So what happens when black police use excessive force? As the nation focuses on two instances in which white cops committed acts of violence against black citizens, perhaps it is worth looking at what happens when black cops commit acts of violence against citizens - either white or black. Is impunity a matter of profession, or race, or both? This question has been floating around in my mind since Ferguson and especially since Eric Garner's death in Staten Island. The two stories I present here are anecdotes and I do not have enough data to know whether this is a pattern. Follow below the squiggle for two police brutality cases currently being adjudicated in Chicago.
Case #1
John Wrana, Jr. was weeks away from turning 96 when he became confused and agitated in his assisted living unit in Park Forest, a suburb outside of Chicago.
Wrana had been behaving uncharacteristically, claiming a prostitution ring was operating at the retirement home and that he had ties to organized crime and the president. Staffers asked him for a urine sample to determine if a medical problem were to blame... [The nurse] said she called 911 after paramedics arrived and Wrana fought with them over going to the hospital. The paramedics said Wrana attacked them with a metal cane.
Park Forest police responded by sending a strike force of five officers with plastic shields, Tasers, shotguns and riot gear. The police commander held a hasty tactical planning session before kicking open the door, instructing Officer Craig Taylor to fire beanbags from a shotgun if the Taser failed to subdue Wrana. The commander fired his Taser at the unstable, frail 96 year old man, and missed. Taylor then used his shotgun to fire beanbags repeatedly into John Wrana's abdomen. He died 5 hours later of internal bleeding.
John Wrana was white. Craig Taylor is black. Taylor now faces trial on a felony charge of reckless conduct.
In his first public comments since being charged, Taylor, an 11-year police veteran, told the Tribune he was stunned on learning of Wrana's death and grew emotional later that night at home. But he insisted his actions were justified, saying he followed his superior's instructions and did his job "by the book."
Taylor had been counseled in the past for his lack of aggression as a police officer, and responded following a direct order from his supervisor operating in a highly militarized police culture.
His [Taylor's] police personnel file, obtained through a public records request, shows no serious infractions or disciplinary actions since he joined the department in 2004. In fact, a training officer urged Taylor in his first year to be more aggressive, the records show.
Case #2
Chicago police commander Glenn Evans headed one of the city's most dangerous West Side precincts. He faces one count of aggravated battery and one count of official misconduct for allegations that he shoved his service weapon's barrel into the mouth of a suspect during an interrogation.
Glenn Evans is black. In 2013, he saw Rickey Williams, also black, holding what appeared to be a gun. Evans ordered him to surrender, and when Williams ran, Evans chased him into a nearby building and arrested him. No weapon was found. At some point during the interrogation Evans allegedly shoved his weapon into Williams' mouth Williams' DNA has been recovered from Evans' weapon.
Evans is among 662 officers with 11 or more complaints during a five-year period in the 2000s, newly released police records show. He had 14 complaints between 2001 and 2006 and faced no discipline for any of them, the records show.
So what do we do with this information?
In the first case, public outrage was immediate. Community standards consider such police tactics excessively violent when directed against an elderly white veteran. Who needs 5 riot-equipped police with shotguns and Tasers to control a frail 95 year old man with dementia? Ironically, Taylor is being charged because he fired beanbags at less than the recommended 15 foot distance from the target, rather than simply gunning the old man down. According to the police force's expert for the defense, shooting Wrana dead would have been allowed by the rules of engagement. The other police officers face no charges, including the commander who planned and supervised the armed raid on the assisted living unit. I don't know if the commander who ordered Taylor to shoot is white - but given that Park Ridge is predominantly white, it's likely that he is. Would I convict, knowing what I know? I'm not so sure. I would be more tempted to see a civil lawsuit against the police for amazingly bad judgement and excessive militarization, and I'd be more sympathetic to an indictment if the commander was indicted too. Does one convict Officer Taylor for not having the courage to stand up for common sense? Maybe.
What about the second case? Chicago has a long and grim history of police brutality. John Burge, a white policeman, extracted confessions through the use of torture for decades - at a time when Richard Daley was a DA. He was never convicted for torture, although he was eventually convicted for perjury and the city paid out millions in settlements. Burge and all of his tainted prosecutions are one reason why Illinois no longer has a death penalty. These days, a lot of the police violence is actually inflicted on black residents by black police. Policing on Chicago's South Side and West Side is undeniably dangerous - Chicago may have one of the highest murder rates in the nation, but the victims are almost entirely black. As a white man, by risk of being shot by police or murdered in this city is negligible, and certainly orders of magnitude less than me dying by my own hand in suicide. But black citizens of Chicago should not have gun barrels shoved into their mouths by police, whether black or white. I note the 14 prior complaints, none of which were ever acted upon. It is interesting, though, that a black officer is arrested and charged with brutality on suspicion of shoving a gun in a black man's mouth in an abandoned building, while a white officer in Staten Island kills a black man on video in full public view and walks away without consequences. Perhaps Evans should run for Congress as Allen West conducted a mock execution of an Iraqi prisoner and not only got away with it, but helped build a political career.