OPINION:
Everyone providing a reference for candidates applying to the Montgomery County Police Department must answer this question: Is this the officer you would want to respond to your emergency? Long before his path crossed Michael Brown’s, Darren Wilson was no stranger to the internal affairs department. His previous department was disbanded for excessive brutality, and the Ferguson Police Department considered him a good hire. No one made him “unlearn” what he had been taught.
It’s not all Mr. Wilson’s fault. Two separate police departments were derelict in his training, and they turned him loose with a badge and gun. Tragedy was inevitable.
Ferguson Police have been notoriously adversarial with the black community. It’s not unreasonable to doubt that Mr. Wilson viewed Mr. Brown with much humanity when he confronted him in the middle of the street. With TV cameras rolling, Mr. Wilson’s fellow officers were comfortable shouting expletives at black protesters.
That video didn’t just show Michael Brown behaving badly. It spoke volumes about the police chief’s insensitivity to the raw emotion running rampant in his town. Years of resentment over how police treated black residents kept the protests going. Would Ferguson be bracing for riots right now if Darren Wilson had simply gotten out of his cruiser and seeing no weapon politely spoken to Mr. Brown about fitting the description of the suspect who had just robbed a store? Once called the deadliest city in America, Camden, N.J., is changing because police are engaging the community and forging relationships with the citizens they serve. Mr. Brown didn’t deserve to die, but he put the deadly chain of events in motion. Mr. Wilson was on duty and responded to a call that went out only because Mr. Brown ripped off a handful of cigars and menaced the proprietor who tried to stop him. Still, that should not have warranted Mr. Wilson’s use of excessive force. This reveals more than poor training; it shows the predisposition to obliterate the walnut with a sledgehammer when the nutcracker is right there.
These are the officers who take your dignity along with your license and registration. Police swear an oath to serve and protect all, not just some. When they regard whole communities as less deserving or devoid of humanity, police have already broken their oath. That’s not the kind of officer you want responding to your emergency.
ERICA JOCELYN CHEW
Silver Spring, Md.
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