to be a civilian vessel. He said:

You made a military decision, to protect your ship and crew. But you're a Starfleet officer, Worf. We don't put civilians at risk or even potentially at risk to save ourselves. Sometimes that means we lose the battle, and sometimes our lives. But if you can't make that choice, then you can't wear that uniform.

(Watch the full scene here)

Now I do not wear a uniform any longer. However, I am still bound to my oath to support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign, and domestic, and that includes corrupt cops. And if you or a loved one has been damaged by the unlawful actions of those corrupt cops, then I want to help you. The Constitution, and the laws of the United States, do not take “sides” for or against cops. They side with what is just, honorable, and lawful. And if you are on the other side from them, I want to be there to do what is right.

1 It has been well-settled law in Florida since 1976 that you cannot be arrested for “disorderly conduct” on the basis of speech alone, even if you use naughty words, See, State v. Saunders, 339 So.2d 641 (Fla.1976), or even if those naughty words are directed at law enforcement, Fields v. State, 24 So. 3d 646 (Fla. 3d DCA 2009).

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The Education Department is opening fewer sexual violence investigations as Trump dismantles it

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