Less Heroic Policing, Please

One thing the shootings of Trayvon Martin and Michael Brown, both unarmed black teenagers, reveal is that there may be too much of a fixation on heroics in policing.  George Zimmerman, a policeman wannabe working as a community watch person, pursued Trayvon even after a police dispatcher instructed him not to follow the young man.  Trayvon, whose suspect activities consisted of carrying junk food while black and wearing a hoodie, evidently became unnerved by Zimmerman and an altercation ensued.  Because the victim was dead and therefore not available as a witness, the evidentiary record assembled by the State of Florida wasn't as fulsome as would be ideal, and Zimmerman was acquited.  But if Zimmerman had simply obeyed orders and let a uniformed officer handle the situation, in all likelihood nothing would have happened.

Perhaps the most critical moment in the Michael Brown shooting was Darren Wilson's decision to get out of his police cruiser and pursue Brown alone.  Even though backup was less than two minutes away, Wilson evidently couldn't wait for reinforcements.  It's standard police procedure to take on violent suspects with overwhelming force (which means several officers).  An officer shouldn't go one-on-one with a suspect who is much larger and stronger than the officer.  Wilson's decision to go it alone is mystifying.  He had already been hit hard a couple of times by Brown, and injured to the point where he evidently convinced the grand jury that he reasonably feared for his life.  If Brown was that dangerous, why was Wilson taking him on alone?  Given the disparity in their sizes, and the fact that Wilson was already injured, his only ability to control Brown, it would seem, was with his .40 cal. pistol.  And that turned out to be the case. 

Before the Michael Brown shooting, Darren Wilson was commended by the Ferguson, MO police department for physically subduing a drug suspect.  Physical courage and dominance, it would seem, were honored.  But the police aren't fighting wars.  Valor is something that is usually not needed in policing.  Good judgment, self-control, and non-violent outcomes should be, and for most police officers are, higher priorities.  When Darren Wilson first spotted Michael Brown, the worst things Brown apparently had done were steal some cigars and walk down the middle of the street.  This is not a situation that should have escalated into a shooting.  When it did, and Brown was shot and ran, Wilson should not have pursued him alone.  Not when the outcome of that solitary pursuit might well depend on the use of his pistol.

The grand jury decided that Darren Wilson did not act unlawfully.  But just because something's legal doesn't make it good or desirable.  Heroics in policing are sometimes called for.  But, by all indications, we need a lot less heroism and much more sound judgment.