Monday, Dec. 26, 2022 | 2 a.m.
Nicole Russell’s Dec. 19 column, “Is a manslaughter verdict justice for a woman who died protecting herself?,” on the conviction of Fort Worth, Texas, police officer Aaron Dean in the shooting death of Atatiana Jefferson, gets directly to the heart of the injustice embodied in qualified immunity.
Again and again, police are shielded from prosecution by their claims of being in mortal danger in their questionable shootings of civilians.
Their rules of engagement revolve around their own safety. What is left out of their calculus is civilian safety.
Police are armed, armored (ballistic vests), usually accompanied by other officers, in constant radio communication, and usually in a position of relative safety.
When they are shooting through the windows of a building, are they not shielded by that very building? When police charge into situations, don’t they create the very conditions that increase their perceived danger?
When police use SWAT teams to serve warrants, especially in the wee hours, they have demonstrably put innocents in peril. When police perceive themselves as warriors, the foe becomes the public.
Quite simply, police must be held to a higher standard than the average citizen regarding risk. Police are paid to assume greater risk than the average citizen as is reflected in their pay and retirement structure. Since most police leadership and personnel are broadly contemptuous of civilian oversight, the wrongful deaths will not stop and their rules of engagement will not change until what amounts to reckless behavior by police is criminalized.
