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Jonathan Turley — Barr Confirms Details That The Clearing Of Lafayette Park Was Unrelated To Church Photo Op

Summary:
Barr’s position is that 150 federal officers had been injured and the park had to be cleared. He also insisted that the level of force was warranted. I again disagree. It move escalated the tension. We have seen the same decisions by District police and state police across the country. Indeed, a federal judge today issued an order to restrict state and local police in Oregon in the use of such means. The operative term here is "escalation."In the course of my duties as a US naval reserve officer on active duty I received some training in policing as part of duty supervising the shore patrol on occasion.The purpose of policing is security and maintenance of order. The operational requirement is control of the space, not domination of it. Attempts to dominate provoke reaction, and

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Barr’s position is that 150 federal officers had been injured and the park had to be cleared. He also insisted that the level of force was warranted. I again disagree. It move escalated the tension. We have seen the same decisions by District police and state police across the country. Indeed, a federal judge today issued an order to restrict state and local police in Oregon in the use of such means.
The operative term here is "escalation."

In the course of my duties as a US naval reserve officer on active duty I received some training in policing as part of duty supervising the shore patrol on occasion.

The purpose of policing is security and maintenance of order. The operational requirement is control of the space, not domination of it. Attempts to dominate provoke reaction, and potentially increase violence. The proper course is to control with as little force as possible, using force only as needed. The thing to avoid at all costs is escalating the situation needlessly.

There is an art to this. It is matter of maintaining a professional demeanor (attitude) in conflict and confrontation, keeping the objective of controlling the situation to the fore.

Escalation makes maintaining control more difficult and risks initiating or increasing violence.

Violence is a two-way street. Both the police and the subjects are at increasing risk, and it also decreases soft power, respect for authority.

A lot of the is made more difficult for shore patrol personnel owing to subjects ' intoxication. It is difficult to reason with a drunk, and it is easier to control drunks by "incapacitating" them. Shore patrol officers are there to prevent this by maintaining discipline as tempers flare.

I get that riot control is many times more complicated than this, but the principles of policing are the same. Riot control police and SWAT units are supposed to be trained professionals capable of maintaining discipline, and they are also overseen by superiors in the chain of command, or at least this is supposed to happen.

As law professor Jonathan Turley observes, this is not happening and some of the problems apparently stem from the top rather than being "a few bad apples."

All this happens when there is little to no accountability. In the larger picture, there is no freedom without responsibility, and no responsibility without accountability.

Jonathan Turley
Barr Confirms Details That The Clearing Of Lafayette Park Was Unrelated To Church Photo Op

Then there is overreaction in the other direction, a typical dialectical phenomenon.

Also from JT

Turley says that it appears so in this case. Lack of intent.


I would still argue that it was unprofessional and there should be some accountability, although I would tend to assign it to the departments' lack of professionalism. This would mean that the City of Buffalo is liable in a civil suit on the injured's behalf.

Are The Criminal Charges Against The Buffalo Police Officers Excessive?

Also

Attorney General William Barr on Sunday insisted that federal forces did not technically use "tear gas" on protesters outside the White House because pepper spray is not a "chemical irritant."
File under WTF.

Crooks and Liars
William Barr On Gassing Protesters: 'Pepper Spray Is Not A Chemical Irritant'

David

Mike Norman
Mike Norman is an economist and veteran trader whose career has spanned over 30 years on Wall Street. He is a former member and trader on the CME, NYMEX, COMEX and NYFE and he managed money for one of the largest hedge funds and ran a prop trading desk for Credit Suisse.

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