In Discussing Police Behavior, Remember Local Governments

Baton Rouge, Falcon Heights, and now Dallas have been swept up in the national “conversation” about the relationship between law enforcement officers and the citizens they protect. In each case, the entry into the history books was written in blood.

Yes, I put quotes around “conversation,” but not because I wish to avoid discussions. My problem is that one conversation, especially a “national” conversation, simply won’t do. Indeed, the willingness to generalize to a national level may very well have pushed the Dallas crew to their violent actions – one of the suspects was apparently driven by an urge to “kill white people, especially white officers” (Washington Examiner).

The idea that officers in Dallas would have all but the most tangential attachment to the forces in Baton Rouge and Falcon Heights reveal one of the structural problems of this “conversation”: a decided – and in some cases deliberate – ignorance of local government and its impact.

Before I decided to burn some bandwith on this today, I looked back at Ferguson, MO, where Michael Brown died two years ago. For the most part, America has “moved on” from Ferguson, but the city did not simply put the past behind it. Less than a year after Brown’s death, new City Councillors were elected, promising reform. The federal Department of Justice certainly provided a push for reforms, but the City enacted them with relatively little fanfare (after making sure DoJ wasn’t turning the matter into an unfunded mandate – CBS), while appointing an African-American police chief for the first time (CBS). While the nation as a whole drifted from Ferguson, the local government is beginning to address the problem because the local citizenry stayed involved.

Residents in Baton Rouge and in Falcon Heights should take note, as should the rest of us.

Local police forces aren’t directly accountable to the federal Justice Department, although the 14th Amendment does give the DoJ some authority, and rightly so. They’re not even directly accountable to Governors and state legislatures – even in a Dillon’s Rule state like Virginia.

Local police forces are directly accountable to their appointers – namely, elected local officials, who are themselves accountable to their voters.

This is not to say one should not be concerned about what has happened in Baton Rouge, in Falcon Heights, and in Dallas. It is to say that one’s concerns should begin with one’s local police force.

Contrary to the attention paid to the presidential race, the government that is most likely to interact with you – and annoy you – is your local government. Your local government decides what you can and cannot build on your property. Unless your children are in private, religious, or home-based schools, your local government oversees their education. Your local government controls most of the speed limits in your town. Your local government delivers your water (in most cases). Your local government decides which non-satellite cable comapny gets to operate in your community. Your local government oversees elections…

…including elections to decide who runs your police force (Sheriff, Mayor, City Council, or County Board of Supervisors) and, here in Virginia, who prosecutes charges the police press (Commonwealth Attorneys).

So, if militarization of the police bothers you (and understandably so), the best place where you can address that is in your locality. Talk to your Supervisor or Councillor. Address the Board or City Council. Perhaps your locality needs to consider changes to its law enforcement management; perhaps it is ahead of the game and already taking steps. Either way, what can be or is being done in your locality can be an exmaple to other localities across America.

When I was younger, one of the favorite phrases of activists was “Think Globally; Act Locally.” We forget the second half of that at our peril.

@deejaymcguire | facebook.com/people/Dj-McGuire | DJ’s posts

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