This Just In – What used to be fairly simple is now anything but that. Up front, I must disclose that I have a positive view of law enforcement. That comes from the multiple times that a police officer or Sheriff’s Deputy engaged in a situation I was in and protected me or a member of my family. It comes from working with our sheriff (Lindy Pendergrass) directly on a safe schools task force many years ago to keep lethal weapons out of our schools.
My view also comes from my experience with law enforcement as a teenager when I witnessed my neighbor drive his car into a neighbor’s parked vehicle on the road. My boyfriend was leaving my house to walk home and but for the luck of timing, he would have been walking where my drunken neighbor was careening around the corner.
I told my parents. They summoned the police and a local officer worked with me to make a statement, which allowed him to pursue and settle the matter. He expressed his appreciation for my help and told my parents he was glad no one was hurt.
I’m well aware that there are many very different experiences with law enforcement and I don’t seek a whitewash of any of the terrible things that have happened with officers abusing their power. Lately, though, I’m wondering … about our rights as citizens just walking around.
What must I do when confronted with someone who is dressed in tactical gear with no identifying information – no badge number, no name tag, but “police” or “federal agent” and a mask-covered face? There have been thousands of incidents of this where the person is taken into custody, deprived of their freedom to move about, put into a car that may or may not have flashing lights, but no other markings of official law enforcement, and off they go.
To where? On what charge? In the custody of what agency?
I asked Sheriff Blackwood about this in an email exchange and he confirmed that it’s complicated when it comes to how these agents conduct themselves. “It’s a complex issue that requires a comprehensive understanding of state law, federal law and the delineation between the two,” he said.
I know that he’s right, from the law enforcement perspective. They have to understand multiple layers of state and federal law, but ordinary folks like me … just walking around do not have that understanding. Our understanding is this … when I see someone dressed as law enforcement and ordering people around, I need to know that they are legitimately empowered to do that.
I need to know that these are not just some clowns hired by an incompetent administration to scoop up people who meet a profile, take them away and then release them an hour later or disappear them to another state or country, thoroughly traumatized and intimidated. Is that what’s going on here?
Sheriff Blackwood is right that the jurisdiction is complicated and it’s also fair to emphasize that this horrible stuff is (so far) not happening here, in his jurisdiction. I don’t think that’s a coincidence. It’s clear that the Trump Administration is targeting large cities run by Democrats for political purposes. This is, transparently, an outrageous abuse of power intended to erode public confidence in law enforcement.
As people make recordings of these incidents around the country, I feel gratitude for their courage and appreciate their willingness to shout “shame” and question from a safe distance “Where are you taking him? Who are you? Where’s your badge?”
Law enforcement often must conceal their identities to do their work. Not because of fear they will be “doxed” (the excuse given by the administration), but because they’re arresting members of a drug cartel or otherwise involved in an ongoing investigation. There are reasons. This secrecy simply cannot possibly legitimately apply to every one of these roundups conducted by Trump’s goon squad.
Yes, that’s what I’m calling them … dressed in street clothes underneath the tactical-looking gear that can be purchased on Amazon. This is not how a sworn law enforcement officer is dressed.
It must be true that legitimate law enforcement agencies are alarmed about this as it egregiously undermines public confidence in their authority. They have professional associations. I sure wish that they would collectively speak up about this and tell us these things:
1) What is the right and safe thing for the public to do when they witness these events?
2) Can local law enforcement engage to stop what look like straight-up kidnappings?
3) How can we protect ourselves and our neighbors from this kind of harassment?
Jean Bolduc is a freelance writer and the host of the Weekend Watercooler on 97.9 The Hill. She is the author of “African Americans of Durham & Orange Counties: An Oral History” (History Press, 2016) and has served on Orange County’s Human Relations Commission, The Alliance of AIDS Services-Carolina, the Orange County Housing Authority Board of Commissioners, and the Orange County Schools’ Equity Task Force. She was a featured columnist and reporter for the Chapel Hill Herald and the News & Observer.
Readers can reach Jean via email – jean@penandinc.com and via Twitter @JeanBolduc
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