Pushback has finally come for the dumb things we as a society said and did against cops after the murder of George Floyd.
First, we’ve rejected the “defund the police” movement. Virtually no community entertains that nutty notion anymore, not even Chicagoans who recently gave their mayor the boot for, among other things, her lousy performance on crime and safety.
Secondly, we’re starting to challenge the corollary notion that cops are bad for schools. The idea that cops are bad for students and should therefore be removed because they somehow scare minority kids out of learning was insane from the get-go.
Consider the parents at East high School in Denver. Armed police were removed from East High School and other schools in Denver following a George Floyd overreaction there.
That didn’t mean students were safer. Just the opposite.
The school had one kid, Austin Lyle, 17, who was such a threat, instead of expelling him, he was required to be frisked every morning for weapons before attending class. Let’s underline that. The school continued to teach a kid they deemed so dangerous that he was required to be searched every single morning for weapons. One morning a couple of weeks ago he showed up with a handgun and shot two faculty members. Lyle fled the school and killed himself. This was the 18th shooting at an elementary or secondary school in the U.S. this year.
The Denver school board then reinstated police on all the city’s high schools.
Just a little too damn late, I think we can all agree.
Meanwhile, in Nevada, the new governor, Joe Lombardo, went to the Legislative building in Carson City to personally testify on behalf of AB330.
AB330 seeks to fix a dumb 2019 law dubbed the “restorative justice law.”
The Nevada Independent reports that the Legislature enacted that earlier law (AB168) that “removed requirements for students to be automatically expelled for certain violent acts.” Teacher unions and others wanted the law because the white people who run Nevada schools allegedly suspended violent students of color disproportionately. Well, since AB168 was passed, guess what? Yep, violence in Nevada’s public schools increased.
Now Gov. Joe wants that law changed so that teachers and schools are not limited in their ability to deal with violent students. It’s the right thing to do and nothing supports that more than the Denver shooting.
If a student has done something so bad that he has to be patted down before school each morning, then a good case can be made that we got a big problem that puts the whole school at risk.
I’m sorry this is so. Forget skin pigment and focus on safety, which means we must come to the realization that some people – like that 17-year-old in Denver – must be treated separately and, I would argue, more intensely.
Look, George Floyd’s murder was awful and reforming how that stunning act could happen within the culture of any police force needs immediate local and national attention. I’m all in on that. 100%.
But let’s stop with the unrelated crazy talk. Fewer police makes no sense as does the idea of exposing school children to good cops stunts a child’s ability to develop into a productive citizen.
That’s just stupid.
STAY ‘HOME’
The Las Vegas Review-Journal reports that former Nevada Assemblymember Alexander Assefa was sentenced to probation for misusing campaign funds and lying about his residency when he ran for office.
Assefa told voters he lived in Spring Valley, but actually lived in North Las Vegas.
Probation seems mundane to me. House arrest? Now that would be poetic justice.
ONE MORE THING
– Despite all our accomplishments, we owe our existence to six inches of topsoil and the fact it rains.
– The bishop visited our church last Sunday. But I don’t think he’s a real bishop. I never once saw him move diagonally.
– I got my wife to help me put some posts in the ground for our new fence. I got her a new hammer and said “When I nod my head, hit it.” Don’t remember much after that.
Thanks for reading again this week. Avoid soreheads, laugh a little, and always question authority.
“Properly Subversive” is commentary written by Sherman R. Frederick, a Nevada Hall of Fame journalist and co-founder of Battle Born Media, a news organization dedicated to the preservation of community newspapers. You can reach him by email at shermfrederick@ gmail. com.
Doug Brooks says
Since we’re talking about violence in schools and how society responds to policing, now would be an excellent opportunity to speak directly about Sparks Nevada fireman Timothy Egan.
The video of fireman Timothy Egan whipping the bejesus out of that frail old granny for feeding cats next to his fire station has now gone viral.
Timothy Egan marched toward the old lady, threw her food and water away, and then responded to the old lady’s feeble slaps on his arm by sweeping her legs out from under her and shoving her to the pavement. That old granny reportedly suffered brain and bodily injuries. She was an active and happy old woman before Egan beat her up. Now she appears doomed to spend her remaining time amongst the living in fear, pain, and emotional agony.
I think we can all agree a hulking man in his prime, who happens to be a civil servant employed by the City of Sparks, should not have smashed that granny’s head on the concrete and then just walk away leaving her there to suffer. Yes, he apparently called an ambulance after the fact, good for him.
How is it that you, a person who makes it their business to dive head first into the difficult issues in your city and state, have not addressed this issue head-on in your forum?
This issue deserves not only regular updates from the City of Sparks, but also in-depth opining from people like yourself who makes it their business to expound on such issues at length.
You took on the George Floyd issue in this very opinion piece. Why the deafening silence when you have a worldwide scandal erupting in your own backyard?