RECENTLY there were some “disturbing” videos shown on news programs. As so many others do, this one showed police action that (I assume) appeared to most people to be “excessive.” I decided to comment on the issue.
I have often commented that no one plays “electrician and plumber” when a child. And movies and TV series are not made dealing with roofers and delivery drivers. However, we do play cops and robbers, and the police show/movie is, was, and apparently always will be, common and popular. The reasons are probably varied. The shows present: justice being done; bad guys being arrested; good guys overcoming impediments; heroes defying dangers; smart guys solving mysteries; and so on. These themes and characters thus become familiar to us. And so, in an apparently natural evolution, we FEEL that we know a great deal about police work and proper police action. What is even more relevant is that we also feel that we can recognize what improper police action is.
If the entertainment is effective then it presents situations and plots that seem credible. Thousands of these shows and movies presented over years must have some effect. We consider ourselves to be experts because we have (via the media) the experience.
I refer to a specific case. It took place somewhere in “the South.” According to the Mass Media, a young girl of Middle School age was causing problems in a class and would not obey the teacher’s order that she leave class. A “compliance” officer, a sheriff deputy, was called. The video showed him, literally, tossing her desk around while she remained in it. Of course this looked terrible. A big uniformed white male, armed with a gun and other “tools” was “attacking” a child. This was unacceptable, of course. Or is it?
To be clear: I am defending his actions. Let me try to present the facts from another point of view. The teacher was defied. Letting one disruptive child interfere with the class destroys the teaching ability of the teacher. Reason on it. If left alone, if not isolated out of the class, then this child will repeat the action, daily, forever. Others will probably imitate her. The class can no longer function. The school will no longer function. This is why the school has a compliance officer, namely to enforce the rules.
Now consider the following. YOU need to remove a big child from a school desk. The child simply will not leave and resists passively. What do you do? You have seen hundreds of police movies; so you are an expert. Try this at home. Have someone play the role of the child and you try to remove her… without causing the risk of serious injury to the child!
Any “real” police officer will tell you that this is impossible to do, in a nice looking (i.e. TV or Movie) way. He could try “pain compliance” techniques. This means pretty much pinching skin and twisting arms or head. This means, definitely, risk of broken arms and serious injuries. That is, it does IF the police officer can maintain a grip. And this is almost, if not totally, impossible. I repeat my question: what would YOU do? I repeat: try it at home. He did what he could, considering the circumstances. It looked bad, but it was not a movie.
The officer was assigned to remove disruptive students. At least two school officials observed him and had no objection to his actions. Many of the students demonstrated the next day in favor of the officer. Perhaps someday some real police officer will ask to go on a news program and let the outraged hosts try to remove them, without injury or harm, from a school desk. Then maybe at least some reality will be added to the entertainment police work that we continue to see. We need reality as well as fantasy.
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