July 06, 2003
A Couple Brief Notes On The Cultural Divide Of The Thin Blue Line
In a commentary which draws upon a description of an event remarkably similar to the shooting death of Kendra James, but which occurred in Fernandina Beach, Florida, in 1994, a Russ Rymer helps sum up the cultural divide such shootings all-too-often illuminate:
The larger questions animating the community were not ones that could be answered either by silence or by technical detail, yet the closed grand jury hearing offered only the former, and Tuesday's Community Forum at Mount Olivet Baptist Church gave a blizzard of the latter. Police officials have good legal reasons for staying reticent and speaking formally. But there are ways to maintain official decorum while acknowledging the underlying issues, and acknowledgment is a lot of what people need.
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The black community in a neighborhood such as North Portland brings to incidents such as the shooting of Kendra James a deep history and an intense awareness of social dynamics. Those dynamics tend to be invisible from the vantage of Kings Heights or city hall.
And Steve Duin takes a look at how the thin blue line sometimes becomes a wall between the police and the public (and the press):
What's become clear over the past two months, however, is that the cops resent being judged at all. Charged with the public's safety, they expect the public's support. As that support wanes, many in the bureau become frustrated with the media, but their legitimate concerns about the way we do our jobs are rapidly dissolving into silly, self-defeating paranoia.
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Cops handle bad press about as well as your average pro sports team. Despite a general order that requires affording the media "the fullest cooperation consistent with guidelines," embattled police officers, like sullen pro athletes, close ranks when they're on a losing streak.
Oddly, Duin also says to "[g]ive the Portland police credit for venturing out Tuesday night and trying, however awkwardly, to explain what they do while confronted with questions they can't answer." But there's been some scuttlebutt going around that the Bureau didn't want to participate in that forum, until pressured to do so by Mayor Katz. If true, I'm not sure just how much credit that deserves.