Today, the only difference between a cop and robber is that one has a badge.

 

 

Around the world, various police forces have demonstrated unjustified violence against peaceful anti-racism protesters.

Why is this so? To me, it reflects a behavioural predilection, and an expectation of unaccountability, but also a sense or expectation of permissibility.

Thugs and bullies are attracted to police service, which is not to say that all police are so, but certainly some/many/most are. The thugs and bullies want to act this way –it is their nature–  but with a degree of impunity –they do not want to be held to account for their behaviour–  and they find this opportunity in the police force.

It is indicative of a failure in the selection process that the thugs and bullies are not identified and rejected. It is also an indication of the militarization of police services, in personnel, training, tactics, attitude, and equipment, and successful civilian policing –that which respects and is respected–  is simply incompatible with a military approach.

I have had informal conversations with police officers, and with, for example,  university philosophy and ethics lecturers, and while both groups spoke English,  there the similarities ended. No good will come from putting a thug and bully in a uniform and not holding them accountable for their actions, and so the police whose actions led to the protests, unsurprisingly continue to use that same violence against peaceful protesters.

But the issue with police violence and unaccountability is a symptom of an underlying wrongness in our civil society, and at heart, the problem is a reflection of a failure of politics and political oversight. That is where the real responsibility lies.

The Gestapo did Hitler’s biding, and before them the brown shirts, and similarly the police everywhere work for the political system –totalitarian or so-called democratic,  the police defend the political system, which is to say the status quo, illegally if necessary, and they expect with impunity– and whether Labor or Liberal, Republican or Democrat, Tory or Labour, in government or opposition, the police are the dogs that the State uses to do its dirty work, and even in so-called democracies it is recognized by the political parties, in government or opposition, that it is a benefit to be able to whistle for the dogs.

There is NO difference between American or Australian police assaulting a peaceful protester, or Chinese police assaulting a pro-democracy campaigner, or North Korean police assaulting those that criticize the regime, or apartheid South African police throwing Steve Biko off a roof, or Nazi police assaulting a Jew, or Russian police assaulting critics of Putin, or Saudi police assaulting protesters calling for equal female freedoms, or French police assaulting yellow vest protesters calling for economic justice, or Iraqi police killing anti-poverty protesters last year, or the assault and killing of G9 protester Ian Tomlinson by English police, or South Australian police assault of a homeless man, or any of the innumerable instances of violence committed by the police –then and now, all around the world, totalitarian or so-called democratic–  against citizens in the name of law and order. To the police, everything –principals, ethics, equity, fairness, even accountability and responsibility, reason, common sense and evidence– all are secondary to the defense of the status quo.

Yes, we need to rid police forces of the thugs and bullies, the stupid, the unquestionably obedient, those that can’t think critically or act ethically, but attention needs also to focus on political systems, especially so-called democratic (as we profess higher ideals), where donations (bribes) and quid pro quo can buy decisions and outcomes, where secrecy is legally enforced, and where accountability for decisions and actions is deemed unnecessary.

Three of the rules of chivalry for knights:

1. Thou shalt never lie, and shalt remain faithful to thy pledged word.
2. Thou shalt be generous, and give largesse to everyone.
3. Thou shalt be everywhere and always the champion of the Right and the Good against Injustice and Evil.

Is this your police force???

Probably not, the knights are gone and we have thugs and bullies now.