In Houston, four police officers were shot on Monday during a drug raid at a suspected heroin dealer’s home. Luckily, the officers are all expected to survive, although two of the officers are in critical condition. The two suspected drug dealers were both shot and killed during the raid.
What is actually getting more publicity than the shooting itself is the emotional outburst made soon after by Houston Police Union President Joe Gamaldi. Known as a firebrand, Gamaldi’s statement brought cause for concern that he is only adding fuel to the fire:
“I want to speak on behalf of the 5200 brave men and women of the Houston Police Department and the other 800,000 police officers that are working these streets every single day, putting their lives on the line. We are sick and tired of having targets on our back. We are sick and tired of having dirtbags trying to take our lives when all we’re trying to do is protect this community and protect our families.
Enough is enough. And if you’re the ones that are out there spreading the rhetoric that police officers are the enemy, well just know we’ve all got your number now, we’re going to be keeping track of all of y’all, and we’re going to make sure that we hold you accountable every time you stir the pot on our police officers. We’ve had enough, folks. We’re out there doing our jobs every day, putting our lives on the line for our families. Enough is enough.”
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What Does Gamaldi’s Outburst Reveal?
Certainly, some of the fury in Gamaldi’s tirade can be attributed to an understandable emotional reaction to hearing that four officers in his union were shot, leaving two of them in critical condition. We can accept the notion that Gamaldi would like to see the situation improve. With that being said, many points of perception held by Gamaldi are worth examining further in order to evaluate if what Gamaldi said is actually going to be of value in improving the situation.
1. Generalization: Police Officers Are Uniformly Noble and Just. Gamaldi makes a sweeping generalization that is not grounded in reality when he says “all we’re trying to do is protect this community and protect our families.” He presumes to speak for all 800,000 police officers in the United States as if he had the omniscient power to know the motives of each and every one of them. Volumes of certified evidence of police corruption, brutality, and fraud across the nation are simply a few keystrokes away. This does not mean that ‘police officers are the enemy,’ another generalization used by Gamaldi, nor that most people think in such black-and-white terms. It simply means that, like in every other occupation, there are people with good intentions and those with bad intentions. The fact that Gamaldi bypasses this simple and self-evident fact and resorts to such a generalization takes away the credibility of his statement and begins to provoke resistance against it.
2. False Assumption: They Have Targets On Their Back. When Gamaldi says, ‘We are sick and tired of having targets on our back,’ he seems to be trying to convey that the number of people who would like to see police officers killed in our society is significant. Gamaldi was obviously fueled by his police officers getting wounded, but the incident was not a case of having ‘targets on their back’ (ie. being stalked and hunted down from behind). The four police officers were being shot at by the heroin dealers because they were breaking into their home and were going to arrest them. Every reasonable police officer knows these actions could elicit a violent response from those inside, especially from drug traffickers who may be high on drugs themselves. Examining the obvious cause of this particular act of violence perpetrated upon the police (and lethally responded to), it would seem more worthwhile to look closely at suggestions supported by many experts that the police should end their ‘War on Drugs,’ which is elaborated upon in this Free Thought Project article.
3. Direct Antagonism: Threats To Limit Free Speech. Gamaldi puts out a warning to the general public that anyone being critical of police officers on social media, “spreading the rhetoric that police officers are the enemy,” as he puts it, are going to be held “accountable.” What he means by being held accountable is not specified, but certainly someone threatening unarmed citizens’ right to free speech on social media with the power and lethal force of the police, he leaves no doubt that he is trying to scare people into silencing their dissent against police officers. In a situation where dialogue is absolutely necessary, and the grievances of each side need to be heard by the other, Gamaldi’s threat is the antithesis of a solution to this problem.
Doubling Down
While some of Gamaldi’s tirade can be attributed to heat-of-the-moment emotions, what is perhaps even more troubling is that the next day, he was doubling down on his stance, not apologetic or even seemingly conscious that his own rhetoric was inflammatory and created a greater divide. This is from an article and interview the next day by KHOU:
Today, he is standing firm that it’s becoming more and more of a dangerous climate for law enforcement to do their jobs. “It could be the activists in recent years that decided they want to stir up every single use-of-force incident, even though it’s overwhelmingly justified in every single case,” Gamaldi tells KHOU.
To begin, his notion that it’s becoming more dangerous for law enforcement is simply a perception of his that is not backed up by any evidence. In the chart below, we can see a gradual decrease in violence against police officers since the 1970s:
Beyond this, the suggestion that activists are interested in publicizing and condemning police use-of-force, even when force is warranted, is simply false. Whenever we do see videos and other evidence of police brutality that goes viral, it only gains traction because it is so obviously excessive and unjustified. Yet in Gamaldi’s opinion, the use of force by police officers is “overwhelmingly justified in every single case.“
Clearly, there is a disconnect between reality and what Gamaldi is saying. And this disconnect is felt by whomever he presumes to be addressing. He is certainly not reaching out to the public to find a solution to problems that are more complex than he makes them out to be. In his endeavor to protect police officers in his union, which I believe is sincere, Gamaldi is actually putting them at greater risk as a result of his ‘us’ versus ‘them’ mentality, and his inability or unwillingness to show some humility and reach out to people respectfully who otherwise might sympathize with the honorable majority of police officers.
The Takeaway
While it’s understandable that someone might lash out in the heat of the moment following a violent tragedy, it is important that we don’t let such black-and-white perceptions dominate the discussion in matters important to our society. Joe Gamaldi’s reaction to police officers being shot at is instructive as an example of how polarized some people are these days, nothing more. There is no need to react angrily to it, but rather recognize it as an example of the perils of an ‘us’ versus ‘them’ mentality. We all do this to some extent, blaming others while denying our own complicity in creating the problem. That is why it is important to remember that change starts within, and that the healing salve to statements like the one made by Joe Gamaldi is our own humility and our willingness to take our share of responsibility in any problems we face with other people.