I believe that this is one of the unintended consequences of weak gun control laws in the United States. American police (and now Canadian police) have to assume the person they are pulling over has a gun. German police probably see this as a less-likely threat.
I'm not saying that stronger gun control laws would solve everything -- this is a complex issue with many things at play. I'm not saying that Americans *should* give up Amendment rights. I'm not saying police have any and all rights to do whatever they want and then claim self-defence, or that they have no rights at all.
I'm saying that when there is a very real prospect that the person you pull over has a gun, you will have a much different decision-making process, and your reactions will be different. Any underlying biases you have that inform that decision-making process in the heat of the moment will have a profound impact on that decision and the subsequent outcome.
I am 100% in agreement with you that it definitely relates to the weak gun laws and the assumption that therefore anyone could be carrying. Technically, it's true. And like you, I also don't want to downplay normal people who work in law enforcement and genuinely fear for their lives because of this fact. Even if it may not be the explanation for specific murders by police, there are so many instances where it is used as the excuse. It's unusual for a normal person to have a gun in Europe or, say, Japan, and this is certainly one of the factors at play for the difference in police violence statistics.
And the other aspect is that the odds of a cop successfully being prosecuted for murder is incredibly low, even if its caught on camera as we saw with Floyd (or if they are found guilty they win on appeal). I think a lot of it is also related to soldiers becoming cops when they leave the army and their police trainers also being ex-army so they have that occupying mindset that believes everyone is a threat. Secondly, thanks to a weird DoD deal, the police can pick up ex-military equipment for free or cheap, which is why they have humevees and assault rifles and look like paramilitary squads, which makes no sense for a civilian agency.
There's one other disturbing aspect of American policing. Unlike Europe, the police can seize your property and the onerous is on you to prove it wasn't funded by criminal activity. This is without a trial, and if you're undocumented people really don't want to get involved in trying to get their stuff back. Some towns in the mid-west fund their police force directly on these seizures from people driving through their town.
This is so important. Thank you for writing this. Such a huge topic to tackle and you did it so succinctly and successfully. I have a little knowledge of the differences in police training in Europe vs the US, as well as how prisons are (may be?) more humane and actually focused on rehabilitation and re-entry back into society. There’s very little of that in the US. I am opposed to the death penalty but had no idea US was only 1 of 4 countries in which that’s legal.
I’ve been thinking about how it all has led to this state of a fascist takeover, without a lot of push back. I think black, Asian, Hispanic and indigenous folks have known what America’s secret face was before it was so boldly revealed in the current regime.
We wept when the students were shot at Kent State- it caused a massive protest movement. But we still had thousands upon thousands of minority folks die since the colonies- slavery, war, racist laws, racist profiling practices, the assumption we have a”destiny” to take from others and make them assimilate,etc. Yet, the only real push back was to get body cams - eventually. To get better training in some states and cities than others, yet it has never been uniform, consistent, etc. Gun culture tells paranoid and racist people they can “defend themselves” against people they don’t like, or paints all criminal activity with a broad racist or assuming brush. Instead of understanding the roots of criminal behavior- they just build more jails for profit. And a deeply conservative religious zealous nationalist movement puts “compliance” and “not asking questions” and “submission “ into their very idea of holiness. I’m not saying we need to go stir shit up with offense type violence- because fascists are frothing at the mouth waiting for the demented emperor to declare martial law and suspend habeus corpus for citizens. But the US was easy to manipulate, to make afraid, to other minorities and sexual orientations, to hide behind religion and disproven propaganda regarding race, economics, etc. Fear is the mind killer. And the current regime has no “mind” - no compassion, no thoughtful intervention strategies. They are pure ego, fear and spite and they encouraged the same in the population to reveal themselves.
We have a better chance of solving climate issues than we do of demilitarizing the police in the US. Hah, right. As if that would happen under this administration. We can only hope the 1/3 of the country who didn’t vote last time show at the polls, and the other third (or part of them please and thank you) come to their senses and flip. I remain hopeful for change but I won’t deny, as an American, things feel pretty bleak.
Thank you for writing this. Currently wondering if I should worry about driving to LA as a non-white woman. I want to visit my dear friend who has cancer, but I confess I am a bit afraid of being pulled over. My California bubble in San Francisco has not yet included any of the anti-immigration violence (that is, I've not experienced it in person), but I have seen videos... Whenever I am back in France I cannot defend or explain it to my French friends/family. Unthinkable to them. They don't get the part about me not being white. But I feel safer there.
I mostly read your newsletter via email, but I wanted to come here to say thank you for your writing. I strongly believe we cannot address anything until we are confident enough to name it, and work like yours helps us take that important step.
I believe that this is one of the unintended consequences of weak gun control laws in the United States. American police (and now Canadian police) have to assume the person they are pulling over has a gun. German police probably see this as a less-likely threat.
I'm not saying that stronger gun control laws would solve everything -- this is a complex issue with many things at play. I'm not saying that Americans *should* give up Amendment rights. I'm not saying police have any and all rights to do whatever they want and then claim self-defence, or that they have no rights at all.
I'm saying that when there is a very real prospect that the person you pull over has a gun, you will have a much different decision-making process, and your reactions will be different. Any underlying biases you have that inform that decision-making process in the heat of the moment will have a profound impact on that decision and the subsequent outcome.
This, I think, explains part of what's happening.
I am 100% in agreement with you that it definitely relates to the weak gun laws and the assumption that therefore anyone could be carrying. Technically, it's true. And like you, I also don't want to downplay normal people who work in law enforcement and genuinely fear for their lives because of this fact. Even if it may not be the explanation for specific murders by police, there are so many instances where it is used as the excuse. It's unusual for a normal person to have a gun in Europe or, say, Japan, and this is certainly one of the factors at play for the difference in police violence statistics.
And the other aspect is that the odds of a cop successfully being prosecuted for murder is incredibly low, even if its caught on camera as we saw with Floyd (or if they are found guilty they win on appeal). I think a lot of it is also related to soldiers becoming cops when they leave the army and their police trainers also being ex-army so they have that occupying mindset that believes everyone is a threat. Secondly, thanks to a weird DoD deal, the police can pick up ex-military equipment for free or cheap, which is why they have humevees and assault rifles and look like paramilitary squads, which makes no sense for a civilian agency.
There's one other disturbing aspect of American policing. Unlike Europe, the police can seize your property and the onerous is on you to prove it wasn't funded by criminal activity. This is without a trial, and if you're undocumented people really don't want to get involved in trying to get their stuff back. Some towns in the mid-west fund their police force directly on these seizures from people driving through their town.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_forfeiture_in_the_United_States
This is so important. Thank you for writing this. Such a huge topic to tackle and you did it so succinctly and successfully. I have a little knowledge of the differences in police training in Europe vs the US, as well as how prisons are (may be?) more humane and actually focused on rehabilitation and re-entry back into society. There’s very little of that in the US. I am opposed to the death penalty but had no idea US was only 1 of 4 countries in which that’s legal.
Thanks again Summer!
Thanks Laura.
I’ve been thinking about how it all has led to this state of a fascist takeover, without a lot of push back. I think black, Asian, Hispanic and indigenous folks have known what America’s secret face was before it was so boldly revealed in the current regime.
We wept when the students were shot at Kent State- it caused a massive protest movement. But we still had thousands upon thousands of minority folks die since the colonies- slavery, war, racist laws, racist profiling practices, the assumption we have a”destiny” to take from others and make them assimilate,etc. Yet, the only real push back was to get body cams - eventually. To get better training in some states and cities than others, yet it has never been uniform, consistent, etc. Gun culture tells paranoid and racist people they can “defend themselves” against people they don’t like, or paints all criminal activity with a broad racist or assuming brush. Instead of understanding the roots of criminal behavior- they just build more jails for profit. And a deeply conservative religious zealous nationalist movement puts “compliance” and “not asking questions” and “submission “ into their very idea of holiness. I’m not saying we need to go stir shit up with offense type violence- because fascists are frothing at the mouth waiting for the demented emperor to declare martial law and suspend habeus corpus for citizens. But the US was easy to manipulate, to make afraid, to other minorities and sexual orientations, to hide behind religion and disproven propaganda regarding race, economics, etc. Fear is the mind killer. And the current regime has no “mind” - no compassion, no thoughtful intervention strategies. They are pure ego, fear and spite and they encouraged the same in the population to reveal themselves.
We have a better chance of solving climate issues than we do of demilitarizing the police in the US. Hah, right. As if that would happen under this administration. We can only hope the 1/3 of the country who didn’t vote last time show at the polls, and the other third (or part of them please and thank you) come to their senses and flip. I remain hopeful for change but I won’t deny, as an American, things feel pretty bleak.
I feel you.
Thank you for writing this. Currently wondering if I should worry about driving to LA as a non-white woman. I want to visit my dear friend who has cancer, but I confess I am a bit afraid of being pulled over. My California bubble in San Francisco has not yet included any of the anti-immigration violence (that is, I've not experienced it in person), but I have seen videos... Whenever I am back in France I cannot defend or explain it to my French friends/family. Unthinkable to them. They don't get the part about me not being white. But I feel safer there.
Thank you for writing this.
I mostly read your newsletter via email, but I wanted to come here to say thank you for your writing. I strongly believe we cannot address anything until we are confident enough to name it, and work like yours helps us take that important step.
Thank you so much Jennie!