"Precision,
accuracy, and clarity matter, as gestures of respect to those to whom
you speak; toward the subject, whether it's an individual or the
earth itself; toward the historical record. It's also a kind of
self-respect; there are many old cultures in which you are, as the
saying goes, as good as your word."
Rebecca
Solnit,
Call Them by Their True Names: American Crises (and Essays,) 2018,
Haymarket Press.
I
have been wondering for quite a while what would happen to our
society if we changed the words that we use to describe law
enforcement. Just as we have increasingly militarized our community
police forces with products of the military-industrial complex, we
have perhaps unwittingly weaponized their orientation to managing
conflict. Note the distinctions in the definitions of these
words from the American
Heritage Dictionary:
Police -
"the
governmental department charged with the regulation and control
of the affairs of a community, now chiefly the department established
to maintain order, enforce the law, and prevent and detect
crime." American
Heritage Dictionary,
4th edition, 2002 (p.1077)
Peace
Officer -
"a
law enforcement officer, such as a sheriff, who is responsible
for maintaining civil peace."
AHD (p. 1024)
In
our current society, pundits, elected officials and citizens rarely
use the word
"peace" whether applied within communities or between
nations. The bombardment
of violence on television and in movies depicts, as commonplace,
murder, war and terrorism, with courageous armed defenders who save
the day. We are saturated with these visions, day in and day out. It
may well be that the gun-carrying vigilantes in our midst feast at
this trough of fear and macho heroism.
We
have a President who believes that bullying is the best way to manage
people and affairs. Tracey Meares and Tom Tyler, directors of
Yale Law School’s Justice Collaboratory, perhaps asked the right
question recently in The
Atlantic
– “The First Step is Figuring Out What Police Are For.”
Following the 50-year-old Kerner
Commission and Obama’s Task Force on 21st
Century Policing, as they suggest, may help us begin to answer that
with real policy changes. But as Solnit and other great writers tell
us, words matter. Imagine official vehicles in the community
emblazoned not with POLICE but instead with PEACE OFFICER. How might
that new moniker affect not only how police see themselves but also
how their community sees them if their work is redefined to align
with the word “peace”?
The
emblems of force that pervade typical policing – guns, sticks,
pepper spray, handcuffs and, more recently, armored vehicles, drones,
acoustic grenades and other military hardware-- create their own fear
and power of control. In the hands of a bully, these are
weapons used to dominate the other. Distinguish that from individuals
dressed in vests that exclaim ”PEACE” who are inserting
themselves between potential adversaries and using conflict
resolution techniques to tone down potentially escalating conflicts.
These “peace officers’” first dictum is to prevent harm and
then to resolve conflicts peacefully. In a recent discussion with
strong supporters of gun ownership, one of the fallback arguments
shared was their belief that government shouldn’t be the only
faction with weapons. If we demilitarize the police, could we then
deny open-carry adherents their rationale for publicly brandishing
weapons?
We
have tried increasing the availability of weapons as a way to reduce
violence (fight fire with fire) and it hasn’t worked, certainly not
in the long run. Nonviolence has better and longer lasting peace
effects. That we don’t hear the word “peace” uttered much in
the public sphere anymore is perhaps the fallout of the
militarization of our society. Peace is not simply the absence of
war. A sustainable peace, as noted by leading development economist
Dr. Jeffrey Sachs, would offer all a sense of personal security, not
just protection from violent actions but also access to the
necessities of life – food, shelter, energy, access to health care
and education, and the opportunity to develop the possibilities of a
fulfilled life in a prospering and ecologically healthy society. As
the late peace leader A.J. Muste noted, “There is no way to peace.
Peace is the way.”
