Police Racism and the Asshole Trajectory

Setting the Scene

Early in 2017 I was involved in a Facebook discussion with friends about police, racism and Indigenous peoples.

The discussion began with a statement I posted that a key driver of Maori over-representation in crime statistics was due to the high level of police surveillance and 'policing' of Maori, especially Maori youth.

Enter two Facebook 'friends' (now 'ex' friends... obviously), both ex-cops.  The first started his comments by pointing out a) not all cops are racist, b) Maori offending is due to poor parenting, and other similar statements.  In response to criticism of his statements, including requests for evidence to support his position said friend became increasingly bigoted in his comments, ending with a claim that Maori crime was a result of an undefined 'thing' called 'Maori privilege'.

Enter ex-cop #2 who began his contribution by making 2 fairly predictable statements: ex-cop #1 was a 'great bloke' who helped lot of young people, and, just like his mate, argued that 'not all cops are racist'.

As with ex-cop #1, pointing out that a) no one had actually said that all cops were racist, but that b) some actually are and we need to discuss and analyse their conduct, made no difference as ex-cop #2 continued to make pointless, unrelated comments about the great work cops do.  But just like ex-cop #1, each time his unsupported comments were challenged, his posts became ever more shrill, aggressive and personal, and included stock standard responses of the pro-cop, anti-Maori brigade, such as 'Maori lack responsibility,' 'their culture is violent', through to the old chestnut, 'unless you've worn the uniform you don't know what the job is like'.  This last statement I have often heard and it always intrigues me.  I have found it is commonly used by cops/ex-cops when their conduct and that of their organisation is criticised; and the intent of this comment is obvious, to shut down any criticism of police behaviour, and most especially, police misconduct.

Arguing with (Ex)Cops and the the Asshole Trajectory

I learnt a couple of things from my engagement with these ex-cops, firstly, it is a waste of time debating the issue of police racism with ex-cops as no amount of research-generated evidence deters them from their belief that racism is a) non-existent in New Zealand's police service, or b) if it does exist it is due to a 'few bad apples' while the barrel overall is full of wonderful, helpful social justice warriors.  Entering into a debate with many ex-cops is to enter a fact-free zone full of sulking, bullying, threats and harassment, all of which I experienced over the 12 months following the Facebook debate, when I continued to receive vacuous, poorly informed emails from one of the ex-cops, in an attempt, according to him, to 'moderate' my comments on police and racism.

And secondly, debates and discussions with this group often take on a readily identifiable trajectory of behaviour that I call The Asshole Trajectory, which looks something like this:

Phase 1: The Reasonable Man

Phase one is easy to discern and describe, said individual(s) enter the discussion and/or debate with what they (but not always everyone else) believe are 'reasonable' points or arguments. For example ,'Dave's a good bloke, he helped lots of young people when he was a cop; he really cared', and 'not all cops are racist'.

Phase 2: The Protector

Phase 2 kicks in when much to their confusion, everyone continues to discuss police racism, at which point their comments become more 'protective' of the reputation of the police as an institution, such as 'well you know the job is really hard; you wouldn't understand, you've not worn the uniform; and 'I never saw any racism when I was a cop' (meaning since they didn't experience it, it doesn't exist).

Phase 3: The Wounded Veteran

Further criticism of their comments, and unmet requests that they provide supporting evidence for their claims, brings on phase 3, what I call 'the big sulk'.  During this stage the comments become increasingly personal,of the 'you are a typical academic' kind, which is meant to infer that the 'ivory tower' of academia renders commentators like me disconnected from our community, usually followed by comments about all abuse and prejudice they experienced as cops to demonstrate that cops also suffered bigotry. And there is no denying that sometimes they do experience it, but our discussion was the bigotry of police, an issue that my 2 friends failed to address throughout the discussion.

Phase 4: The Asshole

And lastly, as more and more criticism of their posts piles on, as they collapse under the weight of their unevidenced, poorly crafted arguments, they move into the last phase,where their commentary turns to personal insults and bigotry.  It is in the last phase of the Asshole Trajectory, that you will receive emails and facebook posts with comments like 'well, you lot ate the Moriori, 'the haka supports domestic violence', and 'I am proud that I locked up so many of your bros', etc, etc.  It is during this phase that they finally expose themselves to be an asshole; but unfortunately an asshole who once wielded the privilege and power that comes from wearing the New Zealand Police uniform, and policed our rangatahi/youth and our communities.