Most people in the United States seem angry when cops use force against nonviolent protesters, especially in this latest wave of “Occupy” protests.
The police use of pepper spray at UC Davis, discussed in an article by the Associated Press, reveals public outrage and confusion as to why nonviolence is met with stinging chemicals. Critics complain that, since 9/11, police departments nationwide have become more militaristic and are prone to dealing with Constitutionally-sanctioned peaceful protests with hostility. One such critic, editorialist Max Fraser, elaborates on his reasons for voluntarily joining “Occupy” protests and being arrested.
Fraser considers law enforcement to be part of the same corrupt government-corporate system that has been set up, or at least evolved, to disenfranchise the many in favor of the few. Those who “fall behind,” or lose their jobs for whatever reason, have no recourse. Once you’re down, you’re essentially out. The situation is too dire to rely on sideline protests that can be ignored.
Block a public street or thoroughfare, and you are noticed. You are relevant. You can make a change.
Jay Tea at Wizbang, however, brings up important questions about noncompliance with lawful authority. Though appearing sympathetic to the protesters’ aims, Tea questions the validity, and safety, of allowing police to not enforce the laws.
The protesters were blocking a public thoroughfare and needed to be moved. Linked together in a human chain, the dozen or so protesters could not be “carted off” without a veritable legion of officers. Without that many officers present, the police had no choice but to use methods that would make protesters unlink their limbs. Though the video of the pepper-spraying has been called “barbaric” by many commenters, it is likely that the use of clubs and truncheons would have been worse.
While most people hate the idea of using force against nonviolent protesters, especially young protesters on college campuses, should police simply not enforce the law? Tea says that allowing officers to avoid doing their duty would lead to a breakdown in public safety. If nonviolent protesters know they will not be forced to comply with the law, where does the slippery slope take us in a few years?
Lawbreakers using nonviolent resistance to impede police at every turn, knowing that, with every cell phone being an Internet-linked video camera, the police are increasingly powerless to force compliance? Police hesitate to maintain public order and infrastructure because every unpleasant-looking bit of police work become a web sensation?
If people know they can get away with noncompliance by being passive and nonviolent, what will happen?
As a high school teacher, I have quickly learned the importance of being strict and enforcing compliance with the rules. If you hesitate and show leniency, the teenagers will take advantage of it. They know how to lapse back into passivity or feign compliance, or comply temporarily, to make punishing them seem excessive or extreme.
A debate held in my U.S. Government classes, composed of Juniors and Seniors, revealed that many of these older teens knew full well how to manipulate their socio-legal statuses as “juveniles” and “minors” to their advantage. Many students actually advocated for tougher punishments for juveniles, arguing that teens between ages 13 and 17 knew the rules, as well as right-and-wrong, better than many adults assumed.
My job as an educator of teenagers enhances my bias toward discipline and law-and-order, and I was raised to respond politely to, and quickly obey, police officers and other authority figures. With the current debate flowing through the blogosphere and public discourse like a river, I have to wonder if editorialists like Jay Tea and I are right in our view of nonviolent noncompliance.
Should compliance be forced, even if doing so is unpleasant, to maintain public order and respect for authority? Or is the situation so dire that gaining the attention of the ruling elite must take precedence? With public education budgets nationwide near the fiscal chopping blocks, I see both sides of the issue…I want the ruling elite to see reason but also see the necessity of maintaining the potency of law and law enforcement.
I don’t want to have to choose between the two.