Is America Becoming Police State?

*The attached photo here is not meant to demean the specific police depicted who were, when this photo was taken, simply seeking to help civilians in an emergency situation. The photo is in public domain.*

What is a “police state?” Type the phrase into a search engine and add “definition” and you will get a plethora of sometimes contradictory or at least contrary definitions. There is obviously no unanimous definition.

Here I consider “police state” one in which armed police, including government sponsored and supported militia, exercise excessive force outside the law with impunity.

I do not adhere to the philosophy of “defund the police.” I think that’s absurd. Every place needs a police force of some kind. However, in America today we are experiencing many and increasing instances of police exercising excessive and even deadly force for no justifiable reason and doing so with impunity.

The most recent possible example is a federal agent shooting and killing an unarmed woman who allegedly touched him with her car. Was it a justified killing or murder? That may be decided by a court someday. Or it may never be decided except by the executive branch of the federal government. The state and the municipality are being excluded from the investigation by the federal government. Normally, in the case of a killing, state and local agencies are tasked with investigating even if the federal government also investigates.

Before any real investigation begins, the president, the vice president, and the secretary of homeland security are all defending the agent’s action as justified. Yet, we have all seen cell phone video of the incident. It does not appear that his life or anyone’s life was in danger—except the driver’s. By all appearances she was not aiming her car at him.

This is just the latest incident of American police using excessive force including killing someone when that was avoidable. In the case of Minnesota resident George Floyd there were very serious consequences for the police. However, there have been many cases, seen on video, where police killed innocent people and did not suffer any legal consequences.

Increasingly, American police departments, both local and federal, have become “militarized.” Most Americans are not especially concerned about that out of heightened fear of criminals. Some American cities and suburbs such as the ones where I live have become battlegrounds between police and alleged criminals. In recent years it has become the car theft capital of America with upwards of twenty-five thousand cars stolen per year. In one particular suburb, where I used to live, police have been credibly accused of using excessive force, even occasionally deadly force, against innocent people.

Many, many Americans are more afraid of the police, including federal forces, than of criminals. Many reasonable Americans believe their police officers are trained to “shoot first and ask questions later.” I heard one very reasonable American ask “Whatever happened to shooting out someone’s tires?” He meant “instead of shooting the driver.”

However, over all and in general, Americans seem to be more afraid of criminals than of the police—until and unless they or someone they know and love is pulled over by police for no valid reason.

That happened to me. It was years ago. I was a college student. My African roommate worked at a tire factory in town. He was on the night shift and had no means of transportation. Several of us in the dorm volunteered to get up in the middle of the night and drive to pick him up from work and bring him back to campus. One night it was my turn (as it was many nights). I drove across town, necessarily through downtown, to pick him up and drove back through town, through downtown, to return to our common residence. As we rode through downtown after midnight two policeman pulled us over. I was not breaking any laws; I knew that with confidence. I had no idea why they pulled us over. The two policemen were very rude, ordering us to get out of the car and stand at a distance under close watch. One policeman had his hand on his sidearm. The other policeman ransacked my car including pulling out the back seat to search under it. Why all this fuss? There was only one reason—my passenger was Black and it was the middle of the night downtown. The police offered no apology when they found nothing. No ticket was issued. We were rudely sent on our way.

Another time, I was in high school, I paid for two fast food meals with a one hundred dollar bill. It was after work, around midnight. The manager called the police on me for no reason. Five police cars showed up and I was rudely taken to the main police station where I was interrogated. Why did I have a one hundred dollar bill? I was sixteen and should not have had one? I knew that eventually I would be released but was afraid because the local juvenile judge gave police permission to shave boys’ heads when they were taken in after curfew even if they had a legitimate reason for being out late, something I had. The only charge the police had against me was paying for meals (for me and a friend who worked with me) with a hundred dollar bill. They finally released me after speaking with my father who confirmed the money was mine. I was given no apology, just sent home with a figurative cuff on the ear.

Neither of those incidents come close to what is happening today on America’s streets. My advice to anyone confronted by police in America, whether local, state or federal, is throw up your hands, get down on the ground, and grovel. No, you shouldn’t have to, especially if you have truly done nothing wrong, but these days it may be a matter of life or death and it’s best not to take a chance.

It shouldn’t be this way. We should not have to be afraid of police. We should never see or hear credible reports of police killing innocent people. And when that happens we should be confident that they will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

Right now in America there appears to be real danger that certain branches of federal law enforcement have permission to use excessive and even deadly force. Agents of the federal government in one major West Coast city recently shot and killed two people for no apparent reason. Such reports are piling up. It needs to stop. Yes, to be sure, criminal activity needs to stop as well, but the excess of criminality in America never justifies excessive police force or violence, especially against innocent people.

*Note: If you choose to comment, make sure your comment is relatively brief (no more than 100 words), on topic, addressed to me, civil and respectful (note hostile or argumentative), and devoid of pictures or links.*