Until now, I haven't posted on social media about the horror of George Floyd being murdered by white police officers on the street in front of witnesses --- police officers who have been fired but not arrested --- or the horror of Christian Cooper, whose life was threatened by a self-professed liberal woman who weaponized her whiteness after he politely asked her to stop breaking the rules. Or Ahmaud Arbery, shot down in a residential street by white vigilantes with ties to the police for the crime of jogging while black.
And these are just the three most recent, the ones that have made it into the news.
I haven't posted because, as important as it is to continue to boost these stories and to call for justice, it felt too comfortable and too easy. Sharing a post, expressing outrage, going on with my day. I had to think about it. What else could I do, right now, to make some kind of difference?
This is what I'm going to do. I invite you to join me in working through Medium's list of 75 Things White People Can Do for Racial Justice. It's pretty simple. I'm going to post one thing at a time, and I'm going to work on that thing, and report on my experience with it. I invite you to join me.
Let's see if we can make a difference.
Here’s number one.
Google whether your local police department currently outfits all on-duty police officers with a body-worn camera and requires that the body-worn camera be turned on immediately when officers respond to a police call. If they don’t, write to your city or town government representative and police chief to advocate for it. The racial make-up of your town doesn’t matter — This needs to be standard everywhere. Multiply your voice by soliciting others to advocate as well, writing on social media about it, writing op-eds, etc. (Shutack).
Austin Police Department policy demands that uniformed officers wear body cameras when on duty. Certain units are required to keep their cameras on for the duration of their shifts. First responders have leeway to discontinue recording under special circumstances, including nonconfrontational exchanges and personal conversations unrelated to investigations. They are also exempt from activating the camera in situations requiring immediate action where there is not time to activate; but they must activate it as soon as possible and are required to report on why it was not activated at the beginning of the incident (Austin Police Department).
Also, the APD has a policy to remind its officers of the public’s right to videotape its activities.
Section 302.1 of the Austin Police General Orders states that
The Austin Police Department recognizes that members of the general public have a First Amendment right to video record. photograph, and/or audio record APD officers while they are conducting official business or while acting in an official capacity in any public space, unless such recordings interfere with police activity.
The APD’s seven-member executive team consists of two Latino men, two white women, and three white men. There are no African-Americans (APD Administration).
SURROUNDING COMMUNITIES
In 2016, the Round Rock Police Department began a pilot program to augment its dashboard cameras with body cameras for officers. The pilot program did not include bodycams for every officer, but the goal was to eventually have a camera for every officer. The nearby communities of Lakeway and Georgetown already had them, and Lakeway had had them since 2013. In contract, the Williamson County Sheriff’s Department --- the largest law enforcement agency in the county --- did not have body cams as of 2016 and had no plans to acquire them (Stutzman). I have found no online references to the current status of body cams in Round Rock.
According to a 2017 article in The Megaphone
The Georgetown Police Department, Williamson County Sheriff’s office, and Texas Highway Patrol have already begun using them [body cameras]. University police departments are beginning to use them as well, most notably UT Austin’s police department.
The Round Rock Police Department Chief, Allen J. Banks, is African-American. There are two women (one of whom appears to be Latina) on the eighteen-member command staff; all others are white men (Round Rock Police Department).
WORKS CITED
APD Administration. austintexast.gov. austintexas.gov/page/apd-administration. Accessed 27 May 2020.Austin Police Department General Orders. austintexas.gov, 6 Feb. 2020. austintexas.gov/sites/default/files/files/Police/General_Orders.pdf. Accessed 27 May 2020.
Round Rock Police Department 2018 Annual Report. www.roundrocktexas.gov. roundrocktexas.gov/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/AnnualRRPDReport-2018.pdf. Accessed 27 May 2020.
Shutack, Corinne. “75 Things White People Can Do for Racial Justice.” www.themedium.com, 13 Aug. 2017. medium.com/equality-includes-you/what-white-people-can-do-for-racial-justice-f2d18b0e0234. Accessed 27 May 2020.
Steinle, Adrian. SUPD to Implement Body Cameras. megaphone.southwestern.edu, 30 Sept. 2017. megaphone.southwestern.edu/2017/09/30/supd-to-implement-body-cameras/. Accessed 27 May 2020
Stutzman,Brad. “Round Rock police to get body cams soon.” The Austin-American Stateman, 24 Sept. 2016, updated 26 Sept. 2018. statesman.com/NEWS/20160924/Round-Rock-police-to-get-body-cameras-soon. Accessed 27 May 2020.
