War in the Streets

Det. Ellis Carver: What he means to say is that we are effective deterrent in the war on drugs when we are on the street.
Det. Thomas Hauk: Fucking motherfuckers up.
Det. Ellis Carver: Indeed.
Det. Thomas Hauk: Fuck the paperwork. Collect bodies, split heads.
Det. Ellis Carver: Split ‘em wide.
Det. Thomas Hauk: The Western District way.
Det. Ellis Carver: A’ight.
Some of you have probably come across the story of Jordan Miles, a teenage honor student and violist (as in one who plays the viola not the violin) of Pittsburghs Creative and Performing Arts High School being beaten by police. If not here’s the skinny:
“As Miles walked up the block, he noticed three men sitting in a white car, “but I thought nothing of it,” he said. The criminal complaint says Miles was standing against a building “as if he was trying to avoid being seen.” But he says he was walking when the men jumped out of the car. “Where’s the money?” one shouted, according to Miles. “Where’s the gun? Where’s the drugs?” the other two said. “It was intimidating; I thought I was going to be robbed,” Miles said. That’s when he says he took off back to his mother’s house but slipped on the icy sidewalk. Before he could pull himself up, Miles said, the men were at his back. “That’s when they started beating me, punching, kicking me, choking me,” he said. Not until 15 minutes later, when uniformed officers drove up in a van and Miles overheard their conversation, did he realize he had been arrested, he said. Initially, when the handcuffs were clamped around his wrists, he thought he was being abducted, he said. The police believed Miles, who appeared to have something heavy in his pocket, was carrying a gun, according to the affidavit. The police say they used a stun gun on the teenager. According to the affidavit, the object in Miles’ pocket turned out to be a bottle of Mountain Dew. But Miles says he didn’t have anything in his pocket and rarely drinks Mountain Dew.”
There is a lot of talk about racial profiling in this situation…perhaps it’s a factor, but I’ve chosen to see it as an even bigger issue. - I’ll even ignore the degree of force used. In the movie “The Siege” there is a scene where Bruce Willis (as a General) says: “The Army is a broad sword, not a scalpel. Trust me, senator - you do not want the Army in an American city.” His point was that using the army to fight terrorism on American soil would be deterimental to the American way of life. The scene struck me because we already live during the “war on crime and drugs”. So what happens when you tell the police they are in a war? We’re familiar with the “To Protect and Serve” motto…but consider some of the mottos of divisions in the military:
“First in, Last Out”
“Don’t Run You’ll Just Die Tired”
“Death From Above”
The thing is those are great mottos and mindstates for people you are going to send into war. They wouldn’t work for those who patrol your neighborhood. Some people have questioned just the set up of the cops in this situation. If you grew up in an area of a city with crime you know it. The Knockers…they come into the area in plainclothes and cars and jump out on folks in attempts to catch them with drugs or guns. If you know like I know these are also the guys that catch you with a bag of weed and tell you that you can walk if tell them who has a gun. If you really know like I know they don’t fool people either, you can normally tell what they are by the car and the overall look of the people in it. It’s like operating a normal police investigation where instead of working from a known criminal through stealth and then gathering information, you try to find someone who looks suspicious and hope they can payoff via an arrest or info that will lead to one. Basically it’s a way to try and build quick statistics. It’s not really police work. It actually mirrors a stick up boy…”Rip and Run”. Worse, it fosters an attitude that’s worse than racial profiling. Face it, John Gotti didn’t go to jail because he was observed “looking suspicious”. He went to jail because of evidence gathered against him - some coming as a result of evidence built against others. The “rip and run” mentality is why so many easily replaceable criminals are caught and why those who actually have power remain at large. A person facing 5 years (who would only do 3) isn’t likely to turn on those who can take care of him, one way or the other. In an environment where people can accept going to jail as real possibility serving that type of time would only help build his reputation. Testifying against someone else would only put his life in danger. What’s more important than how effective these tactics may or may not be is the attitudes it helps to bring about. If you hunt for a wild lion in a zoo, how many tame ones do you go through until you get the one you want? In military parlance Jordan Miles is Collateral Damage. In court you’re innocent until proven guilty, on a battle field you’re a threat until you aren’t. Some of questioned why Miles would run, as someone who grew up in an area patrolled by Knockers, when they jump out fight or flight comes into play. I’m not oblivious to their presence, but the first time they jumped out on me I thought I was being robbed until I noticed one was a woman and then they identified themselves. I can easily understand a Viola playing honor student having the instinct to run. Three people jumping out of a car at night has never been a positive sign in my world…especially for the innocent. The FOP Vice President said, “Their actions were correct and law abiding by everything they have received in their training”. Seems like they were poorly trained. If you give me and two other people guns, tasers and the backing of a department we can do the same thing. We would probably get lucky sometimes, but we could easily end up being just as wrong.






