[Peace-discuss] [Discuss] Non-interaction with Champaign police

[John W.]

On Mon, Jul 19, 2010 at 12:27 AM, E. Wayne Johnson <ewj at pigs.ag> wrote:



> There would not be much reason to go with a gun.
>
> Actually it is the lack of a participative social model that precipitated
> the Kiwane C. thing.
>
> Simply asking the kids what they were up to could have taken care of the
> whole matter.
>
> I think that city-fied folk like the rush of power they get by calling the
> cops on someone.
>
> Sort of like the little girls who used to run for the office to tattle
> every time there was a skirmish on the playground.
>
> Saying that they are afraid to intervene directly seems pretty flimsy to
> me.
>

If we leave violence out of the equation, I quite agree.  There are
certainly situations in which it's most appropriate to simply talk to one's
neighbors first.  I've done that several times in my apartment building with
regard to loud music.  No need to involve the cops unless the neighbor is
uncooperative or belligerent.

But it does take a modicum of courage.  And in the scenario I posited, where
your neighbor's house is being burglarized by people you don't know (and who
might be presumed to be armed), you call the cops.

In the case of Kiwane, I have often wondered why the two police officers
didn't simply walk up to the two boys and say, "Hey, what are you guys up
to?"  Fifty years ago, and in a situation where race wasn't a factor, I
think that's what probably would have happened.  Policing has changed
dramatically over the past 50 years, and I don't think it's been for the
best.




> On 7/19/2010 1:11 PM, John W. wrote:
>
>>
>> On Sun, Jul 18, 2010 at 11:41 PM, E. Wayne Johnson <ewj at pigs.ag <mailto:
>> ewj at pigs.ag>> wrote:
>>
>>    The whole Society-by-Proxy thing rubs me the wrong way.
>>
>>    Doesn't it occur to anyone that it's pretty damn strange that the
>>    police power
>>    is invoked rather than the people in the society communicating
>>    with each other?
>>
>>    That there is this knee-jerk response to call the cops rather than
>>    manage the problem
>>    directly and locally is incredibly strange to me.
>>
>>    But then again...uh...
>>
>

>  Right you are, Wayne.  If we think our neighbor's house is being broken
>> into, we should all just run over there with our Glocks and start blastin'
>> away!
>>
>
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