Neither Deputy Paul Schene nor anybody else gets to beat 'lippy' prisoners

March 3, 7:16 AMCivil Liberties ExaminerJ.D. Tuccille

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King County, Washington, Deputy Paul Schene
brutalizes 15-year-old Malika Calhoun
(AP Photo/King County Sheriff's Office)

The criminal case against King County, Washington, Deputy Paul Schene for the beating he inflicted on 15-year-old Malika Calhoun will be resolved one way or the other in the months to come. Schene has entered a "not guilty" plea to the slap-on-the-wrist misdemeanor assault charge he faces for brutally abusing a prisoner in his custody. What won't be resolved anytime soon, though, is the unduly deferential attitude too many people -- including commenters at this site -- have toward police officers, whose violent actions they defend.

In the comments to the original story, Big Worm says, "If she hadn't been a smartass she wouldn't have been 'beaten' ... if you are old enough and tough enough to get arrested and act smart towards the police, then you are old enough to get roughed up a little."

Commenter Stephen says, "If she wasn't a criminal this never would have happened. Does she have a right to cuss out a cop, kick her shoes at him? No. She got what she deserved."

She got what she deserved."

Freda adds, "[T]he fact is she was probably doing something she shouldn't have been doing. Where are her parents? This is typical to take up for the criminal...etc. I personally don't know why anyone would be a police officer...they get paid nothing and have to deal with the scum of the earth."

Those remarks fit in with the complaint of Deputy Travis Brunner, Schene's unindicted co-conspirator, that Calhoun was "real lippy," with the implication that this justified the beating. In the video, Brunner did nothing to intervene.

To be clear, support for the beating is a minority sentiment among commenters -- most people reading the article, viewing the video and leaving their thoughts were horrified by the incident. They called for Schene to be treated like any other criminal.

But how do we get to the point where anybody supports brutal assaults, so long as they're committed by people wearing government-issue polyester shirts with pot-metal badges.

This is quite a change from the early attitude in England and America, where, despite rising crime, many people resisted the establishment of professional police forces for fear that they'd become "a 'standing army' that was incompatible with republican liberties."

That actually might have been giving the police more credit than they deserved. Early on, police forces proved to be violent, but not disciplined, In 1857, two rival New York City police departments -- the Municipals and the Metropolitans -- escalated their jurisdictional dispute into an all-out riot on the steps of city hall. The fighting was quieted only by the intervention of the state militia.

[T]he police being only members of the public who are paid to give full-time attention to duties which are incumbent on every citizen in the interests of community welfare and existence.
-- Sir Robert Peel

To address concerns about organized bodies of armed men enforcing the government's will, Sir Robert Peel, the founder of modern professional policing, made it clear that:

Police, at all times, should maintain a relationship with the public that gives reality to the historic tradition that the police are the public and the public are the police; the police being only members of the public who are paid to give full-time attention to duties which are incumbent on every citizen in the interests of community welfare and existence.

Without doubt, police are subject to greater discipline today than in the past, but they also have vast power and resources. The roaming constables armed with whistles and clubs of the nineteenth century have turned into paramilitary units with sophisticated communications, automatic weapons, nation-spanning databases and armored vehicles.

They're not even treated as members of the public. Killing or assaulting a police officer today carries special charges and penalties, as if it's deserving of greater condemnation to lay hands on an armed man who has chosen a profession that comes with certain risks than it is to thrash a nun or a dentist.

But they're still the same fallible human beings who beat the crap out of each other in pre-Civil War New York City.

So, what in the concept of armed members of the public keeping the peace entitles police officers to brutalize people under their power? Why should people who chose the law-enforcement profession be treated any different than the rest of us when they start throwing unjustified kicks and punches and dragging people around by the hair?

I can't think of any good reason for giving police officers special privileges. In fact, considering the special powers and resources they already have, it makes sense to hold them to a higher standard than the public at large. A crime committed by a police officer, if treated differently than one committed by anybody else, should carry a tougher penalty, not a lower one.

And we should get rid of those special charges and penalties for people who victimize police officers, too.

Frankly, if regular paychecks, taxpayer-issued guns and armor, and backup a radio call away aren't enough to keep Paul Schene and his buddies happy in their work, they're welcome to try their hand at really dangerous jobs, like driving taxis or working on commercial fishing boats.

Beating up people because they're "lippy"? That should get you the same penalty no matter what job you do.

Below, Malika Calhoun talks about her ordeal.

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email J.D.: civilliberties (at) tuccille.com