When police officers are told they’re in a war, they act like it
A CIA officer turned cop speaks out.
By Ezra Klein@ezraklein Jun 2, 2020, Vox
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Patrick Skinner spent a decade running counterterrorism operations overseas for the CIA. He worked in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Jordan; met with kings and presidents; rose through the ranks. But he came to believe he was part of the problem, that the very premise of the work was flawed. So he came home, and joined the police force in Savannah, Georgia, where he grew up.
I first learned about Skinner in a New Yorker profile. Then a friend mentioned his Twitter feed to me: There, Skinner reflects, in a thoughtful, continual stream, on the work of policing, the importance of treating your neighbors like neighbors, the daily work of deescalation, and the behavior of his menagerie of pets.
Skinner has been particularly outspoken in the aftermath of George Floyd’s death. “We have to change our profession,” he wrote. “We aren’t warriors. We aren’t at war with our neighbors.”
I spoke with Skinner by phone on Sunday. He emphasized that his views are his own, and he wasn’t speaking on behalf of his department or all police. But what he has to say is, I think, important. A transcript of our conversation, edited for length and clarity, follows.
Ezra Klein
What did you see when you watched the video of George Floyd’s death?
Patrick Skinner
A murder. No semantics. No justification. They just killed that guy. I drove home and in a six-minute commute, I was in tears. And it was that I saw the other cops in the video. One of them even looked like me. They were stopping the bystanders, telling them to get back. It’s not just that this cop did this. The other cops stopped anyone from stopping him.
Ezra Klein
What should they have done?
For complete article, click here
ALSO SEE: Further Resources on the subject
I first learned about Skinner in a New Yorker profile. Then a friend mentioned his Twitter feed to me: There, Skinner reflects, in a thoughtful, continual stream, on the work of policing, the importance of treating your neighbors like neighbors, the daily work of deescalation, and the behavior of his menagerie of pets.
Skinner has been particularly outspoken in the aftermath of George Floyd’s death. “We have to change our profession,” he wrote. “We aren’t warriors. We aren’t at war with our neighbors.”
I spoke with Skinner by phone on Sunday. He emphasized that his views are his own, and he wasn’t speaking on behalf of his department or all police. But what he has to say is, I think, important. A transcript of our conversation, edited for length and clarity, follows.
Ezra Klein
What did you see when you watched the video of George Floyd’s death?
Patrick Skinner
A murder. No semantics. No justification. They just killed that guy. I drove home and in a six-minute commute, I was in tears. And it was that I saw the other cops in the video. One of them even looked like me. They were stopping the bystanders, telling them to get back. It’s not just that this cop did this. The other cops stopped anyone from stopping him.
Ezra Klein
What should they have done?
For complete article, click here
The Role of Policing in America: Charles Koch Institute
Reformning Policing in America: Equal Justice Initiative
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Policing in America: The Posse Comitatus Act and Police Militarization - Joint Force Quarterly, National Defense University
