Finally, Accountability

This past Monday a 16-year-old high school student was being disruptive in her Spring Valley High School class in Richland County, South Carolina.  From the reports thus far this is what we know.  Her teacher asked her to put away her cell phone and she refused.  Her teacher asked her to leave, and she refused.  The teacher called for the help of another school administrator who also asked her to leave, and she refused.  Then the school resource officer (SRO), Deputy Ben Fields, was called in.  Deputy Fields asked her to leave and she refused.

Let me be clear in establishing something before I continue.  This girl was out of order and out of line and disrespectful.  She started this by being disruptive.  She was wrong!

By now, anyone who’s glimpsed the news this week has seen what happened next.  Deputy Fields flipped the girl out of her desk, and then literally threw her across the classroom floor before handcuffing and arresting her.  Fortunately, knowing that something not good was going happen, several students in the classroom whipped out their cell phones to catch footage of the incident (because if there was no footage, it would’ve been his word against her word, and we all know that’s a losing proposition if you’re not the cop). 

Wednesday, Leon Lott, the Richland County Sheriff, announced during a press conference that he’d dismissed Deputy Fields from the police force because Deputy Fields did not follow proper training and protocol to handle this incident.  Specifically, the act of throwing the girl (not flipping her onto the floor out of her desk) was the action Deputy Fields took that caused him to be terminated, as this did not follow proper training.  As I listened to the press conference I came away with the sense that Sheriff Lott was following the letter of the law, and that he was being fair, honest and transparent in doing so.  Repeatedly he pointed out that he thought the girl was wrong and that she should be punished for what she did.  He also said, however, that his major concern was that his officer had done wrong, and that given the circumstances he could not support or justify the officer’s actions. 

I thought to myself, “Finally, accountability!”

Let me pause again, for those who are now upset because you think I’m supporting the girl or not supporting the cop.  I think EVERYONE should be held accountable for their actions.  That said, one of my major gripes with the multitude of law enforcement incidents that have entered into the national spotlight in the past 2 years is that consistently the officers can do wrong (including committing unjustifiable murders) without being held accountable at all.  We saw this in the case of Eric Garner in NYC in which Garner, who was illegally selling single cigarettes on the street, was choked to death (according to the coroner) by law enforcement using an illegal choke hold (again, for selling single cigarettes on the street).  That incident led to no indictment.  More recently, we saw this in the case of 12-year-old Tamir Rice in Cleveland, Ohio in which the boy (who actually wasn’t doing anything wrong other than being a child playing with a toy), was shot and killed by police literally 2 seconds after the police officers put themselves in a vulnerable position by not creating space before assessing the situation (and thus not following proper protocol).  The officer who murdered Rice in that incident has not been indicted, and the prosecutor in the case released a ridiculous report claiming the officer acted within the law.  

NO ACCOUNTABILITY!!!

So my basic thesis in this column is that police officers are not Jesus Christ; they make mistakes too, and when they do they should be held accountable also.  Unfortunately, as I’ve pointed out, this is often not the case. 

Although I differ with where Deputy Fields went wrong (I think violently flipping the girl from her desk onto the floor was the initial problem, not just the throwing of the girl), I was glad that the Sheriff had the guts to mete out this judgment, even before the DOJ, FBI and others made a decision about the incident.

Where I vehemently disagree with the Sheriff is on the severity of punishment she should face.  He seems determined to make sure this girl is punished with a criminal misdemeanor offense.  He’s not alone, as many others seem to think she deserves some severe punishment.

Now for the flood of people who saw the footage and thought “why isn’t she being punished for what she did?” or “she’s the one who started it”... let me talk to you for a moment. 

First, please outline for me exactly what she did?  I’ll help…here is what we know, she refused to put her cell phone away, and then refused on multiple occasions to leave the classroom.  She was not fighting anyone, she didn’t pull a weapon on anybody, and she didn’t threaten to blow the school up.  Basically, she posed no threat to anyone, she was just being a problem student.

Second, I know she’s black, but she’s still a child and not an adult.  I point this out because in the case of black children, we forget that they are children and we often see black children as adults.  Trayvon Martin at the age of 15 was characterized as an adult black male (and therefore him fighting gun-wielding George Zimmerman was a fair fight…at least that’s the implication).  The fact that the ‘juvenile’ status of the aforementioned Tamir Rice was not relayed to the officer’s prior to their encounter with him has been used as an excuse as to why they immediately took him down upon arrival (again implying that as an adult, he should’ve known better than to be brandishing a toy gun on the streets).  The girl in this case is a girl, a child, a teenager; we expect defiance of her for that reason alone.  When you consider her as a teenager, her behavior, though not desirable, is in no way criminal or somehow worthy of severe punishment.  

Unfortunately, black children don’t get the juvenile benefit of the doubt. 

For those who are asking, “why couldn’t the girl just obey the teacher or officer?”  Well, it’s been reported that the girl was recently orphaned and is in foster care following the death of her mother.  If true (though it’s not an excuse), if ever there was a reason for someone not to be in the right frame of mind to behave well, that’s a pretty darn good one.

And for those people out there who want to give a misdemeanor to a girl who refused to turn off her cell phone and/or leave a classroom?  Think about how ridiculous and silly that is.  Does that even make sense???

On the other side of this case we have a Deputy whom we should reasonably expect does know better than to assail anyone in this manner, especially children.  Police officers are adults with extensive training who are held to a higher standard because of their role in society, as well as the legal and real-world power (think guns) they are granted.  And they are rightfully held to a higher standard I might add.

As one of my friends pointed out, it’s a sad day when we are comparing the wrong of the teenager in this specific circumstance with the wrong of the officer considering she is still but a child, and he is a sworn in officer charged with the responsibility to protect and serve.

Finally, I must say I noted that many of my black friends and family saw the circumstance as I did – another instance of a black person being mistreated by a law enforcement person. I also noted that many of my white friends saw the circumstance as another instance of an unruly person misbehaving that needed/deserved to be punished by the officer.  Given this consistent and stark contrast, I have to believe that race, whether we want to acknowledge it or not, is a major factor in how each of us views these types of instances.  

So I would recommend to everyone, think of this girl as your child, or even as your 16-year-old self.  Would you have wanted your child, or even your 16-year-old self to be treated this way?  Would you be arguing for criminal prosecution or even punishment greater than detention?

I highly doubt it!

Disrespectful and disruptive as she may have been, I find it ironic that people want to punish a girl with jail time for trying to stay in a classroom.  After all, isn’t school where we want our children?

-Maelstrom

PS:  She’s just a kid!