President Trump’s Attorney General William Barr warned that communities that criticize the police risk losing police protection. Barr said people need to “display more deference” toward the police. He delivered these words at an awards ceremony for law enforcement during a time when there is a growing concern about police brutality against minorities. Is he saying that Americans are not permitted to protest against police wrongdoing or else they will suffer retaliation from the government in the form of withholding critical services that taxpayers are paying for? Barr said, “They have to start showing, more than they do, the respect and support that law enforcement deserves, and if communities don’t give that support and respect, they may find themselves without the police protection they need.” The speech has been criticized for confusing valid criticism against police misconduct with a general disrespect for the police. In addition, he does seem to be saying that communities will suffer retaliation for having complaints about the police, which seems un-American and un-democratic. People have constitutionally protected free speech rights under the First Amendment. We are allowed to criticize our government, including the police, without being retaliated against for having a dissenting opinion. Vanita Gupta, the president and chief executive of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, and the former head of the Justice Department’s civil rights division said, “The idea that the attorney general of the United States, the nation’s chief law enforcement officer, is recommending abandoning communities as retribution for pushing for police reform or criticizing policing practices, is profoundly dangerous and irresponsible.”
Another critic of Attorney General Barr said that his position was equal to demanding praise for police officers even when they abuse their power, "or else". Andrew Stroehlein of Human Rights Watch tweeted that Mr. Barr “fails to understand police are not a protection racket,” meaning they are not provided by the mob, they’re a part of our civilized society and paid for by the American taxpayers. We the people have paid for police protection, and we have the right to criticize them when they are not doing their job right.
Attorney General William Barr
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It is hard for people to support the police in their community if they are not supporting them either. It has to be a two way relationship. Just because they have more power, doesn't mean that they can take advantage of these poor people by abusing their rights. If police can't respect the people in their own community, then the people shouldn't be obligated to respect them either. Furthermore, it seems as if Trump is afraid to take criticism. He wants to believe that everything that is controlled by him is under control and perfect. Instead of facing problems that occurring with police, he places this law so he can continue to ignore the problem.
ReplyDeleteIf there's a lot of criticism against the police, or any faction of the government, it means that there's a need for change and not that those offering criticism should have government resources taken from them. Innocent people who have been killed, attacked, and have experienced prejudice against them from the police deserve the right to defend their lives and wellbeing. When people in LA were being killed by the police and started protesting in the Watts Riots, Police Commissioner Parker said that if they hated the police so much they shouldn't have access to their protection. Clearly, this has only shown that that response has disastrous results.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.history.com/topics/1960s/watts-riots
Police have no respect for others because they have more "power" over other people and that's why people disrespect them because of how police treat other people.
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