In Ferguson, Missouri, on August 9, 2014, an 18-year-old black man, Michael Brown, was fatally shot by 28-year-old white officer, Darren Wilson. The circumstances of the shooting are disputed, and have caused much unrest in the town of Ferguson and in cities worldwide. The incident raises emotional tensions between Ferguson’s mainly white police force and mainly black population. The conflict extends to the national level, as many demonstrators feel sympathetic to the idea of race-targeted police brutality.
Here’s the most comprehensive idea I have of how the original confrontation went down, based on the ABC interview with officer Darren Wilson:
Brown and his friend, Dorian Johnson had recently robbed a Ferguson convenient store of a pack of cigarillos. They were walking down the street when approached by officer Darren Wilson. Officer Wilson suggested that the two men move to the sidewalk.
An altercation started through the police vehicles’ window, where Wilson says that Brown threw the first punch and hit the left side of his face. Wilson was then under the impression that his life was endangered, as he compared their interaction to be “like a 5-year-old holding on to Hulk Hogan”—stressing the size and power that Brown had in comparison to the officer. Wilson then reached to his holster and pulled out his gun.
The officer claims that Brown immediately grabbed onto the gun and said “You’re too much of a pu**y to shoot me” and claimed that Brown’s hand moved around the gun to get inside the trigger-guard and shoot Wilson with his own weapon. At this point, Wilson’s only thoughts focused on survival, as he shot his gun for the first time in his career as a police officer. Brown and Johnson ran away from the car with Wilson chasing after Brown. Witnesses’ reports differ at this point as to whether Brown turned around to face the officer with his hands up in surrender, or charged the officer aggressively. After Brown turned, a total of twelve shots were fired at Brown with six hitting him—the last being the fatal shot.
I do not wish to discuss the racial intricacies involved with the shooting of Michael Brown. I don’t know enough information about either party to pass judgment on their personal prejudices. Rather, I’d like to explore the idea of modern police training and a practice called “de-escalation”—the art of defusing a tense situation without the use of deadly weapons. After reading the story for the first time, my immediate thoughts did not jump to race issues, but rather the issue of proper police training.
It alarms me that this officer had to shoot 12 times in order to subdue a civilian that was considered a threat. I have immense respect for all the brave men and women in the police force who consciously put their lives in danger on a daily basis. The officers’ commitment to American law and safety has undoubtedly protected and saved countless lives. I think that it would be hard to put yourself in the position of Officer Wilson, who claimed that he felt his life was endangered. We employ these civil servants to protect us, and we inherently trust their training and judgments. I am not a police officer and I have no experience with making life or death decisions, but I am a concerned civilian who wishes to ask some questions about law enforcement training. When is it protocol for a police officer to shoot at an unarmed 18-year old twelve times?
In order to avoid situations of unnecessary death, many police forces around the country have been training their officers in the art of de-escalation. They think that the tactic of better communication and finding common ground can increase trust between law enforcement officers and civilians.
“In every police encounter, the officer and the civilian bring with them and see the world through their experiences. The more these views diverge, the more they immediately see the other as a threat,” said Jenny Durkan, the former U.S. attorney in Seattle who led the effort to curb excessive uses of force by city police. Ms. Durkan solidifies the point that there needs to be commonalities between officers and civilians so that situations do not escalate beyond necessity.
Since the shooting, Ferguson police forces have made plans to create more scholarships and recruit more black officers to better represent Ferguson’s demographics. Many officers are beginning to wear body cameras, in order to have clear evidence and incentivize good behavior from civilians and officers. Additionally, officers are arming themselves with tasers and non-lethal pepper spray so that they can disarm or disable civilians without taking their lives. Although Officer Wilson was not indicted, the national attention surrounding this issue has sparked meaningful conversation about police ethics and the relationship of white authority to minority civilians. I hope that this national conversation can turn less violent so that the real issues behind the incident are not lost. Looting stores or burning down someone’s business is not going to create justice for losing young Michael Brown. Instead, we must shift our attention to focus on how our system can reform—so that it can uphold justice and protect the sanctity of law and order in the United States.
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