Challenging Taylor
On Thursday the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Michigan announced its request for the US Department of Justice (DOJ) to investigate the Taylor Police Department because of the “ongoing pattern and practice of excessive force.” They also indicated that “the particularly brutal treatment of several African Americans raises concerns about possible racial discrimination.”
At the press conference announcing the decision, Mark Fancher, a staff attorney for the ACLU, referenced 20 specific instances of violence by Taylor police officers, demonstrating excessive force and terror experienced by individuals. Using videos, personal testimonies, and vivid descriptions, Fancher laid out a damning case against Taylor police. Instances included a man dragged from his car in front of his three year old daughter, thrown to the ground and repeatedly tased; a man stripped and abused in a jail cell; and another man with disabilities charged with cruelty to animals, after he called police for help with his puppy. The treatment of African Americans was especially concerning when contrasted with a video of the Taylor police’s friendly responses to a young white man openly carrying an assault rifle.
Fancher concluded, “No one should have to live in fear of the very people who are supposed to protect and serve them. That’s why we call on the Department of Justice to investigate and do what it can to eliminate violence, escalation of tensions, and racially biased policing.”
The Boggs Center joined nearly a dozen other community based organizations supporting this request. We have no illusions about the DOJ and its capabilities. This week we learned how close that department came to supporting the overthrow of the last election. Almost one year ago, the DOJ embarrassed itself further by joining in the Trump initiated effort to define some cities as “anarchist jurisdictions,” in response to massive protests against police violence. This was Trump’s attempt to withdraw all federal funds from cities that recognized they needed to seriously address their police departments and to respect the rights of demonstrators. While President Biden has reversed this effort, the role of the DOJ in advancing these pressure tactics should not be minimized.
The call for the investigation of Taylor police brings much needed public attention to what are common practices around this country. Taylor is not an anomaly, any more than the single police officer who puts a person in a choke hold, shots a man in the back from running away in fear, shoots a child with a toy gun, or kills a young girl asleep on the couch is a “bad apple.” By looking deeply at what is happening in Taylor, people are brought face to face with the brutality and death dealing that is endemic in US police departments.
A week earlier, another ACLU staff Attorney, Phil Mayor, wrote a powerful column describing similar violence and brutality by the Detroit Police Department. This time, the attitude of Detroit Police, as well as former Chief Craig, are captured “ in a shocking documentary by filmmaker Kate Levy, who created the piece largely by compiling video taken by media, bystanders and the protestors themselves, capturing footage while putting themselves at risk of retaliation from Detroit Police Department officers being caught on camera viciously abusing protesters — and then bragging about it to each other. The documentary gives a behind-the-scenes glimpse of the glee many officers took in their vicious use of rubber bullets, batons, pepper spray, tear gas, chokeholds and unjustified arrests. “
These efforts bring forward specific, deeply disturbing actions by police that have been systematically hidden from public view in an effort to support bloated police budgets and expanding police powers. These efforts are a contribution in helping people understand why fundamental changes, radical transformations in ideas of safety and protection, are essential now. They will help many people understand safety does not come from police, but from how we treat each other.