Racial profiling, bigotry and profit-driven law enforcement probably sound to you like serious problems. But in Ferguson, Missouri, fundamental incompetence has failed to force serious change in law enforcement.
I’m referring to the Justice Department’s long-awaited probe into the practices of the Ferguson police department following the death of Michael Brown. Last week, a city court clerk and two police officers resigned under criticism for racist emails uncovered by the probe.
But three racists losing their jobs can hardly be considered a success story. The Ferguson Police Department’s brand of deeply embedded racism can only be solved by way of change at the top.
Yet despite the apparent humiliation of heading a police department that routinely violated the constitutional rights of African-Americans, Ferguson Police Chief Tom Jackson refuses to step down.
The police chief turned a blind eye to systemic racism, and he should have been the first to go. But Ferguson Mayor James Knowles III told the Associated Press that he is not here simply to “chop heads.”
The terrifying implication is that we don’t know exactly who is responsible for Ferguson’s police.
“Terrifying” is not hyperbole. The Justice Department’s report comes in the wake of investigations revealing Chicago police “black sites.”
The sites are interrogation compounds where prisoners are kept off the books and away from attorneys and family. They are beaten, shackled and sometimes killed.
These are the consequences we face when we allow police brutality to go unchecked.
How anyone could have the audacity to remain in a position of authority after such glaring failures is beyond me. But Jackson keeping his job is par for the course in terms of police accountability in Ferguson.
Although the Justice Department uncovered obscene levels of racism within Ferguson’s police force, it also determined that Officer Darren Wilson would not face charges for Brown’s death.
Americans continue to refer to “tension” between minorities and the police. But that word connotes a two-sided struggle that simply does not exist.
Racist police officers are backed up by a vast bureaucracy, which the Justice Department proved can be as bigoted as the officers. Moreover, police have a monopoly on the legitimate use of force. Simply put, they can shoot you and get away with it.
Sorry, that’s inaccurate. They will, of course, go on an unpaid leave of absence. Maybe.
“Tension” is inaccurate and insulting when describing the relationship between minorities and the police. Try “oppression.”
In order to end this oppression, we need to bring it out in the open. We need more Justice Department reports, and we need them highly publicized.
We need resignations and firings, not just of low-level employees, but of those in positions of authority who have allowed oppression to go unchecked. As of now, racist emails seem to demand more severe punishment than gunning down unarmed teenagers in the streets.
We need arrests and accountability for the officers and superiors whose actions have resulted in the deaths and civil rights violations of countless minorities.
And here is the obligatory “not all police” disclaimer. Of course not every cop and department official is an inept racist. Everyone knows that.
But when even a tiny fraction is set loose upon minority communities with guns and the impunity to use them, that disclaimer is of little comfort to people like Michael Brown.
Alex Mendoza is a 22-year-old political science and international studies senior from Baton Rouge. You can reach him on Twitter @alexmendoza_TDR.