Eva DuVernay’s docuseries When They See Us takes us inside the story of four innocent black teenagers who were convicted and imprisoned for a crime they never committed. It’s a complex and painful look at police corruption and systemic racism in the criminal justice system. However, as gut-wrenching as she portrays the problem, she doesn’t tell the half of it. Police corruption and the criminal justice system are far worse than she brilliantly describes. The massive injustices done to blacks by racist white police officers and complicit black officers are mindboggling in scope and nature. Below, I offer my perspective as a pastor, attorney, activist, and victim.
In law school, my criminal procedures professor, Professor Irving Joyner, shockingly told the class, “Police officers are some of the most crooked, dishonest, and corrupt people we would encounter as attorneys.” This statement shocked me as it does most Americans, including Black Americans! My parents taught me police officers are generally honorable. Hence, I was susceptible, like most blacks, and believed the best of the police.
Please understand me. I knew from my childhood the police nearly hated the black community. I’ve seen police officers beat black men and target the black community. I remember the Rodney King beating and its aftermath as if it were yesterday. I know traditionally, they’re the long arm of justice for the white population, mainly white businesses. Further, I know policing in America began as slave patrols, and today, they’re still in place to control the black community. I knew all of that, but to hear Professor Joyner describe police in those disparaging terms was again shocking.
As a criminal defense attorney, my eyes have been opened twelve years later. My colleagues and I have caught many police officers in lies literally while they testified under oath. I now know police officers are more corrupt towards blacks than Professor Joyner had warned us! To be more specific, law enforcement routinely racially profiles lies under oath, murders, steals, engages in cover-ups, plants evidence, and does so much more to black people.
Why Are Police Officers So Corrupt Toward Blacks?
Many white officers are racists, and Black officers are often implicit in white racism. Sadly, many black officers often honor their blue uniforms over their black skin by remaining silent to protect their careers and pensions. The US Supreme Court (SCOTUS) has handed over considerable power to police officers. Repeatedly, the SCOTUS has backed the police and made them almost invincible in the streets. Police training academies embedded this power into their training manuals, knowing full well the SCOTUS backs them. This power has created a sense of invincibility with police officers, causing them to believe they can get away with anything. As Denzel’s character, Alonzo Harris, said in Training Day, “I’m the police, I run sh*t around here. You just live here…King Kong ain’t got sh*t on me!”
What’s more, whites will always side with the police. When whites are on grand and regular juries, they can be counted on to absolve police officers despite videotapes and eyewitnesses showing police misconduct. This racist ideology of “protect the police” or “back the blue” at all cost again stems from the racist history of policing in America. Reform is needed to place police oversight in the hands of citizens rather than grand and regular juries as well as prosecutors. I’m a huge fan of civilian review boards.
