9 minute read
Police Brutality Plagues The United States, is Austin Part of the Problem?
from Austin Divided
by LASA Ezine
Black Lives Matter (BLM) protesters in Charlotte, North Carolina cheer for justice after the death of George Floyd on 30 May, 2020. (Photo by Clay Banks courtesy of Unsplash.)
By Eliana Legatt
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Content Warning: This article discusses topics that may not be suitable for all audiences.
fter the murder of George Floyd and the violence against activists in the Black Lives Matter protests in the summer of 2020, many people questioned the integrity of the police. The protests brought to light buried truths about racism in the United States, and forced many to face history in a new way. George Floyd was a 46-year-old Black man who the police were called on for allegedly paying for cigarettes with counterfeit money. Floyd was pushed to the pavement by Police Officer Derek Chauvin who was assisted by Police Officers Tou Thao, Alexander Kueng and Thomas Lane. Chauvin asphyxiated Floyd under his knee, causing Floyd’s death. In the United States, it is commonly recognized that law enforcement has used excessive force disproportionately on people of color over white people, and while it has been a discussed issue for decades, the murder of George Floyd made it a very prevalent issue that was forced to be recognized by all. Warren Andresen is an assistant professor of criminal justice at the school of behavioral and social science at St. Edward’s University. Andresen said the actions of the police in the protests in Austin had an effect on the perception of law enforcement in the public’s eye. “[The police] looked really bad over the summer with the Black Lives Matter protesters… how they responded to the Alex Jones crowd, to the Trump crowd, how [they were] nice, gentle, and shaking hands or taking pictures with them,” said Andresen. “Then they were so over the top with the Black Lives Matter protesters. That created, obviously, a problem.” The contrast in the actions of the police toward more conservativeleaning figures, such as conspiracy theorist Alex Jones and former President Donald Trump, against more left-leaning movements, gave many people the concern
Protester in Charlotte, North Carolina holds a sign with the BLM fist. (Photo by Clay Banks courtesy of Unsplash.) that this was a Republican versus Democrat issue. “The Austin Police will disagree with this, but they are covered in a pretty positive and constructive way,” Andresen said. “It would be very hard to do a story that was critical or negative.” Andresen said he was interviewed by a news outlet, that will remain anonymous, for an article criticizing the Austin Police Department (APD). Andresen helped calculate
Warren Andresen is a professor in the Criminal Justice Department at Saint Edwards University. (Photo courtesy of Warren Andresen.) numbers and statistics for the article. “That story was released, it was released for an hour. The editor pulled the story because he was uncomfortable that it did not show the police in a positive light,” Andresen said.
Andresen said the police should recognize there is an issue, and find a way to address the public, and assure them they will not be hurt or assaulted by the police. “Whether or not the police think there is a problem right now, there is a problem,” Andresen said. “A
large part of the population is feeling uncomfortable with what policing looks like today.” With perceived and legitimate violence against people of color disproportionately to White people, many feel unsafe. “The first big step would be for the police to reach out to the public, and to communicate a message that they are concerned about the relationship breaking down between them and the public,” Andresen said. “And that what they want to do is to win back the trust of the public.” Andresen said he does not see representatives of law enforcement filling this role as
The Story of the The Infamous Thin Infamous Thin Blue Line Blue Line By Eliana Legatt
The thin blue line originates from an incident in 1951 in LA called Bloody Christmas. Police officers arrested a few people who were Latinx on the charges of drunkenness and disorderly conduct. A few of the people being arrested assaulted the police, and were put in jail. The police officers then attacked the unarmed Latinx people in jail for the earlier assault, and a few reporters took photos. After the public heard about the story, the police had to explain their actions to avoid further criticism. The police chief at the time came up with the idea of the thin blue line, that police are the thin line between chaos and order, and to maintain peace, the police sometimes need to cause harm and violence to keep the public under control. Many people do not know the origins of the symbol, and wear it not knowing the implications of what they are actually representing. “A lot of white people may not understand the origins of that, but I think people of color, they get it at a gut level that something is off with that symbol,” said Andresen.
needed. Andresen said there should be a dialogue between the police and civilians, allowing for there to be a rebuilding of trust. Andresen said Austin’s racist history plays a role in modernday issues and politics. Starting in 1928, Austin began forcefully segregating Austinites and moving people of color to East Austin. Andresen said now that real estate in East Austin is becoming more desirable, people of color are being forced out of their homes once again. Andresen said some people are not aware of the racist history and racial issues in Austin or do not talk about them. “If you do talk about them, it’s amazing how quickly nice people that are friendly, become irritated and unpleasant, and it changes how they feel about you if you bring that history up,” said Andresen. Dennis Farris is a former senior police officer. He served the first five years of his career at the University of Texas Police Department, then he went on to work at APD from 1990 to 2015. “There’s been a lot of criticism of the Austin Police Department’s training academy, I will tell you that it is the best training academy in America, they actually get more training than they’re required to. Most police academies are six months long, APD’s is eight
Protesters in Charlotte, North Carolina hold up signs about equality after the death of George Floyd. (Photo by Clay Banks courtesy of Unsplash.) 30 Austin Divided
Dennis Farris is on duty at the Austin Police Department (APD). Dennis Farris worked at APD from 1990 to 2015. (Photo courtesy of Dennis Farris.) months long,” Farris said. Farris said that Austin has also been incorporating de-escalation training in their training program before he began working at APD. Many states implemented similar programs more recently, or are now beginning to. Farris said some facts can be misconstrued by the media in some cases involving the police. “We don’t necessarily tell you everything when there’s a homicide. When there’s an officerinvolved shooting, you don’t necessarily get to hear the whole story yet, it has to be investigated,” Farris said. “When you don’t have the whole story, there are assumptions and things made [for example,] ‘well the reason they’re not telling you the stories are they’re trying to hide something,’ and that’s simply just not it.” It would be unethical for the police to share information with media outlets until the case has been investigated, but some articles that are published before investigations can distort the fact that the police have confidential information to be important facts the police are hiding. Farris said if police officers are investigating criminal violations, it is nearly impossible to avoid
complaints being filed against them, legitimate in meaning or not. When a police officer is alleged to have committed a crime, some articles include the number of complaints filed against them, but do not list their contents to provide the reader with context of the complaint and its legitimacy. Farris said his son is a police officer at APD, and he was on duty during the riots over the summer of 2020. Farris said rocks and frozen water bottles were thrown at his son, and that one rock opened a gash in his knee. His son is left anonymous for security purposes. “You have the right to protest, you don’t have the right to riot. Protesting is one thing, throwing rocks, water bottles, frozen water bottles... [or] having a Molotov cocktail in your backpack is not a
peaceful protest,” Farris said. Farris said many people are advocating for the police to be defunded, and in Austin, the police are currently being defunded. Farris said there will be negative implications for this, however. “When you have less police, the communities that are affected more by less police are the communities [that] are the main majority-minority communities,” Farris said. “This exists in Austin,
Protester in Charlotte, North Carolina raises his fist in the air, with a sign reading the last words of George Floyd before his death. (Photo by Clay Banks courtesy of Unsplash.) Texas. They’re cutting a police force; they’re taking money and putting it someplace else and all this other stuff. Somebody who lives in West Austin is not going to go without police. They will make a phone call to somebody of power and say ‘I want cops in my neighborhood,’ and the cops will be in their neighborhood.” Farris said this statement does not ring true for minority communities, and police resources and efforts will gravitate toward areas that are majority white. Andresen said Austin’s history has directly affected society today, and this is represented in the police as well. “A lot of problems that are happening in the Austin Police are basically problems that you have in Austin,” Andresen said. “I think that this city and this county, in our political leadership were pretty segregated, and that trickles down into the police.”
Warren Andresen’s opinions do not represent the opinions of St. Edwards University.
