EDITORIAL: Mission to protect and serve

There are not too many people that Historic City News readers might know that are more pro-law enforcement than me. I went to community college using law enforcement administration grants, received my Associate of Science in Criminal Justice, and, later, my Bachelor of Science in Public Administration, with honors.

I was one of the youngest, if not the youngest, sworn deputy employed by the St Johns County Sheriff’s Office in 1974. I have been a licensed private detective in Florida since 1998.

That said, you can imagine that I am not quick to condemn the actions of law enforcement officers especially when I hear stories that conflict with police reports. I think that is partially due to the fact that, when I was a law enforcement officer, we had the respect of the community, even from the “bad guys” — but I have come to realize that we had that respect because we earned it. Not just as individual deputies, but as members of a law enforcement agency that was respectable.

Next month we will commemorate the January 12, 1975 murder of Deputy Beach Marshall, Ron Parker. I was at the Sheraton the night he was killed with a .45 caliber pistol. I held a sheet over his lifeless body as he laid, covered in blood, in the parking lot. Parker’s widow, Brenda, returns to the beach every year for the ceremony held in his honor. At the time of the murder, Parker was 27-years-old. Desherlia was 30-years-old. Thomas E. Desherlia died in prison, last year, he was 68-years-old.

I was reminded of Ron this morning as I read Brenda’s invitation to attend this year’s ceremony and a lunch for family members and friends; and, again, as I listened to the news reports of the two New York City police officers, shot and killed execution style as they sat innocently in their patrol car eating a hurried meal after their shift.

The way we practiced law enforcement forty-years ago, is considerably different than the way it is done today. There have been enormous breakthroughs in technology that have helped officers do their jobs more efficiently and accurately than ever. We were a department of about 60, the current administration is more like 600. That’s one deputy for every square mile of land in the county.

We knew the residents — especially in our home “zone”, and the “troublemakers” across the entire county. We spoke to citizens with respect, and most shifts passed without incident or injury — to the deputies or the citizens. Of course, we carried a six-shot revolver, typically a .357 caliber. Today it is a .45 caliber 13-shot magazine. A “less lethal” weapon to us was a nightstick or chemical spray. Today an officer has a Taser, pepper spray, a metal baton, and an assortment of resources at their disposal and a clear willingness to use higher levels of force.

We had one deputy who traveled with an arsenal in his trunk, but the proliferation of flash-bang grenades and high-powered assault weapons that we see in common use for simple tasks like the service of an arrest warrant, would never have been accepted — by the members of the department or the residential community.

We arrived on the scene in a starched, white shirt; wearing a necktie, polished boots, and a sheriff-style western hat. We were there to keep the peace, we looked professional and businesslike. We were not dressed in olive drab battle fatigues with baseball caps and paratrooper boots.

The need for a show of force was rare — and when it was, the sight of two or three patrol cars was usually enough to quell heated tempers and get through the investigation.

We had no helicopter with invasive forward-looking radar, no military-style tanks, halftracks, personnel carriers, or other sophisticated specialized military assault weaponry. We still investigated burglaries, robberies, kidnappings, rape and murder. We had no SWAT team, crisis intervention team, or high-powered militaristic presence.

Militarization of policing encourages officers to adopt a “warrior” mentality and think of the people they are supposed to serve as enemies.

Take last year’s incident with a woman who went to the Sheriff’s Office and, while inside the lobby, she admits that she used foul language and insulting comments directed at an employee.The 50-year-old woman, Gloria Irene Simmons, walked out headed to the parking lot; headed back to her home on West Galvez Lane in St Augustine. According to the deputies involved, Simmons committed the second-degree misdemeanor of disorderly conduct.

Three deputies followed Simmons into the parking lot — the first to encounter Simmons spoke to her, grabbed her, and then pushed her backwards, slamming her to the ground. The others piled on wrestling the woman into restraints while a female deputy stood by and observed without intervention.

Simmons was charged with disorderly conduct and  resisting an officer without violence, a first-degree misdemeanor. Fortunately the encounter was captured on video surveillance, or, frankly, I might not have believed it. Simmons obtained the legal services of Tom Cushman and was released on bail.

After the jury heard the evidence at trial, they returned a verdict of acquittal on May 29th this year.

American law enforcement can reverse the militarization trend in a way that promotes safe and effective policing strategies without undermining public confidence in law enforcement.

The use of para-military weapons and tactics to conduct ordinary law enforcement has no place in contemporary society. It is not too late to change course — through greater transparency, more oversight, and policies that encourage restraint. We can foster a policing culture that honors its mission to protect and serve, not to wage war.