The Uniform Trumps All
When a good thing becomes a bad thing
The uniform trumps all.
That was one of the things I loved about wearing a United States Air Force uniform — that every other person in a USAF uniform was my brother or sister, even if I didn’t know them and even if, in a former life, I would not have been friends with them.
I thought of the USAF uniform as a great equalizer. Here, your color, your gender, and your economic status were secondary to the uniform. Here, in these uniforms, we were bonded.
But Cops in Uniform Aren’t Military Troops in Uniform
And maybe that’s where our police model has it wrong.
Cop shops aren’t like military units and we shouldn’t have made them like military units. The uniform should not trump all.
We should have bonded our police to their communities but we bonded them to each other. And then we gave them military weapons and equipment to use on our own citizens, not on enemy combatants. Now, some of those cops in uniform focus on their bond with each other and patrol the streets like citizens are the enemy combatants.
That’s fucked up.
The System Needs More Than a Little Reform
The system itself is bad and we keep feeding people into it. And the police infrastructure is not as strong as the military infrastructure (and some recruits are of lesser caliber) and there are fewer rules with lesser penalties.
It’s all a recipe for disaster. And we keep making the same recipe.
It’s Not Easy to Change a Culture of Aggression
But this is a hard task. I understand because, for six years, I thought I was the baddest mofo on the planet.
I can remember the crisp lines of my Battle Dress Uniform, the kerosene-like smell of jet fuel, and the way my combat boots felt when I walked a flightline of F-15E fighter jets on a hot North Carolina morning. The salutes, the sound of troops hitting their feet when I entered a room, and the ubiquitous “Yes, Ma’am!” that followed most things I said.
What a Rush
It was powerful — and addictive. If you’re on top, it’s not that hard to enjoy living in a culture of aggression.
I loved every second of it and — until I was ready to give it up — there wasn’t one damn thing you could have done to convince me that wasn’t the best way to live life.
So I’m a bit worried about how/if we will be able to make changes to our culture of policing. That genie is hard to fit back in the bottle. People resist change and those with power mostly like to keep that power.
But we damn sure have to try. Because we can’t just keep watching and crying and hoping it’s not our kid who gets pulled over next time.