Whitney Curtis/The New York Times/Redux
Police Force in Ferguson
Last night—like the night before and the night before that—hordes of officers with guns walked through Ferguson. Their uniforms were labeled “Police,” but they looked more like military. The officers wear camouflage fatigues and heavy body armor. They carry not pistols, but what appear to be assault rifles.
On various occasions, lines of police officers have been photographed pointing these weapons at groups of protesting citizens, often with their hands up. I’m not an expert on police procedures, but I did take a hunter safety course when I was 12 years old, and the No. 1 lesson was to never point your gun at anything that you’re not prepared to shoot.
Officers have been breaking up protests—it’s really fair to characterize only Sunday’s demonstrations as riots—with tear gas, rubber bullets, pepper pods, smoke bombs, and sound cannons. Video from Wednesday night, showing tear gas and smoke bombs going off in the street, made the scene look like a foreign war zone, not a Midwestern suburb.
Police have arrested two journalists, gassed a state senator, and thrown an influential African-American alderman in jail for a night, allegedly pulling him out of his car. While there have been reports of thrown bottles, in addition to the damaging and violent looting on Sunday night, many of these police actions have been taken against peaceful protestors or members of the press, groups explicitly protected by the U.S. Constitution.
In the wake of the police shooting of unarmed teenager Michael Brown last weekend, our region’s biggest challenge would seem to be restoring trust between police and citizens. Police officials have said that is their goal, but their actions seem to convey the exact opposite. Some reporters, facing the barrels of so many guns, have said they fear for their lives. Protestors have reported similar fears.
This morning, I hoped to ask police about these tactics. How is it decided what gear and ammunition police will wear and carry? At what point is an officer justified in pointing a gun at someone? When do police believe they have the right to disperse a protest? How are police deciding whom to arrest? What are local departments’ policies on use of force, and under what circumstances is it justifiable to use tear gas and other such weapons? Unfortunately, neither the St. Louis County Police Department nor the Ferguson Police Department have responded to multiple phone calls. I’ll update this post if I hear from them.
The militarization of police is nothing new, and much of the equipment that seems as if it belongs in a war zone actually came from one. As reported by Talking Points Memo, both the Ferguson and St. Louis County police departments have received equipment from the U.S. military through something known as the 1033 program. It “allows police departments to request and receive refurbished military equipment from the U.S. Defense Department free of charge. That equipment can range from night vision goggles to military-grade firearms and armored vehicles.”
Outrage over these techniques has grown. In a statement released last night, Gov. Jay Nixon said, “While we all respect the solemn responsibility of our law enforcement officers to protect the public, we must also safeguard the rights of Missourians to peaceably assemble and the rights of the press to report on matters of public concern… I urge law enforcement agencies to keep the peace and respect the rights of residents and the press during this difficult time.”
On Twitter, Mayor Francis Slay was equally critical, writing, “I question many of the tactics used in Ferguson, especially the arrest of journalists,” and then, “I think it is imperative to distinguish between protest and violence. Only the latter warrants arrest.”
On Thursday morning, the St. Louis Business-Journal reported that, according to U.S. Rep. Lacy Clay, Gov. Nixon is planning to “announce St. Louis County police being taken out of situation.” Sen. Claire McCaskill said she's working on "demilitarizing the police response." And President Barack Obama said, "There is never an excuse for violence against police... There is also no excuse for police to use excessive force against peaceful protesters or to throw protesters in jail for lawfully exercising their First Amendment rights. And here in the United States of America, police should not be arresting or bullying journalists who are just trying to do their jobs.”
