The Significance of Others
In the summer of 2014, after a string of violent incidents involving police officers killing unarmed civilians, a number of different counter-demonstrations supporting police officers were circulated in social media. For example, consider the photo above published by the New York Post, which shows Teachers from Staten Island wearing their NYPD t-shirts as a show of support for police officers shortly after Eric Garner’s death [he died when a police officer applied a chokehold to subdue him for selling loose cigarettes]. While a number of teachers cited the reason for wearing the shirts was to protest their union’s support for an Eric Garner rally, there were others who criticized their peers for the public display and the timing of it, which they felt was potentially disrespectful of many of their student’s feelings.
Not surpisingly, given that the overwhelming number of police officers working in the United States are white men, their most passionate defenders are correspondingly more often than not white women – wives, sisters, girlfriends, mothers, and daughters. They are all in a word – family. The overwhelming whiteness of the group photo is doubtless the most powerful message it conveys (even if it is unintentional). Among the arguments typically offered by family members rallying to the defense of police officers are claims such as “you don’t know them like we do,” “police should always be respected because they are honest, hard-working people with difficult and dangerous jobs,” and “it’s only a few bad apples that get all the attention.”
This particualr photograph demonstrates how the politics of race, class, and gender are deployed in what I call the “post-traumatic economy of militarized law enforcement.” Economy here is suggestive of a relational ontology between people, images, objects, and things; it is post-traumatic in the sense that the visual imagery demands we see, recognize, respect, and honor police officers and at the same time not “see” social divisions based on race, class, and gender. Militarized policing, in this respect, inscribes itself as a trauma on the bodies of both those who police and those who are policed, even when the traumatized don’t register recognition of their trauma.Compulsory forgetting, witnessing without seeing, and testifying without speech are all symptomatic of how militarized law enforcement manifests itself through a psycho-social process that relies on shock ,dispersal, and repression to elude understanding.
In what amounts to nothing less than a stunning reversal of the more traditional defense of “white womanhood,” the above photo suggests that a defense of “white manhood” concomitant with the defense of white womanhood might be asserting itself as a social bulwark against encroaching “otherness” represented by poor and minority ethnic communities.
Daddy’s Little Girl
Pictured below is Kathryn Knott, the daughter of a Philadelphia area police chief, Karl Knott. Her behavior was cited recently in the media, if only because in this particular case she served as her own documentarian. As noted above, Knox to some extent embodies the increasingly prevalent trend among police family members to engage in the defense of “white heterosexual manhood.” Not surprisingly, we find her described by her lawyer among others as “a young woman who’s never been in trouble” and as a girl who “comes from a wonderful family” with a law enforcement background.
As it turns out, Knott was arraigned alongside two male companions for “aggravated assault, criminal conspiracy, simple assault and recklessly endangering another person” when a group she was traveling with was caught on video beating two gay men in Philadelphia earlier this month. Knott’s Twitter feed only added to the social media outrage when it revealed a different side of her character than the one portrayed by her lawyer.
Taken altogether, it might be productive to reflect on how the post-traumatic economy of militarized law enforcement reflects the history of racial segregation, economic inequality in the United States. Think about the historic role played by law enforcement in policing race, class, and gender boundaries; boundaries that continue to be challenged, as evidenced by the ongoing conflict that unfolds daily across the social landscapes of our city streets and towns. As the photo and tweets remind us, it is simply not possible to fail to notice the overwhelming white power structure that predominates in police departments like those in Ferguson, Missouri as well as in places like Philadelphia and Bucks County, Pennsylvania.
Discussion Questions
What are we to make of social patterns as they relate to issues of race, class, gender, and sexuality when it comes to local practices that involve community policing?
How do you account for the disparities that you see or hear about when it comes to issues that involve the police? Do you think there is a problem with police behavior, or do you think the reporting of these incidents is exgaggerated by people who are simply “playing the race card?”
Do you count among your own friends and family members of the law enforcement community? And if so, how might that impact as well as infomr how you see and interpret conflicts like those taking place in Ferguson, MO, Cleveland, OH, Baltimore, MD, and New York City?
Do you find it difficult to reltate to people and protesters in places like Ferguson, where the lived experience of individuals might contradict and/ or reside far outside your own lived experience?
Magaly Gonzalez Hernandez says
I do think there is a problem with police behavior because every time I go to my social media page I see the police officers are violent and this isn’t a couple of times. In my opinion it’s most of the time and it’s sad because usually we would see police officers as people who protect us and wouldn’t harm us. This changes throughout time because police officers are learning to be violent and then that can cause problems between people who are surrounding the officers. Especially love ones that are there with you, but the police officer may end up hurting his wife. The number of people getting hurt from an officer is increasing because of the police officers being so violent to them. Even when a person is not resisting arrest the officer sometimes has to be violent when that isn’t necessary.
Sharmila Taveras says
Sharmila Taveras
2/11/2016
Do you find it difficult to relate to people and protestors in places like Ferguson, where the lived experience of individuals might contradict and/or reside far outside your own lived experience?
I stood outside last year in December at a rally that my school held. It was my first rally! We tried to show that action must be taken. I have never gone to war but from the sound of it, it sounds like our country is in grave danger. I wish there was a magic pill that we can take to make it go away. According to this reading we have seen efforts to make things better such as training. But we did not take their power away by allowing them to have all this money and spend it on military equipment. They are playing war at home and it is not needed here. NOT IN MY BACKYARD!
Thuan Tran says
I believe there is great injustice involving the police and black people. The belief of “playing the race card” is a way for those who don’t want equality for others especially the black community to be treated fairly. I was sad and also disappointed when I saw the picture of the school teachers that celebrated in the Eric Garner Case of the police officer trialed not being guilty of murder. I did not understand why a parson can celebrate, even if they were happy that their friend or family was not guilty of murder, there was still a person that had died.
Chelsea Cruz says
Police officers have always had issues with their behavior. Some can control it and others just can’t. It’s about having self-control but clearly they don’t show that because their behavior gets out of hand very quick. They’re very quick to judge a person by how they look and dress so therefore, they feel like it’s a need for them to confront a citizen that looks suspicious to them and arrest them without having a reason for it. Cops may be willing to risk their lives for us and our society, but they’re definitely not doing a great job in their line of duty if they continuously kill people. NOBODY should have to feel afraid of the law enforcement because they’re supposed to SERVE & PROTECT US not refrain and neglect us. They’re making us feel endangered because of their actions which is hurting all of us physically, mentally, and emotionally. Police officers don’t seem to come into realization and consideration on how people feel when they see them get out of hand and not be in their position of their job. Clearly, they’re just doing the opposite and they’re getting away with a lot of B.S because nothing is being done about it and not many are saying anything. Maybe because they’re afraid that the law enforcement will come after them if they were to make a statement or more upon their acts on them. Moreover, some of the incidents that are reported are exaggerated by people who play the “race card” because they just want to see those people get locked up in prison for a long time or even a lifetime. Those people tend to target the African-Americans and the Hispanic people because they are known as the people who don’t have enough money that will not be able to get taken out based on the income that they have. These type of racial groups are put into a low and middle class groups. In my logic, I find it to be very difficult to relate to those people in Ferguson who not only protested, but lived through the experience of police violence against them because we weren’t there to actually see what was going on and we’re not there to feel the way they were feeling. Based on the high police violence that is going on in Ferguson, more crimes are likely to happen because of everything that is occurring based on the behaviors of the officers. We may read on what went on over there and in other places, like NYC, but question is: Are we going to MAKE a change and DO something about it? Or are we just making our judgment based on what we read and hear? The behavior that police officers are putting on us is simply ridiculous and is getting more absurd as the days goes on and we hear more stories on victims having their lives taken away because of a police officer. On the other hand, the picture above of the teachers uniting and showing their togetherness for the police officers, is very bold for them to do because is was a day after the verdict was announced for Eric Garner and the timing of taking the picture just wasn’t right. The picture of them should have never been taken without thinking twice of the publicity that they were going to get and it should have never been distributed for the entire nation to see. It was a dishonor for the Eric Garner’s family because they lost a person whom they loved dearly but sadly, died in a police’s hands. Eric Garner should have never been killed the way he did and the police officers should have handle the situation a whole lot better than just finding an easier solution. Police officers should always be held accountable for their actions whether it is a misdemeanor or felony act. They should be treated as criminals since they want to act and kill like they’re a criminal. They should either SERVE their time by PROTECTING US or serve their TIME in JAIL since they like to brutally beat and kill citizens in our societies.
edda rivera says
I definitely believe there is a problem with police behavior. There is no exaggerations here, there is no coincidences in the mere fact that more and more men and or woman of color have been the primary and choice targets. The proof is there plain as day. Lets see there’s Micheal Brown, Eric Garner, and Walter Scott just to name a few. The disparities lies in the police offices stories and reasoning behind it all. There are no coincidences here there is a problem; a race problem. The race card is being played here and its not by the “People” its by the “Police Officers”.
Cristina Marcial says
If find it really disturbing that people don’t have no feelings, especially when I saw the picture of teachers posing with the NYPD shirts right after Eric Garner had died. Growing up I have always looked up to all my teacher, and talked to them with confidence. I believe a lot of students does the same. How could the teachers not have thought twice about posting this picture up. There are a lot of student that are minorities and know they felt disrespected, because the same person that is teaching them and guiding them are their supporting the police for killing a unarmed man. There are multiple ways of supporting the police and educating students about what is going on in society with the police. There are some good cops out there that are really doing their job and there are other that are influenced by bad partners or branch there in. family members who are related to the police or any law enforcement think its OK to break the law because they are covered. In the Katheryn Knott case she thought since she was daddy’s little girl she was untouchable, by giving her father the guy plate number who cut her off a ticket. I don’t condone in that behavior. Not only did he gave a ticket out, he let his daughter kick a door down in a raid. Is the illegal to let and UN profession do such job? What would had happen if something had went wrong and she would have got hurt? I don’t understand how police officers abuse of their authority and could get away with it.
Yesica Mayancela says
I believe there is a big police behavior problem because there is a lot of things going on that should not be happening. A lot of police officers actually take advantage of their powers and their authority because of this, there are many consequences that come out of it. One of those things are people getting injured, this is why I also believe people do not over exaggerate and play the race card because there have been a lot of situations where police officers look at a person like a target. At the same time, I do understand why police officers look at a person like a target but I also believe that, there are few police officers out there who are just racist and hide behind a shield.
Patrice says
This picture is absolutely insensitive towards the family of Eric Garner. I honestly believe this was the wrong timing to post this picture. As a parent of a black, white or whatever race background you are, how can anyone be so ignorant and heartless of a person that was just killed by the police. In my opinion this picture symbolizes a division between civilian and the police. It clearly states we stick together and support our officers regardless to what and you civilians are the outsiders that deserve what happens to any of you.
Simone Brown says
I find it very difficult to relate to people and protesters in different parts of the world who experience harsh crimes especially from police officers like in Ferguson. Although the police that surround my living space may be assholes and very prejudice around the opposite/different race, I’ve honestly have yet to see a police just go up to person and begin to afflict pain on them possibly causing death. Yes police likes to antagonize selected individuals walking up and down the road because sadly that is what they’re told to do and i must admit continuing with work procedure like that will sooner than later result in crimes that are happening in places like Ferguson.
Patrice says
In the Katheryn Knott case, I would have to blame her father for this behavior. He may not condone these criminal acts now but I believed he created her into the person she has become. I believed she thought she was untouchable and probably could get away with anything including beating up gay people. I’m sure her father had some of the same opinions and arrogant behavior she showed. He probably expressed how much he hated gay people to her and she thought it was okay to react in that way.
Jeffrey Duarte says
we all have different opinion about police officers and our opinions change for many reasons. if you or anyone close to you had a bad experience with police officers most likely you are not going to say that all police officers are good and when people protest against the police you are going to support the protesters. On the other hand the people that have friends and family on the job will support the officers and say that the police officers are good. the truth is that if an officer is a good father or a good friend it does not mean that he is a good cop. some officers and their families abuse their power and I think that this has to change.
Jose Perez says
In my opinion I believe that not all police officers are bad. I also believe that there are cops who abuse of their authority. They feel that just because they are part of the law they can bend the rules or treat people unfairly. For those cops who are corrupt make the ones who actually respect the law and follow rules look bad. It’s sad to hear in the news at times that there are being cops who are being shot or killed just because people think they are bad. There are cops who are willing to risk their lives every day for the safety of their community. It’s nice to know that there are still cops who are willing to risk their lives for the safety of other people. In the article it states that most of the people in the police community are white and that the people who mostly defend police officers are white women in particular mothers, sisters and wives. It’s good that these women want to show their support to those who are on duty but sometimes their message of support might be taken the wrong way by others. The article also talks about the death of Eric Garner who died while being put on a choke hold by a police officer. In this case there were many protest against cops but not all cops are bad intentionally. This article made me realize that people have different opinions when it comes to cops. In my opinion cops are a great honor and I hope that in the years to come people’s opinions will change about the great men and women who keep our cities safe.
Arthur Barnes says
How do you account for the disparities that you see or hear about when it comes to issues that involve the police? Do you think there is a problem with police behavior, or do you think the reporting of these incidents is exgaggerated by people who are simply “playing the race card?”
The majority of police officers in America are white and some reason they could come from a cop family or they were positively influenced by cops and decided to become one. When it comes to issues with policing I think that white officers don’t really see themselves in low income black commnuities and its not all but a lot do. Demographics are important because when white officers police these black communities there not welcomed and there resented they don’t know what its to live in those low income communities they don’t issues black people face. The white officers will see black people as all criminals and low lives and that’s a problem but that comes with police behavior as well since the police are conditioned to think Black people are all criminals and will never be nothing in life.
Aisha Valerio says
“you don’t know them like we do,” “police should always be respected because they are honest, hard-working people with difficult and dangerous jobs,” and “it’s only a few bad apples that get all the attention.”
I disagree with this sentence in certain aspects because when you enter this field you know what your dealing with and the harm you will be surrounded by. I strongly feel that the woman were being supportive because they do know them personally and felt the need to show appreciation at a tough time like this when everyone is against the department. Everyone will have their opinions because it was around the time the incident happened, they will always be supporters of the NYPD.
Dahsia Williams says
In my opinion, I do believe that police officers do have a dangerous job but they abuse their power and authority to others. The teachers in Staten Island did have the wrong timing but also did not look at the overall picture of the situation. Eric Gardner was a black male who were killed about an white officer who had Eric Gardner in a choke hole which is illegal in New York City. Far as the young lady, Kathryn Knott I believe she was just a little excited about her father being a police officer so she felt that she can do whatever she what and get away with it. if your father is a police officer, there are some rules that you have to follow or just make a good impression because how can you be involved in a crime and expect to get away with it all the time. a police officer is a parent first but also have to maintain there job as well.
Alina Sarkisyan says
Not all cops are bad. I do have friends that are police officers, and I also want to become one. I know that policing can be done the right way. We need to fix the problem that is above the blue uniform. Requirements/ quotas that must be completed by the PO should be removed. As our professor mentioned, why we do not have similar requirements for Fire Departments? They do not have to put certain number of fires out in order to get a check. Imagine that 911 number is not available anymore. Police responds to situations that we do not want to deal with. The negative envoirmment at work and fear to be “punished” by the authority can cause stress and aggression towards civilians. If we could fix the Police Departments from within, we could change the officer’s behavior on the streets. Our professor Sandra Trappen mentioned about reduced violence among officers with higher education. We need better trained law enforcement, that can negotiate, do the social work, and be more sensitive towards the needs of community instead of roaming the streets in search of “potential” violators to complete the quota.
Daisy Serrado says
It is sad to see this kind of stuff in the country that I chose to search for a better future. I know that discrimination, bias, etc is everywhere but the least you expect is to feel afraid or not wanted by the criminal justice system. And to realize that some people support the deaths of African Americans by police officers because of their race. But even worse is to feel that you are not safe having police officers around you because they might end up not liking the fact that you are not white and end up killing you because you look like a ”criminal.” Either way you feel like you are in danger and you feel like the country that you live in doesn’t want you here.
Niyah-Alise Bradberry says
I do not categorize ALL police as some of them categorize ALL of my people but I do feel like anyone who feels they have a right to take someone’s life unlawfully should suffer the consequences of their actions. I have four police officers in my family and I think because they came from poverty and understand the ways of some of the misunderstood neighborhoods, they would never do anything injustice to the people who live there. A police officers job is to serve and protect and many of them are terrorizing and accusing law biding citizens. I just feel like if everyone were held accountable for their actions then there would be less deaths happening in young people by people by “police”.
Quintesia Lloyd says
I personally feel like officers do have a hard job to do. They should be rewarded for their hard work.But at the samtime you shouldnt be going around just killing african americans with out any consequences. Police officers have a chorce on what kind a cop they want to be . some cops just take there job to serously. They feel as though they could do anything to african american men, because some people dont know there rights.