My Point of View by Jennifer Vogt-Erickson

 

When someone is on the edge, how do we bring them back safely?

Last year, police shot and killed 995 people, according to a Washington Post database which has been tracking these statistics for several years. Albert Lea began the new year with one of the first people on the list for 2019.

A death is not a good outcome for anybody, and I have empathy for all involved. I am sorry Joseph Roberts’ life ended abruptly, and so young.

Amid immediate reactions of both “blue wall” and anti-police sentiments on social media (the former more frequent than the latter), I’ve been heartened by the prevalence of comments holding neutral ground and expressing condolences to all.

As the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension investigates what happened, I have no reason to think the responding officers acted outside of their training, but I also would not conclude the outcome was unavoidable. There were many unfortunate and challenging circumstances leading up to that morning, and then lots of things seem to have gone wrong all at once.

The BCA investigation will almost certainly clear the officers of wrongdoing. In 2015, there were no charges in about 97 percent of cases of “officer-involved” shooting deaths in the U.S. That is both positive and negative for police. It legally protects officers, but it also doesn’t restore lost public trust if investigations seem like mere formalities.

I admit, I lost some trust on Jan. 3. As a person who usually feels reassured when the police arrive, the apparent escalation in this situation gives me pause.

As a person who supports the police (and all workers) and doesn’t think anybody in a confrontation should die, I want to know as much as possible about what happened. The public has been informed about the use of a Taser, chemical irritant and firearms. What de-escalation tactics did the police use that didn’t involve weapons?

Overall, what kinds of psychological methods do our community’s police receive training on to defuse tense, unpredictable and possibly dangerous situations?

As a mother of school-age kids who play outside and in our alley, I am apprehensive about the discharge of any firearms in a residential area. Did all the shots hit Roberts? If some shots missed, where did those bullets stop?

As a former criminology teacher, several law enforcement officers and other people in the criminal justice system were guest speakers in my classroom. Some students in those classes distrusted police on varying levels, not just from their personal experience but from a multi-generational one. I can’t entirely wrap my head around that emotional response, but it’s certainly real, and situations like this can make it worse. How will the community rebuild these critical relationships between citizens and law enforcement?

I appreciate the vigil the Marins led on the place where Roberts died. People need ways to come together and remember and grieve. That was a start.

As someone from a working class background, I identify closely with people in dangerous lines of work. In gray collar and blue collar jobs, bodies are frequently bruised, battered and used up long before retirement age. I grew up in a sector more dangerous than law enforcement, which minors are engaged in, too. Lift with your legs, wear gloves, don’t slip. There are no thin green line flags, though, for people who get wrapped around a PTO while protecting this nation from hunger.

A major aspect of what sets police work apart from other dangerous physical work is that it’s part of the state, which has a monopoly on the legitimate use of force. That’s a lot of power, and a heavy responsibility. I don’t envy that responsibility or the split-second, life-or-death decisions that law enforcement officers at times have to make.

Those snap judgments were deadly for about 1,000 civilians last year. In contrast, the U.S. only executed 25 death row inmates in the same period. It’s much higher than rates of lethal force by police in other advanced countries. That kind of power, the power of life or death, should have close scrutiny. Accountability to the public for that is not too much to ask.

What is too much to ask, though, is for police to take the place of a functioning mental health and chemical dependency treatment system. Too often, people with significant mental health disorders and/or drug addiction are criminalized rather than humanized. That’s a failing of our entire system, a lack of political will, and it’s not humanizing for police either. Joseph Roberts should have had access to better treatment.

Regardless of what the BCA investigation finds, Roberts death in an alley on Jan. 3 is part of a much larger crisis. It’s in the interest of neither justice nor health to expect law enforcement to manage it.

Jennifer Vogt-Erickson is a member of the Freeborn County DFL Party.