Eric Garner and the NYPD

I was surprised to learn this morning that a Staten Island grand jury declined to charge a policeman in the death of Eric Garner.   Garner was pulled to the ground by the neck and held down, choking, as he protested that he could not breathe.   Surrounded by officers, he passed out, and no one attempted to resuscitate him.  An ambulance took him to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Now the Justice Department is talking about pursuing a civil rights case of race-based policing, but I'm not sure that could prevail.  I would make two points.

      1) The NYPD is perfectly capable of putting a chokehold on a white or Hispanic man who
     gets angry and talks back to police officers. Probably not a woman, though.

      2) The bias here might be with the grand jury.   Many New York City cops live on Staten
     Island, where there may be a predisposition in favor of the police.

It seems pretty clear that the police overreacted.  Nobody should be wrestled to the ground -- let alone die -- for selling looseys (cigarettes by ones or twos), the offense Garner was said to have committed when the police took him down.

The police officer who administered the choke hold told the grand jury that he did not intend to kill Garner.  I'm sure that is true, but there is a charge called involuntary manslaughter that would seem to be appropriate in this case.

Think about it:  If a 20-year-old guy in a hoodie pulled someone to the ground, choked him as he protested and watched with his friends as the person expired, would there be no charges?  What's different if the police administer the same treatment to an unarmed civilian?

Observations

My family and I, law-abiding all, haven't had many dealings with the police, but in general the experiences have been neither helpful nor satisfying.  I will not go into detail, but the stories are bad, some very bad.

 As a result, I don't particularly like the police.  And if I see things this way, I can only imagine the rage young minority men must harbor toward cops.

It seems sometimes that we have a police force that is devoted first to protecting each other and second to the welfare of all the rest of us.

I like the idea of outfitting police officers with cameras to keep track of their interactions with the public.  I imagine many good officers would welcome such cameras.

I also think we should suggest to police that they treat people with simple respect.  If an officer believes it is necessary to stop a young man for questioning, why couldn't he approach politely, explain his concerns and, if finding no cause for further action, apologize to the young man for taking his time and wish him well?  Would this be so difficult?

It's really true:  You catch more flies with honey than you do with vinegar.

Why do I have to explain these things?