Late last month, there was a report of two police officers in Britain subduing and apprehending a man wielding an 8-inch knife. What made this story interesting is that the two cops were not carrying guns and successfully handled a potentially tragic event with no one being seriously injured.
In the UK, police do not walk around with guns on their hips. They are expected to intervene in ways that do not escalate violence nor threaten the lives of others. If an officer finds him/herself in danger, they call for back-up and weapons. Only then are guns brought into the situation.
In the U.S., on the other hand, not only do we arm our police and give them permission to use their weapons, but we also can proudly say that we have a professional psychologist who defends police killings.
Dr. William J. Lewinski is a college psychology professor. He is also the president of a company, the Force Science Institute.
Dr. Lewinski has appeared as an “expert” witness in criminal trials, civil cases and disciplinary hearings, and before grand juries, where his testimony is given in secret and goes unchallenged. According to the good doctor, police have acted appropriately when shooting an unarmed person or shooting someone in the back, or even when eye witnesses contradict the police officer’s account.
To get Dr. Lewinski to testify, one must be prepared to cough up $1,000 per hour.
The question regarding why it is that black men are overwhelmingly bound to get hurt or killed during a confrontation with police, is answered inadvertently by Dr. Lewinski when he stated to a group of Los Angeles deputy sheriffs, “A batter can’t wait for a ball to cross home plate before deciding whether that’s something to swing at. Officers have to make a prediction based on cues.”
Evidently, one of the important cues is the color of one’s skin. Black folks are often seen as a threat merely by being black. Therefore, police will shoot first and ask questions later.
Just as the CIA was able to hide behind the professional psychologists who worked cooperatively with them developing and implementing a torture program, Dr. Lewinski, a mental health professional, is now offering cover for police departments to arbitrarily use their weapons against ordinary citizens as long as the officer feels threatened. This thinking is no better than the “stand your ground” laws in several states which have resulted in sanctioning open season on black people.
The tone of policing in the UK is clearly very different than that in the U.S. As a result, in the U.S., we must find ways to protect ourselves from the police while in the UK they interpret their mission as one in which the police provide protection for the public they serve.
In the U.S., we have fallen in love with our guns, a sign of masculinity and power. This has resulted in guns flooding the country. It is estimated that there are over 300 million guns or more than one gun per citizen. We have created a culture of violence and have provided our citizens with the weapons to carry out the violence. All for the sake of profits, the religion of capitalism.
One cannot talk about disarming the police while continuing to arm the citizenry. But to have a psychologist justify random police killings is unforgiveable. The police have a serious obligation to use their guns judiciously. Yet, there are numerous incidences in which guns were fired by police within seconds of confronting a problem situation which was found to be non-threatening after the fact.
When black men and women are stopped for minor traffic violations and wind up dead, one must question the actions of the police, not find reasons to excuse their deadly behavior. The two officers in the UK were confronted by a man with an 8-inch knife. They were in greater danger than any of the numerous incidences in the U.S. where the cops shot and killed citizens when the victims were unarmed except for their black skin. Yet, these two unarmed cops managed to patiently de-escalate a potentially dangerous confrontation and arrest the perpetrator.
Dr. Lewinski is exploiting a situation in which he can make a great deal of money. He has used his own research to justify his conclusions and point of view. However, the American Psychological Association has denounced his research results as being inconclusive and misleading.
In a society that is violent and racist we cannot expect the police to act differently. The big problem is we provide them with the weapons and the legal cover to express themselves. The problem is not about “bad apples.” Their will always be “bad apples,” so focusing on them is a distraction from confronting the real issue. Our institutions have and will continue to promote violence and racism until we acknowledge what we are as a country and deal with it honestly.
Although most people are reluctant to entertain the notion that the U.S., the symbol of “democracy” is nothing more than a police state, it is time to stop looking at us as “exceptional.” We are being constantly monitored by our government, police departments have been blessed with military level weapons, people who exercise their constitutional right to peacefully protest are being pepper sprayed and/or Tased, whistleblowers are being criminalized, journalists are being harassed, ordinary citizens are being killed by police who are exempt from any accountability, etc., etc., etc.
First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Socialist.
Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out—Because I was not a Trade Unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.
GOD BLESS AMERIKA!!
Dave Alpert has masters degrees in social work, educational administration, and psychology. He spent his career working with troubled inner city adolescents.
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Police brutality
Posted on August 11, 2015 by Dave Alpert
Late last month, there was a report of two police officers in Britain subduing and apprehending a man wielding an 8-inch knife. What made this story interesting is that the two cops were not carrying guns and successfully handled a potentially tragic event with no one being seriously injured.
In the UK, police do not walk around with guns on their hips. They are expected to intervene in ways that do not escalate violence nor threaten the lives of others. If an officer finds him/herself in danger, they call for back-up and weapons. Only then are guns brought into the situation.
In the U.S., on the other hand, not only do we arm our police and give them permission to use their weapons, but we also can proudly say that we have a professional psychologist who defends police killings.
Dr. William J. Lewinski is a college psychology professor. He is also the president of a company, the Force Science Institute.
Dr. Lewinski has appeared as an “expert” witness in criminal trials, civil cases and disciplinary hearings, and before grand juries, where his testimony is given in secret and goes unchallenged. According to the good doctor, police have acted appropriately when shooting an unarmed person or shooting someone in the back, or even when eye witnesses contradict the police officer’s account.
To get Dr. Lewinski to testify, one must be prepared to cough up $1,000 per hour.
The question regarding why it is that black men are overwhelmingly bound to get hurt or killed during a confrontation with police, is answered inadvertently by Dr. Lewinski when he stated to a group of Los Angeles deputy sheriffs, “A batter can’t wait for a ball to cross home plate before deciding whether that’s something to swing at. Officers have to make a prediction based on cues.”
Evidently, one of the important cues is the color of one’s skin. Black folks are often seen as a threat merely by being black. Therefore, police will shoot first and ask questions later.
Just as the CIA was able to hide behind the professional psychologists who worked cooperatively with them developing and implementing a torture program, Dr. Lewinski, a mental health professional, is now offering cover for police departments to arbitrarily use their weapons against ordinary citizens as long as the officer feels threatened. This thinking is no better than the “stand your ground” laws in several states which have resulted in sanctioning open season on black people.
The tone of policing in the UK is clearly very different than that in the U.S. As a result, in the U.S., we must find ways to protect ourselves from the police while in the UK they interpret their mission as one in which the police provide protection for the public they serve.
In the U.S., we have fallen in love with our guns, a sign of masculinity and power. This has resulted in guns flooding the country. It is estimated that there are over 300 million guns or more than one gun per citizen. We have created a culture of violence and have provided our citizens with the weapons to carry out the violence. All for the sake of profits, the religion of capitalism.
One cannot talk about disarming the police while continuing to arm the citizenry. But to have a psychologist justify random police killings is unforgiveable. The police have a serious obligation to use their guns judiciously. Yet, there are numerous incidences in which guns were fired by police within seconds of confronting a problem situation which was found to be non-threatening after the fact.
When black men and women are stopped for minor traffic violations and wind up dead, one must question the actions of the police, not find reasons to excuse their deadly behavior. The two officers in the UK were confronted by a man with an 8-inch knife. They were in greater danger than any of the numerous incidences in the U.S. where the cops shot and killed citizens when the victims were unarmed except for their black skin. Yet, these two unarmed cops managed to patiently de-escalate a potentially dangerous confrontation and arrest the perpetrator.
Dr. Lewinski is exploiting a situation in which he can make a great deal of money. He has used his own research to justify his conclusions and point of view. However, the American Psychological Association has denounced his research results as being inconclusive and misleading.
In a society that is violent and racist we cannot expect the police to act differently. The big problem is we provide them with the weapons and the legal cover to express themselves. The problem is not about “bad apples.” Their will always be “bad apples,” so focusing on them is a distraction from confronting the real issue. Our institutions have and will continue to promote violence and racism until we acknowledge what we are as a country and deal with it honestly.
Although most people are reluctant to entertain the notion that the U.S., the symbol of “democracy” is nothing more than a police state, it is time to stop looking at us as “exceptional.” We are being constantly monitored by our government, police departments have been blessed with military level weapons, people who exercise their constitutional right to peacefully protest are being pepper sprayed and/or Tased, whistleblowers are being criminalized, journalists are being harassed, ordinary citizens are being killed by police who are exempt from any accountability, etc., etc., etc.
First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Socialist.
Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out—Because I was not a Trade Unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.
GOD BLESS AMERIKA!!
Dave Alpert has masters degrees in social work, educational administration, and psychology. He spent his career working with troubled inner city adolescents.