Policing the Capitol City

In the assessment of Zachary Schrag, the professor who wrote the book Great Society Subway, John F. Kennedy was the first American President to care about Washington, DC and the future of its people. Unlike later congressmen-turned-presidents, such as Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford, JFK lived for decades in the City of Washington, DC, rather than its suburbs. Donald Trump, paradoxically both the lifelong city dweller and the aloof man, is the second President to care about Washington, DC. To be sure, Mr. Trump continues in the traditional heavy-handed approach towards city affairs (rule by decree), rather than the collaborative approach that city residents have come to expect over the last 60 years. The use of federal power in Washington, DC has generally been for the good of society. Early in his Presidency, Dwight Eisenhower ended the practice of racial segregation in the once-Southern city. In the 1990’s, Newt Gingrich’s Congress took over Washington, DC’s broken finances through the Fiscal Control Board: Under the long leadership of Mayor Marion Barry, the city offered too many patronage jobs, and offered middle-class taxpayers nothing in return for their large tax bills- schools were failing and crime was record-high. In the end, suburbanites (residents of Maryland, Virginia, and even West Virginia) were allowed to hold jobs in the beleaguered police and fire departments, and a strong system of charter schools and school vouchers were implemented. Suburbanites are becoming reaccustomed to Washington, DC after a 5-year absence. The lightly-enforced return-to-office policies under President Biden ameliorated a crash in commercial real estate valuations (and therefore, city tax collections). It was the stronger approach under President Trump that increased commuter rail ridership, and brought back the after-work culture in central Washington, DC. It's irresponsible to explain away the crime. Washington, DC had become a lawless place during the pandemic, and bringing back public order was important to bringing back the tourist and businessperson. Too many interns and taxpayers have been victimized to turn a blind eye. Yet I had faith that the Mayor was taking a proactive approach to restoring public safety and quality of life. She was willing to take the contentious step of removing tent encampments from public spaces. Donald Trump’s personal involvement is adding friction- and fomenting resistance- which would be counterproductive to the gains in public safety made so far. If I were the President, I would focus federal resources- and the deployment of federal law enforcement officers- to the aptly-named Federal District of government buildings in Downtown DC. The L’Enfant City, which also was until 2008 the flat-rate Central Zone for taxi rides, would be the widest perimeter of federal law enforcement deployment. Beyond that line, the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) would have full and solo jurisdiction. In return, resources dedicated to the downtown area by the MPD could be moved to other parts of the city, such as the troubled Columbia Heights retail district. This was where a federal cop was infamously hit by a sandwich last week

Nuances of Law and Order

This year, urban protests and general unrest in society created a mixed reaction in the electorate. In some parts of the country, Trump’s rhetoric of liberal politicians “destroying the suburbs” fell on deaf ears. Elsewhere, it was a resounding success. I have a theory why: as we near the middle of the Suburban Century (summed up by Mark Clapson in 1992), what happens in the inner-city does not physically or vicariously affect the lives of citizens in diverse, self-contained and far-flung suburbs.

Virginia Beach, VA

The Virginia Beach Oceanfront serves as the quintessential, walkable downtown for a military-heavy suburb. This spring and summer, tensions were high as protestors called attention to longstanding law-and-order policing on the beach. Over the Labor Day weekend, local group BLM 757 held its “Shut Down the Oceanfront 3.0” protest. True to form, the police gave citations to protestors who drifted from the sidewalk into the street. As a result of afternoon and night-time activity, families chose alternative locations for rest and relaxation; combined with COVID, this proved harmful to the ecosystem of local beachfront businesses.

At election time, Virginia Beach voted for Joe Biden and Representative Elaine Luria, a Democrat. On the same ticket, incumbent mayor Bobby Dyer, a Republican, was re-elected with 57% of the vote; and “RK” Kowalewitch, a conservative whose campaign signs read: “Law and Order”, won another 5% of the electorate.     

 

Suburban Richmond, VA

The Virginia State Capitol and Supreme Court building in Richmond were targeted by protestors as symbols of conservative political leadership. With much of downtown boarded up, the city provided a backdrop for political advertising. The jarring images did not ‘tip the needle’ in nearby Henrico and Chesterfield counties, who chose Biden and Representative Abigail Spanberger (D) by large margins. Both counties are home to a mix of employment options; heavy industry, light industry, service and some professional work. Freeways criss-cross these suburbs, linking towards northern and southern markets, and the international airport and deep-sea port of Hampton roads. Richmond, home to state government, several universities, and museums, is somewhat irrelevant to new suburbanites. Overall, there was no partisan change in Virginia’s congressional representation this year.    

 

Suburban Atlanta, GA

The land that served as a springboard for one-time House Speaker Newt Gingrich, and other conservative Republicans, helped to tip Georgia for Joe Biden. For 20 years, the Greater Atlanta area has been the nexus of a New Great Migration of African-Americans from the North to the South; the impact in politics, seen by the flipping of congressional seats, is very recent. Atlanta is a city of the New South; sprawling development centers on its record-breaking international airport and its freeways. The firewall between city and suburbs may be crumbling: while decades ago, suburban Gwinnett County blocked subway construction, a referendum for a transit tax may have passed, pending recount.

 

Los Angeles, CA

California is no friend of Donald Trump. But recent years of excessive solicitude given to drug pushers, car thieves and vandals struck a nerve in working and middle-class communities across racial lines. Since the Rodney King riots of 1992, Asian-American small business owners have been concerned about inadequate police protection offered to their communities. Legislation to “defund the police” dug up old pain. Voters in the state narrowly reaffirmed limits on affirmative action in the state, which were first put into effect in 1996; and sent new Republican representatives to Congress.  

 

Long Island, NY

During the George W. Bush years, as war deaths mounted, these traditionalist, conservative-of-the-gut counties questioned its allegiance to the GOP. But this year, as in 2016, their hometown son, Donald J. Trump of Queens, NY, did not produce the electoral revulsion seen in other suburbs of similar educational and demographic profiles.

While it appears that North Shore Rep. Tom Suozzi (D) will retain his long-time seat, his Republican opponent led in early counting. On the blue-collared South Shore, Andrew Garbarino (R) is expected to succeed retiring Rep. Peter King. Lee Zeldin (R) holds his seat in affluent Suffolk County. Nichole Malliotakis (R) has unseated Max Rose (D) in representing Staten Island and part of Brooklyn. These latter three seats were considered toss-ups going into the election. The Long Island suburbs are home to well-paid public servants and tradespeople of a vibrant New York City; COVID shutdowns and Bill de Blasio’s social permissiveness cast a malaise across white-ethnic New York. Upward mobility of strivers, from immigrant grandparents to civil service to Wall Street, created an unwavering patriotism and belief in the institutions of America. This legacy was challenged in 2020 by politicians on the left, who maintain that this upward mobility was not fueled by grit, but by systemic racism and unchecked privilege.     

The Real Problem with Warrior Culture: a Cult of the Self

 In certain parts of the commentariat, it is now common to criticize the large presence of recently-returned veterans in the police force, which stands at 1-in-5. Supposedly, they bring home the rules of war: to occupy and to conquer. I do not see veterans in the police force as a problem in itself, since citizen-soldiers have routinely joined the blue line for generations. Where I see room for concern is in how the professional soldier-turned-policeman divorces themselves from life in the civilian world.

During the Cold War, military service- as a servicemember or family member- was a shared experience in every tier of society. The average enlistment was 2-3 years. A soldier would return to his community ties, and find employment with honor established through performing his national duty.  

Today, because of advanced military training requirements, a single enlistment lasts 4-6 years. The world moves faster, the average citizen more mobile, and social media divides geographic communities into tribes. The soldier, especially the combat vet who served multiple enlistments, becomes part of the Warrior Community, mentally separate from the civilian world. This identity applies whether on active duty, on disability pension, in the national security sector or local police. This virtual community has its memes, jokes, common understanding, and values. In contrast to warrior classes of past societies, the American warrior is somewhat detached from the real-politics of institutional power, a holdover from the age of the citizen-soldier.

There are veterans who eagerly reintegrate into civilian society. This has been a national priority since the demobilization after WWII. As a result of GI Bills in 1944 and 2005, the veteran today brings resources to the economy that few younger adults have. Their college education is paid in full, and they have access to good mortgages and business loans. Meanwhile, America's general workforce readiness is in decline: fewer citizens are ready, willing and able to perform in the workplace. Veterans today are hired for the right reasons: proven reliability, hardworking, fit, and with transferable skills. 

The Warrior Community is then one  for a sense of belonging. In previous conflicts, a two-week ocean voyage demarcated the return from the warzone to the homefront. Dislocation was first observed in Vietnam veterans, the first to return home alone on airplanes. Today, the distance is even shorter, as a veteran at home can Skype his friend on the frontlines; and he himself could be recalled to the war zone on 48-hour notice, as a contractor, expeditionary civilian, or reservist. While these post-deployment opportunities are often financially rewarding, the mostly invisible war comes home to the kitchen table. 

Beyond this reality is self-identification. I have curated small libraries onboard warships. Beside the yellowing dime novels were leadership titles with troubling themes.  

-There is the identity of the sheep-dog, protecting sheep (regular people) from wolves (terrorists abroad, street thugs at home). 

-Belonging to a "tribe" is characterized as a binary, all-or-nothing subscription: an 80% ally is nonetheless a traitor to the cause. 

-You are either a superstar or a mediocre failure. 

-One must have a brand of the self. 

- Glorification of lone Special Operations Forces

-"Agile Project Management", with a focus on small, high-performing teams, is taught in STEM colleges. 

Even the Army put out a short-lived campaign advertising "An Army of One", forgetting that only large-scale teamwork liberated Europe and Asia from tyranny. 

In reality, each person works within a larger system of society, and within which is an amalgamation of overlapping communities, tensions and motivators. The Warrior Community operates in a vacuumed ideal. Military housing today reflects the perfect but fictional Mayberry of yesteryear; and beliefs in spartan autonomy can only be practiced in unspoiled wilderness areas. The culture of the warrior must evolve away from the cult of the individual, but reflect the individual as part of the team as part of the whole.

How does this work into present day policing controversies? Many of the shocking misuses of authority, against suspects and innocents, were caused by individuals insulated from wider community interests. Neither were they team players within the police force, who would heed peer advice. As much as it is important for police departments to use community-based policing to integrate with the communities they serve; it is important for individual officers to truly join the community, whether they gained life experience in Baghdad or in Boston.   

     

Cancelled: School Resource Officers?

The School Resource Officer is the latest victim of #cancel_culture. Our schools are over-policed, they say. I beg to differ. Somewhere in America today, a young man is hatching a plan to kill people in a public place. That’s not me talking; it’s the gruesome statistic that these attacks are premeditated and predictable.

How quickly have we forgotten the televised body counts of school children? Between Columbine (1999) and Newtown (2012), many across the political spectrum hoped to wish the problem of school violence away. Not worth the cost, metal detectors criminalize inner-city youth, they said. Unfortunately that is not a responsible option today.  America has not put a high value on the development of youth. As far as school lunches are concerned, ketchup is a vegetable. Schools are often underfunded, or in large cities, the school funds misappropriated. Lapsing on recent school security advances would be par for the course.

The Director of National Intelligence has identified school violence as a significant national security threat, and it would be fitting for the Department of Homeland Security to devote some attention towards improving school security, as they have for airports and seaports. So far, however, these efforts have been led by individual states. In recent years, states like Maryland and Virginia have raised the school leaving age from sixteen to eighteen, seeking to leave no child behind from getting a high school diploma. Recognizing the risk of keeping unmotivated, and possibly troubled, teenagers in school, clear mitigation efforts were made. These include an increase of information sharing between government agencies, and to separate known dangerous juveniles from the general school population. Outcomes include hard measures like hiring school resource officers, and soft measures like training for teachers and the school community to take threats seriously, encouraging dialogue between students and authority figures, and acting on early indicators such as a disciplinary record of assault.

The School Resource Officer is partly a counselor and partly a police officer. They give a guiding hand to the wayward, and observe for inside threats (a cop can tell who is concealing a knife or handgun in his pants by observing his gait). In rare cases, they are the first responder to an emergency. This is why you can’t swap them one-for-one with a social worker. When an attack is successfully counteracted, it doesn’t stay in the news for long, and it’s nothing to celebrate. Only in America would a kid with a mission of menace reach the final line of defense. So to the school boards seeking to abolish the role of School Resource Officer, what do you think you are doing? While we can hope for a better day of peace and respect of others, the present conditions must be addressed today.

Which Superpredator?

Firstly, I’d like to order a pair of Joe Biden flip-flops. From abortion to crime policy to death penalty, it’s impossible to tell where he stands today. But thanks to YouTube, we know where he and his allies stood 25 years ago.

 That was the era of The Superpredator, juvenile delinquents who lacked remorse as they committed strings of heinous crimes, with no fear of authority. The Superpredator died by 2000 in face of falling crime rates. Some say he was terminated by electric chair or lethal injection, others say he was starved by elimination of lead paint and gasoline. Another explanation was that he lived off the anger created by an unjust society.

During his gangbanging heyday, he was one of the “predators on the streets...beyond the pale”, in Joe Biden’s words. Hillary Clinton specifies, “ they are not just gangs of kids anymore. They are...super predators. No conscience. No empathy. We can talk about why they ended up that way, but first we have to bring them to heel”. How does one bring them to heel? I’d love to know.

As I read more into the criminal sociology behind the now-proclaimed-dead Superpredator, a news flash came across my phone: “Mass Shooting at WalMart in El Paso, Texas; 20 dead”.