On Recent Events in Ferguson

The protests and attention given to Ferguson MO in recent days have nothing to do with what happened there and everything to do with the wide and varied history of racial tension in the United States. That said, examining what occurred may yield some important lessons.

The police believed Michael Brown, a young black man, had stolen a small amount of tobacco from a nearby store. Brown was at the window of a police car with officer Darren Wilson inside. A scuffle broke out which resulted in Brown initially being shot. Brown moved away from the police car injured. Then he either attempted to raise his hands and surrender or began to aggressively approach Wilson again at which point he was shot until dead.

In a case where a police officer was involved in a physical fight with an adversary, I find it hard to believe that the use of deadly force constituted an offense under current norms.
What seems clear however is that Wilson used far more power than necessary throughout the encounter. Potentially lethal force need not necessarily be the answer to a fist fight nor need an approach by an injured adversary trigger sudden death. The problem then is probably not officer Wilson's actions but rather standard procedure. Quite simply the police have a duty to avoid deaths, even of those who they believe to be bad. In the US cops are armed even while directing traffic which smacks of an excessive comfort with the use of guns. Police forces ought to be trained and equipped differently.

Nobody can prove that Wilson would not have shot Brown if he were of a different race and the protests that have sprung up as a result of this seem more inclined towards unleashing anger at the perceived state of affairs than advocating for any kind of change.

These protests show the grimmest picture of recent events. Rioting as well as the damage and occupation of others' property have no place in any society. Like any other matter this present case must be investigated individually without assumptions from countless other cases of racial tension leading to a pre-determined verdict. What is necessary is an organized process of discussing ways to prevent what occurred and patience waiting on an investigation. Nothing justifies public violence and a muscular response to restore order is inherently necessary. It's a bit of a bity that for all the anger over race in the United States nobody is discussing how to fix it.