Cops hold a revered position in our society.
Like the military, police officers are often regarded as heroes for simply wearing the uniform and doing their jobs.
There’s a reason for that.
In the eyes of most civilians, cops risk their lives to protect us from crimes and criminals, putting themselves between us and danger.
However, unquestioned reverence to authority figures in a free society is never a good idea, and it is this reverence that makes it so easy to dismiss Christopher Dorner, the former Los Angeles Police Department officer who killed four during his vengeance-fueled rampage against the LAPD.
Now, I believe I have to make a few statements before I go on.
No, I do not and did not support or condone Dorner’s actions. Going to “war” with the LAPD as though you’re some righteous, Rambo-style crusader is never the right decision, no matter how noble your intentions. Brutally murdering innocent people is an act that simply cannot be forgiven.
Yet, no matter how I feel about Dorner’s actions, I cannot simply dismiss his case against the LAPD because of them.
Dorner released a manifesto Feb. 4, detailing the corruption and racism that he alleged was rampant throughout the department.
“The department has not changed since the Rampart and Rodney King days,” Dorner wrote in his manifesto. “It has gotten worse.”
Most of Dorner’s issues with the LAPD seem to stem from an incident in 2007 when he reported a fellow officer for allegedly kicking a mentally ill suspect in the face. Dorner wrote that this incident crossed the “Blue Line,” an alleged, unwritten code to not report fellow officers, and he blamed it for his eventual dismissal from the department.
It’s easy to call someone a “cop-killer” and immediately dismiss anything and everything he or she has to say, associating this person with the vilest of the vile.
However, I think there is a reason that many people, especially in minority communities, empathized with Dorner. Despite the noble caricature many Americans hold of the police, law enforcement officers often abuse their authority and their power, and sometimes, people end up on the wrong end of that abuse.
Have we so quickly forgotten the incident on Danzinger Bridge, when the New Orleans Police Department tried to cover up a shooting that occurred six days after Hurricane Katrina? What about the Rodney King incident?
Myriad reports of police corruption are released each year, so why are Dorner’s allegations being so easily ignored?
Already, two other former LAPD officers have come out affirming Dorner’s critiques of corruption and racism run rampant.
Brian Bentley, 49, detailed how he was treated after writing a book on misconduct in the department. Joe Jones, 48, released his own manifesto detailing his own problems with the LAPD while attempting to reach out to Dorner and stop him.
Even the LAPD’s response to the Dorner threat is enough to call their organization into question.
Shooting at random civilians driving in trucks (which weren’t even the same make or color of Dorner’s) is not what I’d want out of a police force.
Corruption in police departments is nothing new, so dismissing the allegations brought up by Dorner simply because of his actions amounts to nothing more than an emotional reaction that’ll do nothing to help anyone.
If Dorner had legitimate criticisms and we ignore them because of his actions, corruption will continue to breed in the LAPD and other departments.
And it might be just a matter of time before someone is once again driven to the edge.
