HOLDING CITIZENS RESPONSIBLE AND ACCOUNTABLE

 The United States is in the throes of a great upheaval that will affect every aspect of government and the social order. The events will be transformative, in positive or negative ways. A lot depends on the results of the 2020 federal election, as well as those at state and local levels. And a lot of the outcome depends on the actions and behaviors of citizens now, and going forward.

This post discusses the responsibilities of citizens, and how citizens could help be accountable for ending the turmoil in Portland, Oregon that has become global news, and fodder for the Trump re-election campaign. And yes, it is my opinion.

We live in Portland, Oregon, the Portland where nightly protests against police turn violent, and the videos of the violence appear in Donald Trump re-election campaign commercials. A lot has been said and written about police violence. In liberal circles, which includes my friends and family, the majority opinion seems to be that the police are using violence against mostly peaceful protesters, and this is the problem.

Police reform, or reimagining (not abolishing) is long overdue and drastically needed across America.   This is self-evident, people in government know it, people in policing know it. We can all, or mostly all, agree that officers of the law need to be responsible for conducting their business in respectful, non-biased and lawful ways. And they need to be held accountable for any transgression of those responsibilities.  

I wonder if I will find agreement among my liberal friends and family regarding the question of the responsibilities and accountability of citizens. Let me explain.

Protests in Portland have been going on, daily, for almost three months. The majority of protesters/demonstrators are peaceful, and working under the mantra and goals of Black Lives Matter. There are people, anywhere from a couple hundred to several hundred, who go out every night to protest at law enforcement buildings (police stations, a justice center, a federal courthouse, the police union building). Almost every night these events turn violent; some of the demonstrators throw things at police and buildings, fires are started in dumpsters or piles of combustible materials gathered from the area, people try to break through windows and doors and, if successful, get inside and loot/trash the premises and light it on fire (a news channel video of a recent demonstration showed a man leading chants with a bullhorn, including: "Burn the precinct to the ground; burn the precinct to the ground"). The police respond, first with warnings over a loud speaker, and more often than not this escalates to the use of various crowd control munitions (pepper spray, irritant gas, flash-bangs, rubber bullets, etc.) and physical "bull-rushing" or "hand-to-hand combat." This is a bad situation from every angle, and truly has no relationship to Black Lives Matter. (For those readers not from here, Portland has a very small Black population, and the majority of protestors, peaceful or otherwise, are white.)

Many Portlanders feel that the police are too violent in these situations. From where I sit, this is a tough call. But the point of this post is not about the police, it is about citizens. The actions of police during these demonstrations will be reviewed by city government and the courts (as a result of lawsuits filed by people at the demonstrations). Who will review the actions of citizens, other than those arrested? 

People are going to nightly demonstrations with the knowledge that there will probably be violence. There does not appear to be a strategy behind these nightly actions, other than to provoke the police to use force, and then complain about the police using force. Many leaders in the Black Lives Matter actions, as well as community leaders, have spoken out against this violence as being non-productive, changing the narrative, and playing into the hands of the Trumpsters. 

What are the responsibilities of Portland citizens in relation to this cycle of violence and destruction? I would say this: 

• Stay away from demonstrations that you know will turn violent (an obvious hint, from my experience at a daytime demonstration, is young white people dressed like Ninja warriors and carrying large plywood shields); 
• Go to demonstrations that are peaceful (these are mostly during the day);
• If you are at a demonstration and the police issue a legal order to disperse, go home immediately; 
• Don't go to demonstrations that are known to be violent with the intention of protecting the protestors from the police (yes, I'm talking about you Wall of Moms, Wall of Leaf-blower Dads, Wall of Vets, and all other Walls of); 
• Support, in any way you can except perpetrating or condoning violence and vandalism, the goals of Black Lives Matter and other social/racial justice movements;
• Educate yourself and others about the history of systemic racism;
• Educate yourself and others about the workings of the Police Bureau, including what it does right as well as wrong (for example, what has the Police Bureau accomplished under the terms of a settlement agreement with the U.S. Dept. of Justice?);
• Don't demonize police officers; policing needs to be fixed, but the vast majority of the women and men who are Portland police officers truly want to serve their community, and they put their lives on the line every day to do that.

How do we keep ourselves and our fellow citizens accountable for our actions and behaviors in relation to the above? Here are a few things:

• If you see something, say something. This includes seeing someone acting violently towards police or anyone else, and those who are committing vandalism; and also police acting unlawfully;
• Don't promote false news or stories; there is a lot of fake stuff on social media that is meant to confuse people or provoke them to anger - check sources, and ask others to do the same;
• Help people you know understand the complexities of this time of social upheaval;
• Be respectful, and demand respectful treatment for everyone, even those with whom you disagree, and respectfully talk to people who are not;
• Accept the kinds of citizen responsibilities listed above, and add your own ideas to the list.

 I am saddened by the violence and destruction I'm witnessing in Portland. Areas of our beautiful downtown have been trashed, and many businesses are boarded up. Neighborhoods that have a police station are scenes of demonstrations and often violence until early morning hours. Our City Council has been unable to deal with the situation, and does not seem to have a plan for doing so. Some City Council members contribute to demonizing the police, instead of supporting officers as public servants. The cost of police and fire services to deal with these nightly events, as well as the future costs of restoring buildings and public spaces, will be a burden on all of us. (The City Council recently pulled about $15 million from the Police Bureau budget and redirected the funds to community services. The costs for police and fire bureau response to the nightly protests, and the public costs of cleaning up and restoring public property will certainly exceed that $15 million.) 

It needs to end. We hold police accountable. We need to also hold ourselves accountable.

(What do you think? Your comments here would be appreciated.)

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