“Any group that considers themselves a public safety group other than law enforcement is of concern because that is not their job. It’s the law enforcement’s job,” said Sandra Hutchens, president of Major County Sheriffs of America, told Defense One. The group is an association of elected sheriffs “representing counties or parishes with 500,000 population or more.”There are a few things to say about that argument.
One reason the presence of heavily armed men patrolling during “alt-right” events adds a new level of danger is because no one is entirely sure why they are even there or to whom they are accountable, including the militia members themselves. Law enforcement officers, on the other hand, are “accountable to the public always; that’s a very important point in this,” said Hutchens, who also is the sheriff-coroner for Orange County, Calif. “If we’re not doing it appropriately, then we’re accountable to the people and the government.”
First of all, the police didn't in fact do their job. How accountable do we expect that they are going to be for not doing so? The mayor and governor appear to have ordered them not to do it. Possibly the mayor and governor might be turned out at the next election, maybe, but the police? There is I think no possibility whatsoever that they will be held accountable. Nobody's going to lose his job, nobody's going to jail for nonfeasance, nobody's going to get a pay cut. They obeyed orders, and that will be enough.
Secondly, the lack of accountability for law enforcement officers is not unique to situations in which not doing their jobs appropriately is ordered. It also happens when they make mistakes, get scared, and sometimes even when they do wrong on purpose. If a militia member shoots somebody, I guarantee you they'll face the full array of legal accountability. Even if they were completely justified in the shooting -- in a situation of self defense or defense of an innocent, against an immediate danger of death or grievous bodily harm -- they'll be arrested and subject to investigation. Most likely they will be charged, and the justification of their action tested in court before a judge and a jury of their peers. If they were not justified in any way, they will be convicted and go to jail. They are personally, immediately accountable to the public through criminal law in a way that law enforcement officers regularly prove not to be.
Thirdly, unlike law enforcement officers, they will be personally accountable to the public via civil law. They can be personally sued in civil court for any harm caused by the shooting. This will include both documented harm and also more subjective categories like 'pain and suffering,' 'estimated lost wages,' etc.
Lots of law enforcement officers do a good job of keeping the peace in their community. It may very well be that it would be better for everyone if the police stopped conflict between protest groups instead of having us rely on militias. However, when the police fail to do so appropriately they are certainly not more accountable to the public than private citizens who belong to militias. Police are much, much less so.
3 comments:
Outstanding point about accountability. What you say is both bitterly ironic and blazingly obvious, and yet the point seems to be lost on tens of millions in this country.
I'd like to make one point, which pertains at least to MY state of Colorado: not sure now many other states run their LE this way.
In Colorado, we have county sheriffs who are directly elected by the citizens they serve. Sheriffs may be removed by the county citizenry, by either failing to be re-elected or through the recall process*, if they are perceived as not doing a "good enough" job of protecting and serving.
OTOH, chiefs of the state police and local (municipal) law enforcement police departments are typically appointed by their respective political leader, e.g., governor, mayor. This provides an extra layer of insulation between the law enforcement agency, which takes direction from the political power seat, and the citizenry. That extra layer of political buffer serves to delay & diffuse any practical political effects, like firing, of "not good enough" law enforcement.
I have my suspicions of who gave which orders to the Charlottesville police force -- it will be interesting to see what the DOJ investigation reveals (if nothing untoward, then I'll stand corrected.)
* oops, forgot my own asterisk: the last recall of a Colorado county sheriff was just this past January.
Post a Comment