Editor,
Living in our small town by the sea, headlines about nation-wide breakdown of police-community relations may seem like a big city problem. Yet, the recent arrest and jailhouse death of Sandra Bland in Texas, after she failed to signal a lane change, hits close to home.
LBPD officers receive training that normally would prevent the tragic outcome in the Sandra Bland case, but so did that officer. As a local civil rights advocate, I am frequently contacted by people in our town about incidents with more in common to the Bland case than we can allow.
Fortunately, our community policing problems are manageable. True, otherwise excellent officers sometimes misunderstand even basic laws enforced every day, deal unprofessionally with citizens who question police actions, or have a mistaken belief police need not obey laws they enforce.
These deficiencies can be corrected by leadership and training from our highly professional new chief of police. I hope she gets full support from the city and police union to institute best practices lacking for years.
That should include a community policing grievance procedure that is user friendly for citizens and police. Citizens seeking redress need a choice other than costly legal claims or administrative complaints decided internally by police. Cities with community-police reconciliation programs, supported by enlightened police unions, get better results.
The Bland case illustrates how a routine encounter at a home or on the street can escalate. If that officer had intermediate skills to de-escalate confrontation, he chose not to use those skills.
That extreme case also demonstrates how confrontation can be sparked by a small but common police practice – such as telling a citizen he or she would have gotten a warning but instead will be cited or arrested because of “bad attitude.” This makes the exercise of authority subjective and personal rather than objective and official. Instead of a lesson in courtesy, it’s non-judicial punishment by the cop, creating stress and resentment instead of trust and respect.
There is no one in this town more pro-cop that I am. We sleep well at night because our police normally uphold a high standard of professionalism. But this is Laguna Beach, and we can do even better. Enhanced community policing is as vital to the higher quality of life we value as environmental protection, sound civic planning, and promotion of the arts.
Howard Hills, Laguna Beach
Well stated. I agree with your words and believe that common courtesy and respect would have descalated the confrontation and Sandra Bland would be with us today.