When is Police Force Too Much?

By Leland C. Abraham, Esq.

By now, I am sure most of the readers of this article have heard about the incident in King County, Washington in which a police officer beat a 15 year old girl. For those who are not familiar with the specifics, I will explain them to best of my ability. A young black girl had a friend who decided to take her mother’s car without permission. The friend picked up the young black girl and they went “joyriding.” The mother of the girl’s friend reported the car as stolen. The police eventually caught up with the young girls and took them into custody. Apparently after the arrest, the young girl and the arresting officer, officer Schene, entered into a verbal exchange. This verbal exchange continued until they arrived at the police station. Once at the police station, the girl was escorted to a holding cell. Once in the holding cell, the girl was asked to remove her shoes. She removed one shoe and kicked it in the direction of one of the officers. With the door to the cell still ajar, Officer Schene and his partner rush into the cell and Schene brutally attacks the young girl while the other officer holds her down. All of these actions were caught on a surveillance tape mounted inside the holding cell. The attack included punches and pulling of hair. After the attack, the young girl complained of breathing problems. She was escorted to the lobby of the jail and paramedics were called to come and attend to her.

Officer Schene stated in his arresting affidavit that the young girl assaulted him. Whenever an officer makes such a statement, an internal investigation is conducted. In the course of such an investigation, video tape from the holding cell was discovered and leaked to the media. The incident occurred in November and the story was released in February. The officer went on the customary “paid” administrative leave and the incident is “under investigation.” Because of death threats, the officer has subsequently left the King County area.

While it is a common known fact that police sometimes overstep the bounds of their authority, it begs the question why are the oversteps only occurring with people of color? To illustrate the point that I am trying to make, I have never heard of a white 15 year old girl beaten by the cops. The reason that the cops gave for assaulting the young girl was because she was “lippy.” It is highly probable that the officer, with over 8 years of experience, has arrested a teenager before. Having seen several interviews with officers, it is highly probable that most, if not all, of the teenagers that the officer has previously arrested became “lippy” at some point in the arrest. So this question becomes, why did the officer not beat on the other teenagers or any one of the other people who were arrested during the course of his 8 year career. Why did the outburst have to occur with this particular young lady? The question not only arises in the King County case, but in most cases in which police brutality is involved. Statistically, blacks are the recipients of the vast majority of excessive police brutality. In general, when an unarmed man is shot by a police officer, he is a black man. This has happened several times over the years, including the Sean Bell incident in New York and as recently as a case in Louisiana in which a 74 year old man was shot on the steps on his own porch. Again, while these incidents almost always produce some sort of investigation, there are rarely any criminal consequences for the officers who perpetrate such vicious attacks.

This has led to a generation of black men and women who have a different “code of conduct” than their white counterparts when encountering police officers. For example, I was told to make sure that if I were ever pulled over by a police officer, to always make sure that my hands stay on the steering wheel and that I do not make any sudden movements. I was told to always make sure that I clearly articulate what I was going to do and to make sure that if I were pulled over at night to pull over in a place where there are a lot of people around and that is heavily lit. When I asked why I had to do all of this stuff, I was told, “Because you don’t want to have four warning shots in your back.” As I have grown older, I have wondered why it is that police seem to make the same mistakes as to their authority when it comes to people of color. As far as America has come with racial relations and the election of its first black president, it still has a long way to go. I know what when I have children who come of age, I will have the same conversation concerning police officers as my family had with me.

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