The Legacy of Police Brutality

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I was watching the videos of some of the arrests from the Occupy Wall Street marches and I couldn't help but think about what it might literally feel like to be forced to the ground, face down, on concrete. What would it feel like to have the full weight of a grown man's knee pressed into the small of my back while two others force my arms behind me? How hard would it be to fight the bodies natural urge to resist this trauma? How would if feel then to sit and wonder what would become of me now? How would it feel, stretched out like a poached animal, waiting to be subjected to the bureaucracy of the criminal justice system. Imagine the humiliation of what could amount to days of sitting and being subjected to whatever will your captors at this point wish upon you under the name of justice. How would if feel to feel so unsafe within the arms of an organization who's purpose is to "serve and protect?" I was wondering if most police officers could ever imagine what it might feel like, literally, to be arrested and detained in this manner? I wonder if they ever consider, not just the physical, but the psychological trauma that they inflict upon a person when they pull them out of a crowd by their arms and slam them to the concrete? I wonder if they consider how they might affecting a young adult for the rest of his/her life. I'm not saying that arrests like this are not necessary on occasion for people who have endangered others. But when did taunting or name calling become a reason to inflict physical trauma and humiliation? Is that an example we want to set for our kids? Why is it okay for an adult man to pepper spray a group of excited young women and walk away with no recourse just because he is wearing a police uniform? Why can't parties simply be informed of their violations and then ticketed or read their rights and asked to informed of their violations before being forced to the ground and dragged across the concrete? When the public senses even the potential of police brutality it's comparable to an entire city being abused by a parent or guardian. Unfortunately, these scars can last a life time and in the future do more to distort and disrupt the power relationships between the public and law enforcement than any kind of order that the single act could offer in its self. If we begin to view the police as keepers and not protectors the basic fabric of our social contract gets flipped. This is a time to at the very least open a dialog to reconsider the rules or get serious about appointing more appropriate leaders.