[Peace-discuss] Pendleton incident & innocent motorist death

[David Green]

Yes, thanks for emphasizing that. Perhaps it goes without saying that the coverage has been awful, but in this case it's been an entire week of law enforcement worship. Perhaps it's worth noting that however disturbed Pendleton may have been, in our society it's probably not lost on anyone that once they've gotten into it with a cop, their life is over for all intents and purposes. Even if you wanted to negotiate, why would you? 

    On Monday, May 16, 2016 6:54 PM, "Brussel, Morton K" <brussel at illinois.edu> wrote:
 
 

 I find the whole reportage of this episode in the N-G atrocious. Thanks for noting this.
—mkb


On May 16, 2016, at 12:03 PM, David Green via Peace-discuss <peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net> wrote:
http://www.news-gazette.com/news/local/2016-05-08/update-1-dead-collision-tied-mahomet-shooting.html
http://www.news-gazette.com/news/local/2016-05-12/pendletons-father-speaks-i-wish-i-could-just-put-blanket-around-him.html
Regarding the Pendleton incident, pertaining to the alleged confrontational style of the wounded officer as related in comments to the 2nd article linked to above,
Reader comment: "I have had the unfortunate privilege of meeting this officer. Obviously nobody should ever shoot someone or be shot. I just know this officer is very confrontational and is known to push buttons. Conflict management is not a strong suit for him. I'm sure there will be many different opinions on this comment. but I know what I've seen. I will say I have never had nor observed any Mahomet Police Officer display the kind of behavior I have seen from this officer. I also would question exactly what took place during this stop."
There are also questions about the motorist killed during the chase/hunt (first link above):
A 26-year old women in Decatur was killed in an accident with a police car rushing to I-72.
The readers' comments at the first link above provide both defense and criticism of the Decatur officer's decision to proceed at high speed to I-72.
It seems to me that the overall narrative is familiar: Police respond, as in wartime conditions, to an attack on a comrade, regardless of the details of the incident. The chase and hunt are front-page news, the moral narrative is clear. A police officer, triggered by self-righteous state-enforced blue-line solidarity, takes what was probably, for any number of reasons, a completely unnecessary risk in going at a high speed. The dead woman is blamed (by some) for not responding to flashing lights; she is blamed by some for her own death.
There was no reason to believe this suspect posed a threat to anyone else. There is no reason for a police officer to believe that this suspect would not have eventually been caught, or killed, or killed himself, as did apparently occur. There was apparently no reason for him to feel that he had to speed to the interstate to save anyone from anything. This is not Bonnie and Clyde, or the Fugitive. In this particular case, there was no reason to believe that Pendleton was embarking on a killing spree. He didn't kill anyone. There is no reason for this Decatur officer to have put anyone's life in danger by proceeding at high speed to I-72.
There is every reason for officers to understand that in our era, people can't really get away for very long. But that wouldn't make do in relations to officers' socialization into perceived blue-line heroism and hyper-vigilance, which most often results in risks not to their own lives, but to others.
So this 26-year-old innocent dead woman becomes a footnote and asterisk to the sensationalistic coverage of this story.
DG

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