As the World of Policing Turns

Every so often when I decide what to write about and comment on issues relative to policing matters, I find several to write about and then I narrow it down to one issue that I believe is begging for a deeper discussion. This time however I find it necessary to discuss three issues that came across the news in different parts of the country simultaneously.

The first is a story out of my hometown of Milwaukee, Wisconsin where Milwaukee police officers have been working without a contract since 2022. There are a lot of police agencies in the same predicament. Police union officials have accused the Milwaukee city negotiator of not bargaining in good faith and dragging their feet to go to binding arbitration. They have labeled the delay a “calculated insult.”

This is nothing new. Not only in Milwaukee but in many other large urban departments, police are at the bottom of the totem pole in terms of contract negotiations with the city. They have the most dangerous job of any city department. Cities would collapse into chaos but for the work they do. What thanks do they get? They get treated like they are forestry department workers or some other inane department in city government. I don’t recall any city worker other than a police officer who has died in the line of duty. The highest and most important priority of any city is to ensure the safety of its citizens, businesses, schools and neighborhoods. Working without an on-time contract leads to frustration and at some point, will affect job performance. The cost of living has risen since 2022 when the contract expired. Do city officials think about that?

In a statement from the union, it pointed out that, “we will not be deterred, and we will continue to fight for a contract that reflects the professionalism and sacrifice of Milwaukee police officers.” They point out that these delays are being done at a time of recruiting difficulties and staffing shortages. What prospective person would sign up for this?

The next story is out of Florida where police attempts to take a motorist into custody went sideways and not through the fault of the officers. It was your typical white officers conducting a routine traffic stop of a black male driver. Yes, you know what transpired. The driver locked himself inside, rolled up the windows and refused lawful commands to exit the vehicle. The officers ended up breaking the door window and pulling him out of the car. One officer slapped the driver in the face. He was taken to the ground still struggling and was struct again. The face strikes were benign. They didn’t pound on him.

Enter cop hating black racialist lawyer Benjamin Crump. How does he always find his was into these situations I wonder? When he shows up, a circus always follows. He holds a news conference attracting as many major news agencies as he can gather so he can spew inflammatory rhetoric to stir up outrage. He hopes for rallies and demonstrations in the street. Crump was looking for the next George Floyd incident. That never came. The driver eventually plead to resisting arrest and driving with a suspended license. The officer’s agency asked for a criminal as well as an internal investigation. Why was a criminal investigation asked for? Is this where we are at in policing? Every time reasonable and minimal force is used, we are going to call for a criminal investigation? Seriously? I watched the video and I have investigated police use of force and as sheriff had to rule on these claims. In my view there was no need to call for or conduct a criminal investigation. This is where police executive leadership comes into play. The police executive in this case needed to have the courage to explain to the public what happened and why. He needed to remind people that when an officer gives a lawful command, it is not negotiable, and you must comply. Instead, he took the cheap way out probably to cave to the wishes of police haters and head off rallies and demonstrations.

Finally, there is the continuing saga in the death of Breonna Taylor by Louisville police officers serving a search warrant. You may recall that officers were investigating a drug dealing case when they knocked on the suspect door. Breonna Taylor’s shitbird drug dealing boyfriend inside fired through the door at police. Officers returned fire and Taylor was struck and died. Officers were defending themselves and she was collateral damage. The boyfriend was not charged for shooting at police. He didn’t know who he was firing at. He said he thought they were intruders. I will come back to that.

One of the officers with outside containment fired shots thinking officers inside were under attack. His bullets struck no one. He was nonetheless charged with a federal civil rights violation against Breonna Taylor even though acquitted by a jury in state court. I do not know how prosecutors came to this conclusion, but the federal jury found that one of the officers was guilty of using excessive force. Yes, after being shot at. The prosecutor said that the officer violated one of the most fundamental rules of deadly force, that if they cannot see the person they are shooting at, they cannot pull the trigger. Really? That is precisely what Taylor’s drug dealing boyfriend did. He shot through a door without knowing who was on the other side. He triggered the events that led to Taylor’s death, and he received a two million dollar settle after suing the city, but it gets worse. This two-bit state prosecutor apparently never read the United States Supreme Court case on officer use of force named Graham v. Conner. It is a case on objective reasonableness. That applies here.

At sentencing for the federal case, the incoming Trump administration Department of Justice asked for a one-day sentence. To me even that was too much. The judge dismissed that request and handed down a 33-month sentence in federal prison for the now former Louisville officer. Where is the justice in that?

My hope is that the office that reviews pardon requests for President Trump will see this as a miscarriage of justice, and that the Biden DOJ compounded things with a politically motivated federal charge. They should issue this officer a commutation id not an outright pardon from this insane sentence considering all the circumstances. After all, justice delayed is justice denied.

Sheriff David A. Clarke Jr. is former Sheriff of Milwaukee Co, Wisconsin, President of Americas Sheriff LLC, President of Rise Up Wisconsin INC, Board member of the Crime Research Center, author of the book Cop Under Fire: Beyond Hashtags of Race Crime and Politics for a Better America. To learn more visit www.americassheriff.com