Editor’s note: This commentary is by Ron Jacobs who lives in Winooski and works in Burlington.
I went from being a first-grader to being a freshman in high school during the 1960s. One of the things that was drilled into my consciousness during that time was that policemen (and they were all men) were my friends. Since I knew nothing different and because I wanted to believe it, this statement rang more or less true. At least until 1968. I turned 13 that year and my eyes were opened.
After Martin Luther King was killed in April I watched cops going crazy on television, beating, shooting and killing Black people in cities around the United States. Four months later I watched Chicago police beat hundreds if not thousands of antiwar protesters in the streets and parks of that city. It was when I saw them beating people who looked like the older siblings of my friends that I realized police were not there to help, but to hinder; even to harm if they felt like it.
As the years passed I had my share of encounters with police officers in numerous places, from Germany to Manhattan, Washington, D.C., to Oakland, California, on interstate entrance ramps and protests all over. Some of those encounters involved being hit and punched. Others were calm and reasonable. I ended up doing a few days in jail here and there along with a few court appearances. The common denominator in these encounters was the arrogance of the officers, even the polite ones. That, and my understanding that my future was in their hands. After all, they had the guns and the backup. All I had was my wits and a prayer.
I also had my skin color. The history of policing in this country makes it very clear — nonwhite people are treated differently by police (and most other elements of the power structure) than white people.
This fact is why people are protesting against the police in Vermont and around the world. They are sick and tired of cops brutalizing people, especially Black people. Furthermore, they are sick and tired of cops getting away with their brutality. The arrogance of the Burlington police department telling the media that protesters’ demands to fire three Burlington officers known for their brutality will not be met is the perfect example of this arrogant stance. The fact that elected city officials are going along with the police department in this refusal is proof that police have much more power than is healthy for any town, city, county or state.
It is time for elected officials to restrain their police departments. A first step in this process would be to remove officers with records of brutality from the force. Let the police “union” fight it. Pay the money they’ll demand. The price will be worth it.
