re-examining job descriptions

It's a case that highlights so many problems inherent in the system. Pleajhia Mervin's wrist-breaking arrest by a security guard at Knight High School in Palmdale, CA is an easy story to get upset about. After being asked repeatedly to pick up cake that she had accidentally dropped, Mervin was arrested for "littering." Apparently, the security guard doing the asking was unsatisfied with the job she was doing with picking up cake crumbs with her fingers. She was slammed onto a table and her arm was raised behind her back so high, the wrist shattered. When another student was seen videotaping the incident on her cell phone, she was wrestled to the ground. Another student took still photos with his cell phone of that arrest.

I have more than four years of experience being a university security officer. I understand the frustration of dealing with people who seem like a waste of time for what seems interminably long. I can hear in my head some of my more exuberant colleagues excitedly cheering on the arresting guard. And yes, there is definitely a question of reception of the whole story. Maybe Mervin was violent resisting arrest, and the guard felt justified in using so much force. And maybe her wrist bone was weak in some places, and coincidentally broke along those lines. We've only heard her side of the story thus far, the guard's side is ominously silent, save for the official statement issued by the school:

"Good afternoon. I can just comment we did have an incident at our school last week. However, I would like to emphasize that we do have a safe campus. I've been working with our staff, with my district office staff, community leaders, and parents, to ensure that we continue to keep our campus safe for all students, but I want people to know that our focus here is academic excellence for all students," said Dr. Susan McDonald, principal of Knight High School.

Mervin claims that the guard told her to "hold still, nappy head." It's a curious thing that the guard felt comfortable using such a racially charged comment, considering only 20% of Knight's students are white, according to the school's website. It wasn't unconstitutional for him to say it, but it's unfortunate that some people don't understand the concepts of politeness. At any rate, the guard felt that a littering offense required not only arrest, but the perpetrator's being thrown onto a table in front of her peers.

It reminded me of the display shown at the tasering of Andrew Meyer at the Unversity of Florida. The longer version of the video on youtube shows Meyer at the microphone and talking to Kerry about a journalist who claims Kerry won the '04 election, prior to asking his question. Kerry seems a little peeved, and keeps wondering aloud when the question will come. Meyer responds that he wants to first lay down some exposition before asking the question. Behind Meyer are at least two uniformed campus police (campus police, not city police or county sheriff's department, but campus police), attempting to speed Meyer along. He occasionally talks back to them, but mostly ignores them at first. So, then Meyer asks three questions of Kerry (maybe he was worried Kerry would only answer one, so he asked them one after the other); why did he concede the '04 election, why shouldn't Bush be impeached (he brings up Clinton's 'blow job' offense); was Kerry a member of Skull and Bones.

The questions are not really related, and Meyer is obviously excited. But just as he finishes asking the questions, the campus police grab his arms and begin to lead him away. Kerry then says he'll answer the questions, but the officers continue to attempt to restrain Meyer. Some audience members clap at this, and I get the feeling that Meyer had been a bit of a pain to them during the presentation. But the officers never audibly tell Meyer what he's being arrested for. Perhaps understandably, Meyer begins to resist. He doesn't understand why he's being arrested, and in truth, neither do I. Three uniformed officers are now leading him, and Meyer is yelling, "help." The video gets pretty shaky at this point, and it's easier to see what happens next from another youtube post.

Eventually, Meyer is on his stomach at the back of the auditorium, not even outside, but inside, where everyone, including Kerry and various people videotaping the incident can see what's happening. It takes at least six officers to subdue him, apparently. They do warn him that they will tase him if he doesn't stop resisting. But he keeps asking, "what did I do?" and saying "Don't tase me." Then he starts yelling as they tase him a few times.

It has been my opinion for some time that the death knell of our country will be complacency. Americans have been lulled into this false sense of security. As long as nothing bad appears to be happening to us, we don't care about anyone else. The audience's reaction to Meyer's tasing, and even Mervin's arrest are perfect examples. No one in the audience did anything to stop the officers. Kerry half-heartedly starts to answer Meyer's questions, but he never asks the officers to stop, to let him go. There must have been other adults in the lunchroom who saw what was happening to Mervin and the other student who was arrested for videotaping. No one did anything.

Due to my experience in campus law enforcement and by working closely with village law enforcement, I've developed a respect for those who are charged to "protect and serve." But there comes a time when we must re-examine those priorities and who they're actually helping. Is a littering offense worth breaking a 16-year-old girl's wrist and expelling her? Who was the guard trying to protect from errant cake crumbs? And was there something in the UF's student code that criminalized potentially controversial questions asked of visiting speakers?

It is dangerous to be right when the government is wrong. – Voltaire