A very complicated issue to resolve for all of us

(06-13-2020)  Nobody will argue that the recent brutality by police officers against George Floyd was shocking and wrong.  It once again raised awareness in the USA about police brutality.  But, it is not all that easy!  Was the brutality motivated by discrimination, or was it “simply” a matter of a cop going wild?  Some of us will argue with a clear “YES!”, it was racially motivated, since all too often we are confronted by the press who makes it known to us that officers arrest African American suspects wrongly; enter their home without a warrant (and recently killed a young lady by entering the wrong apartment).  It seems African Americans become an easy suspect just because they may frequent a certain neighborhood, drive a certain car, etc.

All of that is very painful to digest! 

We take it down to the local level,  where on Feb 29th-2020  a police officer of the Las Cruces police department (Officer Christopher Smelser) lets a  : “I’m going to f***ing choke you out, bro,” Officer Christoper Smelser is heard saying to Antonio Valenzuela before utilizing a vascular neck restraint.
After fighting with officers, the subject who was later determined to be under the influence of methamphetamines, was subdued and placed in handcuffs. During the struggle, Officer Smelser applied a department-approved vascular neck restraint and partly due to the effects of the methamphetamines, the subject expired.

In the hour long video of the body cam that recorded the terrible situation however it becomes clear, that there are two sides of the story.  Here we have an officer who used an allowed tactic by the department to subdue a non-complying subject, yelling in the heat of the moment phrases of anger and possibly not knowing what the consequences would be be.

We as readers, bystanders, etc. are not really able to judge such actions of the moment or the circumstance that surrounded the situation.  We can only take note and look for changes to have better outcomes in the future.

Recent protests asked for a de-funding of our police department, and I am not sure that that will be the path to civilized law and order in our community.  At this recent Town Hall meeting on Saturday it was not clear what the community and organizers actually asked from their police department or city officials, and what the next steps in policy changes require.  It is interesting that none of the council members or police department were in attendance to speak words of reconciliation . . . or about a path of healing together.

For me, to avoid such tragedies in the future and to never be witness to the pain of all victims’ relatives, I suggest the following to avoid a further escalation:

1. Choke Holds should be suspended from the police department

2.  Each police officer should undergo a psychological exam before entering the force and submit to an exam once a year.

3.  The police department should find a better way to “neighborhood engage” with the public; to build trust and have sincere conversations on “the street”.

4.  The training period for a police officer should be extended, and the minimum age to join the force should be raised to 21.

4.  Any entering with a warrant must be announced prior to entering.

These steps would protect the public and the police force and would possibly be the beginning of healing.  In the end, there are no winners . . . both, officer Smelser and Tony are tragic victims of our current policies.

Our lives and our community matter!

by Manfred Schreyer (c)