A Badge is not a license to kill, maim, or otherwise harass citizens.

I was born in Rochester NY.  It's the 3rd largest city in New York, and parts of it are as gritty and forbidding as some of the streets of New York City.  It used to be a thriving city, with Xerox and Kodak as major employers.  Kodak's photo business has collapsed, and Xerox has been downsizing for years.  I don't have many ties to Rochester anymore, but an item popped up that I had to share.

A white police officer shot a black man:

"Silvon Simmons was shot three times in an upstate New York city. Then he was accused of trying to kill the cop who fired at him. His story is a study in the kinds of police practices that have sparked protests across America – and it shows the enormous challenge cities face when trying to enact change."

"By the time Officer Joseph Ferrigno shot a Black man from behind, court records show, the Rochester cop had drawn at least 23 misconduct complaints in nearly nine years on the force."

"Ferrigno fired four shots, hitting Simmons three times – in his back, his buttock and his right thigh."

"Simmons, stripped naked by paramedics treating his wounds, was handcuffed and loaded into an ambulance. Although Simmons was the one who took three bullets, Ferrigno is listed as the victim in at least 65 police reports."

My interest in this story is not the facts mentioned above.  I take no position on whether or not the use of deadly force was necessary.  Rather, this is an example of how hard it is to reform policing, and the outsized power of police unions in the discipline process.

"Empowered by statutes and court rulings, unions have moved into “the actual policy and running of police departments,” said Chuck Wexler, executive director of the Police Executive Research Forum, a Washington, D.C.-based think-tank that advises chiefs."

I have worked with unions, trying to resolve or arbitrate misconduct by employees.  The Collective Bargaining Agreements for all four unions I worked with all contained strong language about "due process" in discipline appeals.  Unions have a statutory requirement to fully represent their members, and the contract makes it very difficult for an employer to uphold a suspension or termination.  

The problems in police contracts are special.  We need good police officers to enforce our laws and protect our communities.  However, police have the discretion to use deadly force when warranted.  The union contract, one can argue, makes all deadly force warranted.  

There's really no dispute here; police officers do dangerous work, but they are shielded from accountability by labor laws and union contracts.  The balance of power between the police department has shifted nearly to completely to accused officers.  This, in my view is the major problem for reforming policing.  A better balance of power will hold the guilty accountable, keep the community safe, and increase the confidence of citizens.

If labor laws and union contracts do not change the balance of power, nothing else will change.

In the case of Silvon Simmons, you can read the 2 part Reuters investigation here.  Rochester is trying to take back their police department.  Their attempt may be a model for other cities.  Not only will they be changing the police culture, but hopefully the divide between black communities and police. 

Hope springs eternal.  

                     The Genesee River, Rochester, source of Genesee Cream Ale.