Editor’s note: This commentary is by Ron Krupp, a gardener and author whose most recent book is “Lifting the Yoke — Local Solutions to America’s Farm and Food Crisis.” He lives in South Burlington.
[T]en years ago, I was driving my gray battered Peugeot down Main Street in Burlington when I turned left onto South Winooski Avenue next to Kinko’s. A police car turned on its red lights as I was turning. I stopped and waited 15 minutes in the car. My mistake was that I got out of the car and stood next to the front door — asking the policeman what I was being charged with. He screamed at me and then came up and handcuffed me. Then he started shoving me hard against the car. I asked him to stop as he was causing me pain. He said I was resisting arrest. As he increased the pressure I called out to people walking by to witness the event.
My lawyer told me not to mention his name if I made the incident public as he did not want to be in bad stead with the police. My lawyer also said that the policemen could have thrown me to the ground and pummeled me and I would be lucky to get a charge of police brutality in Burlington.
At one point the policeman asked me if I was a Latino. I couldn’t believe what he said. I answered him that I was some old white guy. Eventually, he called for police backup. I was thrown into another police car and taken to the police station where I was put in a cell. Eventually, I had a trial and the charges of disorderly conduct were dropped. I went before the Burlington Police Commission to make a formal complaint but no action was taken. All in all, I found it to be a nightmarish joke. How come there is no police review board that acts as an independent body that rules on police complaints by the public?
After the event, I was quite anxious to be around the police. I thought the whole idea was to feel safe, not vulnerable. In no way do I compare myself with how people of color must feel in their neighborhoods. Mine was just a small reminder of how careful today one must be around the police. I wonder what the mothers and fathers of black children feel when they leave for work knowing their children could be harmed by the police?
How come many police lack proper training on how to defuse deadly conflicts? How come we don’t train more officers in community policing?
I think back to the killing of Eric Garner, who died by the behavior of the police while he shouted “I can’t breathe.” His death was considered a homicide. Or Michael Brown, who was shot and killed by a police officer in Ferguson, Missouri, while holding up his arms. Grand juries in both cases declined to indict the white officers involved. Let’s not forget the tragic death of Trayvon Martin or the fact that 16 unarmed black people were killed in 2014 by the police.
I think back to the three mentally ill gentlemen whose lives were taken by police action in Vermont in the last few years — two by guns and one by tasering. On Feb. 9, 2014, Burlington police killed a mentally ill man after his mother told them he was agitated and destroying property. In just two minutes after the office arrived at the home, he was shot and killed. The officer said he was wielding a shovel in a threatening way. No charges were brought. On June 21, MacAdam Mason of Thetford, who had alcohol and mental health issues was found dead from an encounter with the police. He had an epileptic seizure from being tasered.
Police shot seven times and killed Robert A. Woodward of Bellows Falls at the West Village Meeting House in West Brattleboro in December of 2001. Woodward was wielding a knife in his hand. He was 37 at the time he disrupted the church service and 21 feet from the officers. I had a number of friends in the church and they were outraged at the action of the Brattleboro police. Why didn’t they use pepper spray or tasering? The Vermont Attorney General, Bill Sorrell, has consistently ruled in favor of the police as he did these cases. The use of brutal force against the mentally ill in Vermont is particularly problematic.
I have other concerns stemming from these events in Vermont and the nation. How come many police lack proper training on how to defuse deadly conflicts? How come we don’t train more officers in community policing? Why have some police forces become so militarized that they deem it necessary to use lethal action — whereas conflict resolution would be the first step in resolving these issues. Where does the culture of racism among many police departments and city officials come into play in all these matters?
Does a small police force with armored vehicles, battering rams, high-powered machine guns and camouflage gear need to roll into town like an actual warzone? Many small-town police departments now boast the same weaponry wielded by U.S. military units in Afghanistan. The U.S. Office of Homeland Security has provided $35 billion to local police throughout the country to help buy weapons for the “war on terror.” How much of these are being used on local law-abiding citizens?
It’s clear that police bashing is dangerous and unjust. And the recent deaths of the two New York policemen is a tragedy. On the other hand, the police are there to protect and serve, not to harm its citizens. Let’s hope that we as a community, state and nation can begin to make the necessary changes where everyone feels safe on the streets, no matter their color or class.
