The Police Academy’s New Civil Rights Training
First Day of Recruits in a BLM Post-George Floyd Reformed Environment
[Warning: This piece contains satire that may not please and offend most normal people and no police. It is not meant to harm or incriminate anyone though, and only meant to represent the changes that come about by the tightened police budgets due to a general call to defund the police and to make policing better, more sensitive while employing American efficiency principles of management, suggesting, based on video evidence I include at the end, the Black Lives Matter Protest may have caused deep changes in how police have been trained, judging by their reformed new behavior and the dignity and respect they now show black Americans. Any truth contained in this fictionalized generalized example of new reforms is purely coincidental and any feeling a reader can has that the result in any conflicted feeling between either of the suggested clips of modern policing at work and the narrative of their new training techniques is completely intended though accidental]
I like to watch and check in on police reform to see the latest and how police are actually doing in the field, how they are treating blacks after the George Floyd inspired Black Lives Matter protests that brought over 3.3 million peaceful supporters out onto the streets of 3,000 cities and towns across America, and to see how they are interpreting the basic laws, arrest procedures, and show their knowledge of interaction.
I believe the progress may have been positive and reform has been employed due to Americans love for efficiency in all manners of life, advanced business managerial techniques normally applied to large corporations, and improved understanding of respect for awesome power the police are allowed to employ to protect the people.
Police are now being trained in basic constitutional rights, the critical procedures of law, very foundational stuff like that. In effort to consolidate various training modules and methods, I have used a metaphoric approach to characterize the typical class in a way that best exemplifies the results we are all now seeing online in arrest videos. I think their training to consider this new dimension of victims and civil rights has been corporate in basic training and is issued in a way at the police academy best embodied by this narrative example when the new recruits enter on the first day for class after being issue a firearm.
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“OK students, welcome to the academy and we know you are brave and honorable men, and some ladies here. My name is Master Sargent Reynolds, and I will train you today in the mental aspect of the law. This will be your first and last lesson in handling the public using the law under new requirements that we inform you of legal stuff to make you better, more efficient officers. So I want you to pay attention.
“First off, most of you know a lot about policing already, or else you wouldn’t be here. And although we saw your high school degree or GED, or your military record where you served honorably for your country, I need to tell you, don’t take any notes, or it’s best not to. I want to make sure you have memorized and internalized the lessons of the law so you can use them in the field right away. This is critical. This new class is being enforced on us by the public, but it’s important to learn. Certain parts of the public have rights I’m told we are not addressing. Pay attention. You will have to recite them to the public, so written notes won’t help you on the oral exam at the end of class. When the public confronts you, you have to recall the law on the spot, and basis for it, and make up reasonable conclusions in a difficult situation. Let’s get started.
“I like to examine the most common situation, the most criminal, one where you must use your judgement and most of you will encounter every day. Since many of you will be starting off in the most dangerous areas of town, the ones with the highest concentrations of black people and Mexican-types. By the time you make your way up, based on your survival and high arrest rates, you will be placed in the suburbs and will thus know how to react to the crime situations you encounter there through experience. That’s called learning street smarts. That’s the mother of all training and the master, what you learn on patrol in patrol in these areas.”
“Let’s get to in. Scenario one: You see a black man, sitting in a car as a passenger, walking or dancing, rolling through a stop sign — which is your call to make — then stop him. At this point you MUST accuse him. Take responsibility before getting out of the car. Own up to, then get out. Remember, you are right and have the right to stop suspicious people. When he talks back, tell him he’s not obeying you, keep accusing him, tell him he is not complying, tell him he’s obstructing the law. And oh yeah, call back up. Then move into arrest him. While moving in, and this important, because he will say some wisecrack remark like he’s in charge, asking you questions. Do not let him and keeping repeating: ‘You are not complying with a lawful order, you are not complying with a lawful order.’ If that’s too much to say in the heat of the moment, try simply, “You’re obstructing, you’re obstructing.’ Always, always use You, not just a word like obstructing or resisting. “You are obstructing. You are resisting.”
“It keeps the focus, and the blame, on the perpetrator. You are the police. His detainment it not your fault. You must make it known. Very important to accuse because everyone will know the perp is to blame for not following police orders. And police are always trusted in court no matter what. Judges love police and give them the benefit of the doubt. Always — as long as you identify who is the perp and who is police. So You is the correct accusatory word.”
“Remember, he is black, so you will be justified with your other police brothers and the senior officers will tell you back at the base that you did right. They got your back. And the captain knows making an arrest and searching him for drugs was the right call. The police union has lawyers so there’s no way anything can happen to you. You are the thin blue line separating order from chaos, usually the chaos of the drug dealers in that part of town. They must know their place and stay there, so no matter you are doing the right thing. Stick together and cover each other as police — no matter what. The captain and the lawyers will be there. That’s why it’s called a union, a brotherhood. It is the blue wall that makes it a fortress. And no one will get into our fortress — without our permission — so protect it.
“Now while I don’t recommend shooting the black man you’ve rightfully detained, if you are not paying attention for a second, and you think he is going for his gun, then you do have a right to shoot him. Blacks will often go for their gun — everybody, every good cop knows that — even when you ask them for their ID. You don’t actually know what they’re reaching for when they go into their pocket or glovebox when you tell them to get their ID. So you won’t be blamed in thinking they went for a gun. And nobody likes a cop funeral. I do not want to go to any funeral of any brave police officer who is patrolling the hood. I am not going to have any of you die on me because you thought they weren’t reaching for a gun when they were.
“Some of you might think that’s wrong. Some of you may think it’s overreacting, and you are being filmed, so you might not trust your judgement and hesitate. I get it. But you don’t have time to think. You are not some internet commentators watching a replay. You do not have time in the heat of battle to second guess your judgement. Police judgement always wins in court because we are the ones facing the violence.
“Some of you might not be old enough to remember Rodney King, OK. But it was a famous case. So worth the review. Five good officers were filmed by some civilian of a black man who it looks like they were beating, but who was acting dangerous, probably amped up on drugs. That was before the internet. This is like the first viral clip. Some wise guy had one of these handheld cameras, so it wasn’t easy to just film police like now. It was probably planned by a militant black group out hunting for police making a lawful arrest to make them look bad. This was it folks. This was where it all started.
“Now, I don’t remember the details but it’s not hard to guess. This guy was in liberal L.A., think Hollywood and big minority town. King was not complying, I repeat: Not complying. Five, five officers or so were using their batons, people said beating him, when he would not comply. It was not a beating. The public does not understand. Neither does the media. They just want sensational headlines, not real life. They have no idea what’s it’s like to patrol dangerous streets day in and day out, always being a target for some gang member. So yeah, to them, that looks like a lot of officers, but you must remember this King was a strong black man, and they have a different muscle structure. They can react faster and strong under pressure, like a cheetah or lion, especially when tweaking, and these officers were all white as I remember it.
“The jury saw the video and saw King repeatedly try to get up, spring to action, while being kept down by five — five good police. If this King would have got up, what do you think would have happened? You’re right, he would have beaten the police back, or made a run for it and with all that adrenaline and crack pumping through his special muscles, there’s no way any of those officers would have been able to catch him. So the jury saw that, they knew it was the police in danger. And all the officers, everyone, was not guilty, and all were given medals of commendation, as I recall it.”
“Now, questions before we finish our in-class lesson on legal stuff and dealing with the public’s legal questions, and internet clips that will smear you, before we spend a week at the firing range in the afternoon and the gym in the morning learning restraining techniques, real field experience like handcuffing and frisking black men.”
“Yes, sergeant. What about black women?”
“Excellent question McMurray. They are guilty too, if they look it, according to what is called ‘reasonable suspicion.’ Now just a side note, you usually want to be more careful with black women, especially if they have children in the car or walking with them because if you touch the child, you will get accused of being a pedophile. Democrats like to do that, make those accusations. Any more questions? Yeah, Simpson.”
“What about white men and how many rounds can we shot today?”
“Great questions. I’m not going down that road today about handling white men as I want to concentrate on the most basic scenario of danger so I can save your life. If you don’t draw your gun on a white man, you can’t be blamed. Don’t lose focus. Your life is in my hands. It is the most important thing, protecting your own officers, your brothers in blue. I have don’t want to confuse you. But I will simply say be careful in touching a white woman — not just younger and hotter ones, but the middle-aged ones, too. Those are the ones that will accuse you of rape or sexual harassment. Best not touch them and show respect.”
“But to your second and more important point, that shooting will take place after we’re done with the legal training today. It’s really important to get through all this legal stuff first. But I’ll just hint: we’ll have four hours on the firing range, so it’ll be an awful lot.”
“Can you review the lesson, maybe summarize?”
“Great call Rogers. Since I told you not to take notes ever on a fellow officer, ever, I see you were not, so great job Rogers. Yes, to review, when you are out on patrol and see a black man, either one, walking, or two, driving, assume something is wrong, especially if you see baggy pants and-or dread locks, it means they have drugs on them and-or a gun. Now for your final test before graduating from the whole classroom part of the academy. What is wearing a hoodie up called when you see a black man? Franklin, you haven’t said anything. I’ll give a woman chance, I’m fair like that. Do you want your answer to count for the class so we can get out of here and on to the range?”
“Yes sir. It’s called reasonable suspicion.”
“Correct. You were paying attention. I’ll take it the rest of you recruits all agree, and I can tell the captain you’ve all graduated this law review stuff that is now required. Now let’s get to the good part. Don’t forget to report tomorrow and the day after in the morning, day two and three, to the gym where we will learn to arrest, handcuff, taser, and throw the suspicious black man, or other people who may have committed a crime, to be fair, onto the back of the car or the hood of the car, which are two separate and different take down techniques. Great, let’s grab a sandwich and get out to shoot at some targets.”
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[You see new cops making the right calls by using this new training in effect as they stop and detain two black men in California, in an all-liberal place near San Fransisco, using their new legal classroom skills properly. As California goes so goes the country as they say.
You can see experienced officers in California who graduated and practiced for years use their training in this key traffic stop clip.]
