Political Correctness Trumped Safety in Police Shooting

Op-ed originally published in The Tennessean, December 30, 2014.
Why don’t police officers use Tasers rather than guns to subdue suspects? Some Nashvillians understand this issue better today than they did a few weeks ago. On Sunday, Dec. 13, Nashvillians learned that Tasers are not a reliable means of stopping a determined suspect, and their failure can place police and civilians at risk.

In this particular incident, Xavier McDonald, a black teen suspected of armed robbery and owner of a lengthy juvenile arrest record, was able to shoot a police officer after an officer’s use of a Taser failed to stop him. McDonald subsequently died in a hail of bullets, but not before he fired off a shot that wounded veteran police officer John Downs.

According to Nashville Police Chief Steve Anderson, the officers broke with police protocol in an effort to avoid using lethal force against McDonald. Officers spent more than 40 minutes trying to convince the young man to surrender. Eventually, McDonald left the condo in which he was hiding and was patted down by Sgt. Michelle Jones, a black officer, who discovered a gun on McDonald’s person.

At this point, and media accounts get a bit hazy, officers at the scene tasered McDonald unsuccessfully, and he was able to retrieve the gun that Officer Jones had discovered during her patdown. Of the seven officers involved, Officer Downs was hospitalized and four others at the scene, not to include Sergeant Jones, were placed on routine administrative leave.

There is a stench of politics in how the entire situation was handled. The officers knew they were dealing with a suspect who reportedly had a gun and a criminal background. Yet, they departed from their training and protocol apparently to avoid the repercussions that would likely follow a police shooting of a young black male, even an armed one. Clearly, the police officers believed that McDonald’s life mattered in the wake of the national protests we have witnessed.

No doubt, the officers were also thinking about recent Nashville protests that had earned their chief much praise for his exercise of restraint when protesters stood outside the police department chanting, “Indict, convict. Send a killer cop to jail. The whole damn system is guilty as hell.” Rather than arrest these protesters who blocked streets and highways, Chief Anderson had his officers serve them coffee and hot chocolate.

In a bold defense of the U.S. Constitution, Anderson said, “In Nashville, if you want to come to a public forum and express your thoughts, even if they’re against the government, you’re going to get your First Amendment protection, and you’re going to be treated fairly by the police officers involved. … That’s what we do here in Nashville.”

While I agree with Chief Anderson about the Constitution and applaud the restraint shown during the protests, I can’t help but wonder how his stance on race and law enforcement affected the judgment of his officers during the McDonald incident. Clearly, we don’t want police officers abusing citizens. However, they do have a dangerous job to perform, and that job is hampered if political correctness and fear of the community overrides good judgment.

Carol M. Swain, professor of political science and Law at Vanderbilt University, is the creator and host of Be the People TV.