Civic Cipher 080622 To Whom are Police Accountable? (Part 1)

and injustice per usual. As I mentioned reverting to type, We're gonna share a story about a black man in uniform, an officer, military officer, who was engaged by the police in pepper spray and so forth and so on, and we're gonna talk you through what that experience is like for black people and why we fight so hard on

that battle front. We're also gonna take a look at the origins of the protect and serve model that is associated with police departments around the country and really find out what that means and who that means, what it means too. We're also going to take some time to discuss the repercussions that are in place for police officers who violate overstep. All these sorts of things plenty to

stick around for, but it's not all heavy stuff. We will be taking a moment to talk about the recently past Bill Russell, who of course is a famous NBA athlete but also a civil rights activist, and we feel like story deserves to be told, so Q was going to share more with that when we get to the

way Black History Fact. We're also going to talk about for our becoming a better ally segment, ways that you can support black businesses because this month is Black Business Month, So again, a lot to stick around for and we're going to need you to help us peel back these layers. But first, let's do like we always do and start off on a positive note, shall we? That we shall? So it might not sound so positive, but Michelle Nichols recently passed away. She's a beloved actor, singer, and dancer

whose career spanned six decades. She passed away recently at the age of eighty nine, and she will be best remembered for her trailblazing role as Lieutenant Nyota Uhura on the original Star Trek TV series, which aired from nineteen

sixty six to sixty nine. Her performance as Uhura a communications officer, and she was the fourth highest ranking member of the USS enterprise, and that was a landmark moment for representation in pop culture, marking one of the first times in American history that a black woman appeared on television in a leading role. I'm gonna stop right here for a second because and real quick shout out to a hip hop with the media for sponsoring this segment

for us today. And the story comes from blavity prior to her being on Star Trek, which I'm a big tricky I think I mentioned that one time on the show before. Hate me if you will, but I love Star Trek always have. It's a perfect world, and that's what I imagine that we all can aspire to that anyway. Prior to her being in that position on television, black women were oftentimes maids, secondary characters, you know, they weren't

part of a primary cast on television. She actually is credited with William Shatner for sharing the first interracial kiss on television. So I know that we're just kind of trying to give her her credit, but imagine what it took for her to what she had to go through in order to accomplish these things, and what she had to suffer through as a result of accomplishing them. So we wanted to take a moment to highlight the ebony excellence that is the entire story of the life of

Michelle Nichols. This is the place where we get to do it. And I'm not just a trekky. I'm a fan of black girl men and she exemplifies that. Now let's talk about police again. I mean, it's a bit. It's a big part of our lives. I know, I know it's common motif around here, but it's a big part of our lives. And you know, there's some people that think that, you know, maybe we make a mountain

out of a mole hill. You know, if you look at the amount of black people that exist versus the amount of black people that are engaged by the police, you might think that we're imagining a problem and you're wrong. But if you were right, let's have a thought experiment. Okay, now, Q, I want you to answer this question best you can for our listeners. What does it feel like to see police as a black person.

you know, at least physically unscathed. I want to add something to that before we get into the story that sort of prompted these questions. I'm going to share something that I'm going to be very vulnerable, very honest with you. I was three years old. I was with my father and we were visiting one of my father's friends. This woman, her name was Melody. She had a dog. The dog's name was Josh. I remember this at three years old

because of the trauma associated with this man. My father and Melody were having a conversation in the other room, and I was in the living room with Josh sitting in front of the fireplace. So as you do, I went and sat with Josh and I began to pet him. It's what you do with a dog. I was not aggressive. I wasn't you know.

the situation. That very much shaped the way that I felt about dogs for the rest of my life. The people, I.

scared of that. I just don't want to be around it. I they don't speak English, I don't know what they're thinking. They plottin on me, you know what I'm saying, and your brain won't let you go. It's like you're a prisoner of this, you know. And fear is different. I know, fear. You know what I'm saying, but it's for most people that's the only word that they'll understand. So I'll let you have it. Fear. I fought against that word for many years because I know that physically I could. I

need it to. It was me. If it came down to life and death being a dog, I know I'd be okay. So that's not fear. It's more concern because people love their dogs and I don't. So here I am, I'm thirty nine years old. I'm a grown man, real grown. When I see a dog, I know it's there, it's still with me. It doesn't look me right. I'm well aware and I'm not running away from a dog, you know, none of that sort of stuff.

I don't remember her name. I was very little at the time, but I remember seeing that man's head get pushed into the door of the car and the dentt And this was in the eighties, so they want no plastic doors. It was an eighties car, you know, like box Chevy type cars. So that coupled with every other traumatic event that you know to be true of the LAPD very much shape of my view of police now. When I see police officers, it's very similar. I'm not afraid of the police in the same way I'm not

afraid of a dog. I get it. You know, I've seen the rhythms, and I've seen enough dogs that didn't bite me that didn't. They weren't concerned to know that not all dogs are that way. But I've seen and the trauma, and I will one thing that we cannot divorce from our narrative is that black people are very much a traumatized people in this country, especially by the police,

especially by the police. Right the time you hear black mothers wailing or whatever, it's oftentimes nine out of ten, I guess at the hands of the criminal justice system doing something unfair, what they believe to be unfair. I don't want to I don't want to try to paint a picture that is not entirely accurate. But then again

that's not possible. So anyway, so when I see police officers, it's kind of like the same physical response to seeing a dog, like a loose dog with no chain and he's just walking down the street, and it's like, well, you're over there. Hopefully he don't come over here, because we come over here. I'm going to be afraid, right

for leaning going with that fear thing. And you know, what do you do if you're Ramses and you see a dog and that dog starts running at you, you stand there because if you're Ramses, let me be the one to tell you you don't stand there. I am outro like the end of your CD. You know what I'm saying, And my only other option is to fight, because in that moment, that paralytic fear, that that fear,

that gripping fear, it overwhelms reason, logic, whatever, right. So this is why I always try to leave a little bit of we'll call it grace, a little bit of space in the narrative for people that run from the police, because if you are traumatized by the police, there is a limbic reaction. I mean, I've experienced when it comes to you know, something very somilar like I'm out. I don't want to die today.

of a town before with my cousins. Dogs started chasing us. We started running. I don't know how long this will, but I was still running, and neither was the dog or my cousins, just me.

thank you. It's not at Men have to be based in trauma, and then you throw the trauma on top of it and it's like, okay, what are we talking about?

I'm gonna read this, so this is a current news story that you know, Maggie be Known wanted us to discuss today. Maggie Beino and our producer. All right. Another cop leaves court with no charges after assaulting a black person who happened to be an army lieutenant. This comes from the Associated Press, so I'll read it. No charges for officer who pepper sprayed army lieutenant in Norfolk, Virginia.

A former police officer in Virginia should not be criminally charged, but should be investigated for potential civil rights violations after he pepper sprayed, struck, and handcuffed a black US Army lieutenant during a twenty twenty traffic stop. A special prosecutor prosecutor has determined the prosecutor's findings are the latest fallout from a confrontation involving two involving two police officers and a uniformed military officer that drew outrage and national attention

to the small town of Windsor, southeast of Richmond. The man who was pulled over karn Nazario was never charged. Video of the December twenty twenty traffic stop surfaced in April twenty twenty one after Nzario sued in federal court alleging that his constitutional rights were violated. You remember we talked about this story would happened? Right? I do?

especially at night. Right, the police try to pull him over, he's like in the sticks in you know, Virginia somewhere, and he's like, Nahpam, I'm not about to get pulled over on the side of the road. Right. So he continues to drive and pulls over at a place where he feels safe. This is a gas station, Maggie, is that right? Okay, that's right. So he pulls over to gas station because there's light there and he feels like that gives him the best possible chance of having a

positive outcome. While interacting with the police. They can see everything. They don't have to be afraid of anything. There's lights here, you don't have to, you know, approach with the same sort of paranoia that you do, you know, that sort of stuff, which I totally understand. What happens is the police feel like, even though he's not speeding away, I don't remember that being a part of that story, the police feel like, since he didn't pull over immediately that

they need to engage and be overly aggressive. This is something that happened to me. I got pulled over by the airport one time, and I was on the freeway and I couldn't pull all the way over because it would have taken me to another freeway, which I wouldn't have known how to drive. So I had to wait until the ramp was done and then pull over. And the police were so angry. They pulled me out of the car. They thought I was on drugs. I was like, I've never done a drug. I've never drank alcohol. They

didn't believe anything I had to say. They're like, is that exactly what a meth head would say? Really? Okay, anyway back to Coronasario. So he's at this now illuminated gas station and you know the rest of the story. He's struck, pepper, sprayed, handcuffed, all these things, and then they found out, oh, he does have a license plate. Oops are bad? Okay, all right, I'll finish reading this

just so we can get back to it. So the images sparked outrage and served as a grim reminder to many black Americans that a military uniform doesn't necessarily protect against mistreatment by police. Neither does a suit a business suit, Neither does a tuxi none of that stuff, right.

doesn't it assumes a lot. And as we've established in this conversation just you know on this episode that there's a lot that you that that assumption doesn't take into account. It doesn't even take into account the traumas, the triggers, you know, or really indeed the reality of the situation, because you can't out, you can, you know, be Unfortunately he didn't get shot and die. He had the opportunity

to sue. Obviously there's no justice there, but at least he brought some attention to it, and that allows us to tell these stories. This is not the only person that this sort of thing happens too. You know, once upon a time, as I mentioned, I literally saw with my own eyes police pull a man out of his car and they handcuffed him. He was sitting on the side in the middle of the street, and they took his head and they banged it into the door and

the left a big dan. Now, he wasn't running anywhere, he was sitting on the ground, he wasn't fighting anybody because his hands are behind his back, handcuffed, and they still took his head and smashed it into the car. So that sort of thing doesn't make you feel like, you know what, police are our friends. Now, I do want to say this because I have to police oftentimes.

You know, I have to be fair. I go on walks, you know, I'm trying to keep my heart healthy as I enter into this next phase of my life and I see police where I walk. It's a nice neighborhood, you know, there's police on patrol and I see them, and you know, my impulses to just keep my head down my business. But some of these officers will go out of their way to try to be kind and in those moments, I do see the human being and

I do acknowledge that. So there is there's a room for nuance on both sides, and we do need to have important conversations. But before we finish this segment, I do want to mention at least that that model that we're all used to reading on the side of police cars, to Protect and Serve, it's just a model. In fact, i'll read from the official site for the Los Angeles Police Department. In February of nineteen fifty five, LAPD, through their internally produced Beat magazine, held a contest for a

motto for the Police Academy. The conditions of the contest stated that quote the model should be one that, in a few words, would express some or all of the ideals to which the Los Angeles Police Service is dedicated. It's possible that the winning model might someday be adopted as the official model of the department. The winning entry was the model to Protect and Serve, submitted by Officer Joseph S. Durobec. To Protect and Serve became the official motto.

The reason I want to suggest that to you is because that is not an oath, That is not a commitment to the community. It is something that you might think, you know is associated with policing, but even the idea of protecting people is not something that we get to hold police accountable to.