This seems so different, and yet so similar.

I posted this on my facebook page back on August 15

Kind of hard to ignore the info coming out of Ferguson...way too many ifs and whys involved in this case.-If the young man reached into the car, then it is hard to consider anyone who is 6'4", 292 lbs as unarmed (I was off here…6’5. 289, according to the autopsy records)…if he didn't, then the officer is probably toast (legally) I heard several lawyers today mention that the courts consider a shoot legit if an officer is attacked and the suspect is fleeing...I wonder if that may have to be revisited?-Why didn't the PD release the information that the officer was injured earlier? I understand why they didn't release the video from the store earlier (their timing for that release was going to be criticized regardless), and the officers name being withheld makes even more sense after seeing stories about the other officer named Darren Wilson, and the hate messages he received.No matter what happens in this case, no one is going to be fully satisfied.

I wasn’t making these comments just because I have a tendency to comment on current events (I Do)…but because I remembered, pretty clearly, a case in San Diego years ago…a case, I might add, where I originally had one view…that the accused was guilty, and was about to go to prison for the rest of his life…but where my mind was changed as the evidence emerged.

The Sagon Penn case was THE topic when I returned to Point Loma in the Fall of 1985 (I had been out of school since March 15th of that year)…and I, and much of the nation (including some names I didn’t realize had been involved), followed the case until the trial.  It seemed open and shut…Penn admitted to shooting  and killing one officer, Thomas Riggs, wounding another officer,Donovan Jacobs, and shooting a female ride-along Sara Pina-Ruiz…I, like most people figured that with the confession, he was toast.

When the trial began, the city was tense (okay, we really were not that tense at Point Loma…most of us were honest enough to realize that we were pretty safe on our campus…we were not really going to get involved in this story…or so we thought) then the details began to emerge, and doubts were raised.

My first thought then was that the defense was just a normal, run-of-the-mill version of “He hit me first.”…but as more and more came out, and more testimony was shared, people began to debate the evidence that was emerging…I remember clearly having the type of argument that only a college student can have with another studen about whether or not Penn should be held responsible for shooting Pina-Ruiz (I argued that if the first shot was excused by the jury, all shots after that would have been, in a situation where you had just been forced to shoot an officer in self-defense, understandable because you would have expected to be shot by the other officer outside the car…and would have expected the person inside the car to also be armed, and thus dangerous…my argument then, as it has been in the situation in Ferguson, hinged on the word “IF”)

I don’t remember anyone who was not surprised when the first trial ended in deadlock…many were not sure if a retrial would even take place, even that decision was litigated.

It did, but not before Sagon Penn enrolled at Point Loma.

“Penn has hardly surfaced since being freed after the first trial, his father said. He enrolled at Point Loma Nazarene College, but quickly withdrew when he was greeted at the campus by a swarm of reporters. He has not returned to school or work since, Thomas Penn said.”(Source)

I knew he was there, but I never met or talked with him.  I always thought that he must have been a commuter student, but my wife, tonight, told me in that he had lived with his attorney’s family, and their daughter had been a Crusader (the proper name for a Point Loma Mascot…but I digress), thus filling in the gap I had always had about why he had chosen PLNC (this was after it stopped being PLC, and way before it became PLNU, BTW).

I do not remember anyone protesting his presence…my wife thought she remembered a few people leaving the school because he was there, but for most of us, any drama was very short-lived.

By the time of the retrial, people had taken sides…and for most, nothing was going to move them…the case was made, the decision announced…acquitted on all charges. By that point, I had come to the conclusion that while no one should have died that night, it was not beyond reasonable doubt to assume that Sagon Penn had acted in self-defense, that he had truly believe that Jacobs was going to kill him…surprisingly, it seems that even ended up being the belief of Thomas Rigg’s family members.

Even after the trial, many refused to accept the findings of the jury…many felt as though Penn had gotten away without any punishment…after spending time reading about his life after the trial, I think that is wrong…I think it haunted him.  His life did not go well after that night in 1985, he made some bad choices. I found this mention from 2000:

"I know for a fact I could have disarmed that homeless person withouttaking his life. If they want a demonstration, I could tell them how to doit.  When a police officer loses their life, there's all this mourning. Butwhen a homeless person gets killed, everyone just goes on with their lives.It's not like a roach got killed here. That's a human being.

No one would have blamed him for completely avoiding the spot light...but the idea that he would have been willing to train officers in hand to hand, to avoid shootings where possible, has a strange resonance.

I don’t think many people mourned Sagon Penn…he killed himself on July 5, 2002…Ted Williams died that day too…I knew about his death, I don’t remember any stories about Penn that day.

I cannot imagine how much Sagon Penn would have appreciated it if Donovan Jacobs or Thomas Riggs would have had a body camera that night (they didn’t exist then).  IF that night happened as the jury found, it would never have had to go to trial, his life would not have had to be dissected…he might have become a police officer, as he had once hoped. The tragedy might have still occurred (always a question if cameras are present), Thomas Riggs might still have been dead, but maybe Penn’s life could have gone in a very different direction, maybe the uncertainty wouldn’t have bred more distrust and hostility…maybe it could have served as a moment where solutions rather then recriminations were utilized.  

Body cameras were not an option in 1985…they are now.  It seems as though the most effective means of removing or reducing the tension of the “he-said/he-said confrontation” would be to make body cams mandatory…let the evidence lead where the evidence leads, but let the truth protect those who might otherwise be punished unnecessarily.

As I was doing research to make sure I didn't misrepresent anything, I discovered that someone else is looking at Ferguson in light of Penn's situation as well.

Different Time, Same Need.

I grew up in a different time, in a different place, on what sometimes feels like a different planet.  It was not an Ozzie and Harriet world, not by a long shot, but in very odd ways, it was a much simpler time.

(Source)

I do not remember my neighborhood as at all diverse, Other than my sister, I don’t remember ever seeing another white kid on my block…and I loved it.

I don’t remember life before living there, so for me it is where a vital part of my worldview was locked in place.  I knew I was different from my neighbors, and because it was the late sixties, and I was a TV junkie from the beginning (Mom and Dad got their first color TV in ’69, so I  had my own TV, with a remote when I watched the Apollo 11th landing…and I memorized the TV guide every week, which was a nice parlor trick my parents would have me demonstrate whenever Street Racers would come over for pasta before they went racing on Friday nights), I was well aware that there was a raging debate about race in America. 

My issue was, even then, that what I was seeing in the world did not match the narrative that the media was pushing.  My neighbors were just people, some smart, most normal, some not so bright.  My parents made clear to me that there were people on our street who had been deputized as part of the policing force that would guide my young life, and that some of them had been authorized to use force upon my backside if I crossed certain lines of behavior…I had zero privilege because of my uniqueness.

I saw violence in my neighborhood (one neighbor across the street shot her husband 6 times, all below the waist…apparently he had violated the vows of their marriage…I didn’t learn that she was violent because of the color of her skin…I learned that a man better be careful violating that vow…I think they got back together later)  I was attacked a few times, nothing that left a permanent mark, but violently…twice the person hitting me was yelling the word “Honky” as they did so…I didn’t learn that all black children were violent, I learned that some people do dumb things, for dumb reasons.

If I am remembering right, I believe I finally learned what the word “Honky” meant after a conversation with Kip, the son of the Aunt Anita and Uncle Reggie…he explained it, and then explained what…I am not going to use the word, meant…and explained to me why it should never be used by me…he must have been pretty convincing, because I remember then and there deciding never to use that word AT another person, ever…the only way I utter that word now is if it is in piece of literature, and it is being used to show how ignorant a character is to use it toward another person…even then, it almost physically hurts to say it.

I agree with Eric Holder (I know, shocking) there does needs to be an honest dialogue about race…problem is, how can we do that?  Growing up, the entire framework for the discussion was different.  If you needed clarification of what people were thinking, or why they thought it, you asked, if you knew an answer, you gave it. (I didn’t have many answers at the time)  The language  of the discussion was different, and because of things like the Flip Wilson Show…and watching my Father and Uncle Reggie traumatizing people with jokes based on the color of their respective skin (it was both incredibly funny and slightly frightening to watch how people reacted to their jokes), I grew up taking for granted that humor was essentially for defusing the tension inherent to discussions of race, and that at its base, it wasn’t us versus them, but rather us with them…”we” had things to work out…but since we were in it together, we could and should find solutions to the differences.

As I am watching the news today, I see the media trying to drive wedges, intent on fracturing us once again.  They seem intent on rolling back any progress that was made, not realizing or not caring who it might destroy. I am watching the media exploit the grief of a family to inflame the situation, I see them play up past historical abominations, and some legitimate concerns with excessive profiling to then profile  officers around the country. (I am in a position to be able to empathize with both sides, working with students I would not want to see hurt and having several former students who are now police officers) I see the media, if not actively encourage, at least tacitly endorse violence which they will then feature in breathless reporting which is creating the very us versus them conflict that we do not need.  

My frustration is building…it isn’t supposed to be like this.  The idealist in me hoped that we were past this.  I want peace, I want people to treat people right…I want someone to fix this problem.

But that isn’t going to happen.  It really doesn’t work that way.  If a solution is imposed by some higher authority, it will be resisted, because it is being imposed by a higher authority. The only solution to this problem is that we need to stop thinking it is going to come from somewhere else.

Toward that end, let me state that, for me, that regardless of what I see on the television, or read online, I will not embrace the hatred, and I will not allow myself to buy into any narrative that suggests that all of any group is doing anything. I cannot disengage, but I will try to stay as objective as possible, judging events individually, acknowledging that in some cases I will be wrong. I will strive to treat people right, because it is the right thing to do…period.

...and I will continue to make jokes.

A proposal

The following is a more articulated version of something I have been saying for months…and it should be stated up front, that I am both a Conservative and a believer in the positive potential of capitalism…so it is unlikely that anyone on the left will view any of this in a positive light.  

Please feel free to tell me why this would not be something that could help in the current situation.

The grand jury has yet to render a verdict, and neither side is taking a victory lap…yet.

This would be an excellent time for the President to step in and use the position of President for something truly beneficial.

The shooting in Ferguson has exposed major problems in our system.  In many places in our country, police are not trusted, and police officers are likely not feeling as though the system provides them with much protection either.

My first reaction when I heard the story was that hopefully the dashboard or body camera would confirm what really happened, that there would be no ambiguity in the case…but alas, no dash cam or body cam.  

When I read that story the first time, my immediate thought was that it was ridiculous that it costs that much to equip police cars and officers with cameras.  While I understand some of the arguments made by police officers about their privacy, I think the time has come to realize that a camera, when it catches you doing the right thing, might be the greatest device ever invented.

Cameras will not eliminate assaults on officers nor eliminate all cases of police brutality, but they will bring clarity. Anyone who is honest knows that the simple presence of a camera changes how people act.  If you know that camera is rolling, you are likely to alter your behavior if it is going to make you look bad. 

The challenge now is that the officer, suspect, and witnesses all have a very limited view of what is happening in an armed confrontation (if either the officer or the suspect is armed, it is an armed confrontation), the gun sees nothing, and the bullet, once it is fired from a gun will travel in a very specific, and very predictable path because of the laws of physics. 

$3000+ for a dash/body cam is ridiculous, a simple GoPro, is capable of gathering an incredible amount of information…but what is needed is a more affordable, and task ready set of cameras, capable of capturing usable, and reliable evidence.  The cameras would need to be durable, reliable, protected against accidental or intentional shutdown in a moment when the images are going to be needed (obviously, there will need to be times when it can be shut down…bathroom breaks, meals, phone calls with the wife…there would be more, which I think could be inferred by common sense, but would likely need to be articulated), protected against accidental or intentional erasure, night vision capable,and…this is essential, must not allow editing after a confrontation, etc.

If you were pitching a business plan in my class, I would ask you at this point…”okay, you have identified a problem…and have sketched out the beginnings of what needs to be done…but HOW would you make it happen?”  

This is where the President comes in…Michael Brown was shot on August 9, 2014…on May 28, 2014, Dr. Dre sold Beats to Apple for billions. (Good for him, by the way, wish I had come up with something like that…I know, you are probably asking, how do these things belong together?) 

  What if the President called Dr. Dre and suggested the following…If you would start a company, in Ferguson, Missouri that would do for dash/body cams what you did for headphones, we will exempt that business from any corporate tax for the next 25 years (I might argue even more years)… All but the most common sense EPA regulations will be suspended to allow the company to be completed quickly. Patent protection will be enforced to ensure the company has a legitimate chance of competing in the market (no guarantees of government purchases, but a chance to fairly compete)   My guess is that Governor Nixon would match that offer immediately.

Obvious requirements would be that hiring preference would be given to local residents in your manufacturing plant, and a portion of the money that would have gone to taxation will instead be invested into infrastructure in Ferguson. (I might even suggest that the name of the company might be Ferguson Justice Cams…although DreCams does have a certain ring)

Why Dr. Dre? It would be great if he could team up with someone in law enforcement to do this project, that would be worthy of a Hollywood movie…but movies are fantasy…anyone in law enforcement who has financial clout like Dre is going to be distrusted automatically.  

Strangely, I cannot think of anyone who would have the trust of both the left/right, black/white communities more.  He is a brilliant businessman, and because of who he is, it would be assumed (correctly, I believe) that a move like this would be as much, maybe more, about preventing violence as making money. 

It would cost taxpayers nothing to float this idea, and it could improve the economic condition of Ferguson. Those workers, once employed in the company would pay taxes to continue the improvement of the city.

For the Brown family, this might provide some sense that this tragedy might have some positive impact.  For the officer, some solace that his brother officers will not have to endure such extended scrutiny.

There would likely be some unintended consequences of this all occurring. Someone will complain that the President is wrong to make offers of tax breaks for a billionaire, there will be occasional failures of the system…some will be offended that a solution came from a capitalist, or that Dre was a rapper,or for any of number of reasons.  The President’s answer…which would be more powerful if it were given with Mitch McConnell, Nancy Pelosi, etc all standing and nodding in approval as the deal is announced, should be “Tough, it is done.”

The irony that Dr. Dre, who burst into many of our minds with “Straight Outta Compton” could play a pivotal role in reducing violence, and bringing justice (not vengeance, but justice) to both side involved in such confrontation, would make the move even more powerful.