Today’s decision by Dane County District Attorney Ismael Ozanne to not file charges against Madison, WI, police officer Matthew Kenny in the March 6th shooting death of Tony Robinson will undoubtedly bring about more protests like we’ve seen recently in Baltimore, Ferguson, and other cities. It won’t matter that the evidence and testimony showed that Robinson was on drugs, attacked people, then attacked the policeman. It won’t matter that the DA is biracial like the “victim” was. All that will matter is that a cop shot an “unarmed black man.” Already the cries of, “Why didn’t he use a taser? He didn’t have to kill him!” are making the rounds on social media.
Before these amateur police analysts come to the undeniable conclusion that they know what they would have done in the same situation that Officer Kenny experienced, it might help to get a taste of what it’s really like to walk in an officer’s shoes.
Back in January, Rev. Jarrett Maupin–a Phoenix-area community activist, protest organizer, and harsh critic of the use of force by police officers–received his own firsthand experience in the split-second decision-making that officers have to make. The Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office set up three training exercises where Maupin, playing the role of policeman, had to decide whether or not to shoot a suspect. Maupin failed two of the three scenarios. In the first scenario, the suspect “shot” Maupin. In the second, Maupin “shot” an unarmed man.
“I didn’t understand how important compliance was, but after going through this–yeah, my attitude has changed,” Maupin said. “This is all unfolding in 10 to 15 seconds. People need to comply with the orders of law enforcement officers for their own sake.”
Whether or not the lessons that Reverend Maupin learned will stick with him remains to be seen. But it would benefit armchair law enforcement experts everywhere to take what Maupin learned into account the next time they feel like speechifying on confrontations with police.
