Page 4 - Mid Valley Times 6-25-20 E-edition

Thursday, June 25, 2020 | A4 | Mid Valley TiMes Editorial & Opinions
Serving the Readers of the Reedley Exponent, Dimuba Sentinel and Sanger Herald.
A Mid Valley Publishing Newspaper
Founded March 26, 1891, in a two-story building on the corner of 11th and F streets, by A.S. Jones
Fred Hall — Publisher
In my OPINION Current social divide is all
about political agendas
Perhaps, with the current success- ful division of the country by media, politicians and fringe special interest groups, this would be an appropriate time to reiterate our position on the publication of opinions and editorials on our op-ed page.
Policing and the winds of change
Rick Curiel — Sanger Editor Jon Earnest — Reedley Editor Dick Sheppard — Editor Emeritus
QUOTE
“I haven't the slightest idea how to change people, but I still keep a long list of prospective candidates just in case I should ever figure it out.”
— David Sedaris (1956- )
First of all, an editorial reflects the
opinion of only one man — the writer —
and if correctly done about one-half of
the readers will concur and one-half will take an opposing view. An editorial's aim is to evoke thought and discus- sion among our readers. Redress is always available in thatwewillprintopposingviewsandopinions. Ouronly request is that those should not be intellectually bankrupt by reverting to name-calling and vitriol. Factually make your case as an opposing view to the original writer.
As a rule of thumb, calling the writer ignorant or poor- ly-educated probably does not rise to the standards for response. Make your case in a fact-based, measured re- sponse and you will have an opportunity to take umbrage with the writer of the editorial you find objectionable. Vibrant discussion of issues in a healthy, even necessary, approach as opposed to the current mud-slinging and sniping at each other.
Setting aside the Civil War, to my way of thinking this is the most divisive period in American history and it all seems to be about political agendas. We're about to deter- mine the future of the United States. Will we remain the strongest, freest nation on earth or are we going to cave intoanideologywhichhasfailedallovertheworld? Our youngsters seem to have been taught that it is possible to provide all their wishes and desires free of cost and no one has to work if they wish not to. It just seems to me that there is a huge rational gap between their wants and the reality of life!
It just seems to me that a basic return to civility and law and order would represent a good beginning. Without a strict and equal enforcement of those laws which gov- ern us as a nation we are left with exactly what is being demonstrated in the streets today — anarchy!
Anarchy is on full display with the rioting, looting and destruction of public property which fill our television screens on a daily basis. Symbols of this country's ex- traordinary history of struggle and achievement are be- ing destroyed before our eyes by young people who seem to be doing so in an indiscriminate manner with no real thought to the contributions made by the individual who is represented by a statue that has stood for 150 years. Mix all of that in with a group which has literally seized part of a large American city, and the governor of that state and mayor of the city respond by keeping them supplied with art materials and immunity from the police.
Politically the year 2020 seems to be looking as if it were a seminal year—one in which each of us must be- come involved in determining the future of this country which, because of political vagaries, is in serious danger. Although all the polls tend to indicate that Joe Biden is leading Donald Trump by double digits, the idea just seems irrational. Frankly we fear that Mr. Biden. who is moving ever farther left in his political views, represents a clear and present danger to our security as a nation.
Presenting the potential for a real crisis is the Corona- virus which is bumbled and mis-handled by our elected officials. This, in particular, represents the real possibility of an economic disaster. The powerful economic engine of this country can't be shut down for such a length of time. Our governor, in all of his wisdom, decided that it would be a good idea to mandate that everyone in the state wear a mask out in public. With shopping and retail struggling to return to normal, Gavin Newsom managed to scare California shoppers into staying home a while longer and avoid returning to the stores.
We've always heard that you can't fix stupid, or is there ulterior motive?
But, as always, that's only one man's opinion.
Fred Hall
By Ed Hansen
Guest columnist
Let’s be fair. We need po- lice officers and we need to protect officers in the “line of fire.” Being a cop in today’s en- vironment is one of the hard- est and most dangerous jobs in the world. Most cops serve and protect without incident. Yet, you will always have a few “bad apples” in any group. We cannot tolerate or protect cops operating outside the param- eters of their job or authority. But, it is nonsense to promote an idea to “defund” the police. It makes no sense to use a stick of “dynamite” to blow up an entire system when a “mi- croscope” to uncover needed changes will do the job. I lean toward using the microscope.
Sometimes, the winds of change blow through our lives and not leave a path. At other times, the winds of change blow through so furiously that our lives are never the same. Such is the case since the re- grettable death of George Floyd and other African Amer- icans who have been brought to our consciousness these past weeks. Our system of policing has been exposed as having “bad cops” and “deadly prac- tices” that need to be extricat- ed from our system of policing if we are to have a system of justice. We still need police be- cause we need the “rule of law” in our society. And, we should not use the same brush to paint all police officers. The call to “defund” the police is a cry for change and we all should be crying about what has trans- pired these past few weeks. But where do we begin?
I submit we begin with the content and emphasis repre- sented in the “training.” Not every candidate who wants to be a cop will make a good cop,
but every cop needs ongoing training and lots of it to be a good cop. This means taking a close look at all cop training and especially “fear-based” train- ing such as promoted by Dave Grossman, Director, Killology Research Group. I submit that nobody can make a good deci- sion if they are unable to act ap- propriately when facing fearful situations. Fear promotes over- reaction or failure to act at all.
In addition, police union leaders such as Bob Knoll of Minneapolis need to sup- port changes in police train- ing. Knoll, the president of the Minneapolis Police Union, Local 17, called George Floyd a “violent criminal” and de- scribed those protesting over his May 25 death as “terror- ists." In a YouTube video, Knoll is quoted as saying he endorses “fear-based, warrior policing” as advocated by Grossman. Even more revealing about the nature of this training, Gross- man tells cops they are “...nat- ural born killers” and “...if you properly prepare yourself, kill- ing is not a big deal.” This type of training instruction may be appropriate for elite military or mercenary personnel but not for community-based law enforcement officers.
So, let’s examine the con- tent of current police training. According to the July 2016 Bureau of Justice Statistics (NCI249784), there were ap- proximately 664 police acad- emies nationwide reporting an average of 45,000 entry-level officer recruits entering ba- sic training. Only 86 percent (38,700) of the recruits suc- cessfully completed their train- ing. Length of law enforcement training, on average, was 840 hours or 21 weeks. From that point, about 37 percent of all academies did not require recruits to complete a field
segment after
graduation to
learn practical
aspects of law enforcement
and community
service. For the
63 percent of
trainees that
received the actual field train- ing segment, the training av- eraged 500 hours for a total of 1,340 hours, or about 33 weeks. Sadly, only about 21 hours is devoted to de-escalation tactics and crisis intervention strate- gies. That isn’t a good ratio for today’s law enforcement officer, as we have witnessed these past few weeks. This ra- tio is unacceptable.
Besides training, there are other issues that need to be reviewed with a view toward changes, such as: when the use of “qualified immunity” is ap- propriate; access to police offi- cer disciplinary and complaint records; the institutionalized “code of silence” which exists in certain police departments that thwarts investigations from obtaining a true account of shooting incidents; the bias relationship between police and prosecutors who are depen- dent upon the police for inves- tigations, to produce witnesses, and to testify themselves in some cases. In essence, pros- ecutors and police officers are “co-workers” and that creates a potential bias. In certain cases, it may be argued that this con- tributed to controversial deci- sions of “no criminal charges filed” by prosecutors.
This country has reached an epic turning point. Either we investigate our system of po- licing and implement positive changes, or the continuation of violence and protests is impos- sible to predict.
Ed Hansen is a Reedley resi- dent.
Ed Hansen
Mask or no mask? A (good) judgment call
By now, you're well aware of Gov. Gavin Newsom's order calling for the public to wear masks or similar protective face covering whenever in- doors at public locations. It's likely you're also aware that deputies with the sheriff's of- fices in Fresno and Tulare coun- ties won't be cracking down on enforcing this mandate.
When our Reedley Exponent Facebook page posted about the order last week, there was plenty of reaction both in sup- port and opposition. There were 18 angry emoji reactions, meaning that some were very unhappy with Newsom's an- nouncement. But there also were more than 60 approvals,
and comments came from both sides of the issue.
One thing's for sure, gov- ernment entities for the most part are following the guide- lines. The June 23 Reedley City Council meeting drew a larger- than-normal crowd because the council was debating a request for a beer-wine license. Nearly 30 people were in the council chambers, more socially dis- tanced than usual and all wear- ing masks (including the coun- cil and this reporter).
There will be those who re- fuse to wear a mask under al- most any circumstance; they'll likely have to comply if they want to gain entrance into some businesses. And there will be
some who feel
everyone should
be masked up
indoors and out-
doors; they'll
have to accept
that Newsom's
order won't be
enforced. Hope-
fully, we all can find a happy middle ground and practice good judgment for ourselves and those who are susceptible.
I, for one, will respect those businesses that want their cus- tomers to mask up and always have mine at the ready. And I'll always be ready to practice good judgment,
Jon Earnest is Reedley edi- tor for The Times.
Jon Earnest