Letter: Missouri police deserve respect, but not extra rights
Extra responsibility
At a time when peace officers argue for more protection than regular citizens, as in the so-called Law Enforcement Officers’ Bill of Rights introduced in the Missouri House, we have to stop and ask ourselves: What do we seek to accomplish in our state right now?
Driving while black is real. The state attorney general’s vehicle stops report has more than a decade of data indicating that black motorists and other drivers of color are stopped 85% more than other drivers. That means that for every white person who gets stopped on the way to the grocery store, work or church, a black person gets stopped almost twice as often. That includes grandmothers, preachers and women.
In addition, Missouri is plagued by police officers taking inappropriate actions — not making a mistake on a form, not hoping to do the right thing and failing, but acting in a reckless and sometimes criminal way.
Most recently, St. Louis-area police officer Julia Crews was indicted on a second-degree assault charge after she shot a woman in the back for allegedly shoplifting. (May 2, KansasCity.com, “Cop mistakenly shot alleged Missouri shoplifter in ‘terrible accident,’ attorney says”)
There is no excuse for shooting a person in the back. After serving 13 years on the police force, the officer said, “I thought I was going to tase her and accidentally shot her.” That “accident” might have cost another black woman her life. What good will her excuse be to the woman’s family of five who need and rely on her?
In another incident, St. Louis police officers were drinking on duty when one fatally shot the other in a game of Russian roulette. (Feb. 3, 25A, “Short take: What’s going on with St. Louis police?”) That “accident” left one officer’s family seeking help and answers — and rightfully so.
Don’t get me wrong: Peace officers deserve higher pay and the right to participate in collective bargaining. They should be treated with the respect that each individual in uniform earns. But when they seek to be held out as the heroes they sometimes are and ask for extra protections in the process, shouldn’t they demonstrate a higher level of responsibility and accountability than we’ve seen in Missouri?
The residents of our state and all those passing through are protected by the Missouri Constitution. Turns out that’s enough, and it’s all that’s required if we all agree to play by the same rules.
Nimrod Chapel Jr.
President, Missouri
NAACP State Conference
Jefferson City