Opening Our Eyes to the Epidemic of Police Violence in America

Floor Speech

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Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia. I thank my colleague, Congressman Jeffries
from New York, for organizing this very important Special Order.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker, for hosting this.

We are here to talk about a very important subject, the extrajudicial
killing of Black males in America. It seems to be an epidemic, but it
is really not. It is just simply the fact that we are hearing more
about it. We are hearing more about the deaths that are occurring. We
are seeing with our very eyes, looking at video, we are seeing that
some of these killings appear to be unjustified. When we understand
that we are seeing what has been going on for a long time but which has
not been addressed, we understand that if we don't do something to
address the problem, then these killings will continue.

Now, why is it that we have what appear to be unjustified homicides
of African American males at the hands of law enforcement repeated
daily? In the 108 days or so since the Michael Brown killing in
Ferguson, we have heard of so many African American males losing their
lives. It is very disturbing.

Why is it that it continues to happen? Well, I would submit,
Congressman Jeffries, that one of the reasons is because there seems to
be two systems of justice involved: one for police officers and the
other for civilians. It seems that there has been a reluctance to
prosecute police officers when their actions go across the line.

Now, you, as well as I, know that most of the law enforcement people,
law enforcement officers out there, male and female, top to bottom,
from the East to the West, are good people honestly trying to do a good
job, and their job is to protect and serve us. A lot of times we make
it very dangerous and we make it very hard for them to do their job;
but that is their job, to protect us and to serve us.

When one of us goes astray, when one of us runs away, that doesn't
give a license to a police officer to pull out a gun and stop the
individual, shooting them in the back. It has happened more than once. It has happened more than twice. It has happened frequently. Sometimes we don't hear about it because the person is
injured and there is no video. Other times there is video, and the
person is killed, and we find out about that and we see it. But I would
submit to you that it happens far too regularly, and it happens without
any penalty for misconduct.

Now, I have said that most of our law enforcement officers are
seeking to do the best job that they can be, but nobody is perfect and
they err sometimes; and when you err and you do it and you violate the
criminal law, then you should be prosecuted yourself.

So I want to take this opportunity to commend the officials in North
Charleston who immediately, when they saw the video, they saw the
evidence, they didn't waste any time, they didn't try to cover up or
hide, they went and did the right thing. They charged the officer just
as they would have charged a civilian had a civilian shot someone and
it appeared to be unjustified.

I will give you an example in my State of Georgia where, on New
Year's morning, 3 a.m. in the morning, one of our local police chiefs
was asleep in the bed next to his companion, who happened to be his ex-
wife, and due to some problems that he heard, he went and grabbed his
service revolver. He went downstairs to check on some noise but didn't
find any disturbance. He came back upstairs, put the gun, according to
his testimony or his statement, on the bed, and then went to sleep with his wife beside him, his ex-wife. He was awakened to a gun firing, and his wife, his ex-wife ended up being shot in the back. He called the
police to report that ``I have shot my wife.'' He was not arrested. He
has not been arrested to this day, although about a month ago the
solicitor who handles misdemeanor cases--excuse me. The prosecutor, the
district attorney who handles felony cases said that he intended to
take the case to a grand jury to ask for a misdemeanor indictment
against the officer.

But there are two different systems of treatment, two systems of
justice: one for the police, because if he had not been a police
officer under those circumstances he would have been arrested right
there that same night, charged with a felony, and he would have been
forced--after being arrested, he would have had to get a lawyer to have
to break the case down into something like a misdemeanor, if he was
fortunate to have a good lawyer, if he could afford one.

So, when these kind of things happen and people don't get charged,
then it is a license for other officers to be reckless themselves; and
so what we have had is a cascade of reckless behavior which has
resulted in people being killed and there being no penalty, and so it
just continues. That is why it is important for Congress to take
action.

There are things that we can do here on the Federal level, and
Congressman Jeffries, I know that you have been working on some of
these measures. I have been working on some, too. I will tell you, body
cameras is a step in the right direction.

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Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia. Thank you for yielding again.
I will also note, Congressman Jeffries, that in watching that video
of the shooting in the back of the gentleman a week ago, what I saw was
another police officer who arrived at the scene as the subject officer
walked back, or actually ran or trotted back to the body. And as the
video was slowed down in slow motion, you could see something coming
out of his hand landing next to the victim, and it is thought that the
item that he picked up, that the video shows that he picked up, was a
taser; and it appears that it was the taser that was then dropped
beside the body of the victim with the other officer looking at the
scene as it unfolded.

So I would think it is reasonable to assume that that officer, the
first one to arrive at the scene, who happened to be an African
American it looked to me, apparently, I would think that it is
reasonable to assume that he saw the officer deposit that item, which I
believe to be the taser, beside the victim.

So what does that tell us? It tells us that there is a thin blue line
over which law enforcement officers do not step. They protect each
other. When they see wrongdoing, they do not call it out; they do not
expose it. So when that happens, Congressman, it impugns the character
of all law enforcement. If law enforcement is operating under that
mentality, that we see no evil, hear no evil, and certainly will not
speak of it if we do hear or see it, that reinforces the systemic
problems that we obviously have in law enforcement insofar as it
relates to African American males.

Our lives do matter. It is important that if law enforcement officers
as a group are to uphold the standards of their profession, they must
step across that blue line when they see something that another law
enforcement officer does which is illegal or that is not within the
bounds of propriety. They must police themselves.

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Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia. That thin blue line or that blue wall of
silence is not a good thing for a democracy; it is not a good thing for freedom. The truth is that, when one's freedom is taken away, it affects potentially all of us in having our freedoms
taken away.

The truth is that all Americans are at risk when bad actors in law
enforcement are allowed to act badly and with impunity. All Americans
are at risk.

I know that, Congressman Jeffries, you represent New York, and I know
that when the two officers lost their lives at the hand of a bad guy
who ambushed and killed two innocent police officers in New York,
thousands of police officers came to the funeral to see off their
fallen brothers, as they should do. Many other Americans watched on TV.

I was, quite frankly, greatly disturbed when the police officers--
some of the New York officers--turned their backs on the civilian head
of the city of New York. They turned their backs to the mayor as he was
speaking at the funeral, a sign of disrespect for civilian authority.

That attitude contributes to the thinking of some law enforcement
officers that it is okay and that whatever they do is acceptable. The
police organizations must come to grips with the fact that they have a
responsibility to do the right thing when one of their own does the
wrong thing. They have a responsibility to do so.

I know that many, many police departments don't pay their officers
very well. Civil servants, in general, are not paid commensurate with
the value of their services to the people that they are serving, and
police are no different than that.

Police officers have the same concerns that we have, that civilians
have. Sometimes, they have problems at home with their wives. They have
problems with their children. They have bills to pay. They might be a
little bit behind. They have a lot of pressure.

I think we should do a little more in the area of mental health
evaluation and counseling and help for our officers. We should
encourage them to come forward if they are hurting. It should be a part
of the culture of law enforcement that you are not too big and not too
powerful to be able to ask for the help that you need. Our society
should be willing to give them that help, and we should be willing to
pay for it as well.

This issue of Black males being killed by police officers, there are
no simple solutions. There are a number of solutions that can help make
this situation better. That is why we in Congress and others in State
legislatures and city councils and county commissions should be
discussing this issue.

We should be trying to do what is necessary to break down the
systemic problems that have led to this result and to do something
about those problems, to get those problems alleviated and eventually
eliminated.

I am so happy that you have seen, Congressman Jeffries, the need for
this to be a topic of discussion, and I deeply appreciate the
opportunity to come here and to participate in this discussion with
you. I will let you know that I am looking forward to continuing to
work with you as we do what we know that we need to do in order for
Congress to address this issue.

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