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By Jo Gamm Witt
We hear often about law enforcement pursuits of black men in particular, about how they may not pull over, giving a semblance of noncooperation. Admittedly I have often thought, “Why didn’t they just pull over, and then nothing bad would have happened.” But what happened in Ohio on July 4, 2023 struck me differently.
Jadarrius Rose had pulled over, but when he did, law enforcement had their guns drawn. Bear in mind that he was being pulled over due to missing a mud flap on his semi. I don’t know about you, but I’ve been pulled over several times in the past for speeding, and never once did the officer have his gun drawn when he approached my vehicle. But I am white. Given the same circumstances as Rose faced, I would have been scared too. And we know that Rose was scared, because he took off again and himself called 911 to express to them that he feared for his life. To me that was eye-opening—he feared for his life. And honestly I would have too.
I have to think now about the negative relationship that has existed for many years between law enforcement and our black brothers and sisters. Why would they trust law enforcement not to hurt them, when too often they have? When we look at it from a perspective of fear, we see a different picture than that of blatant noncooperation. Fear is a powerful emotion, and unfortunately too often their fears are realized. But in some ways it may have become a vicious cycle—of fear guiding actions of noncooperation, which lead to more violent reactions from law enforcement, which lead to more fear, which leads to more noncooperation…. And I don’t know what the answers are for making any of it better. But what I do know is that there is always a reason for everything, and when we take the time to explore the reasons, we come to a point of understanding.
Rose did comply after being assured by the 911 dispatcher that no one was trying to kill him, by pulling over and stopping, and exiting the vehicle with his hands up. When he did, he was surrounded by several police cars and officers, and an officer released a K9 that viciously attacked Rose. Whether the officer supposedly didn’t hear the command NOT to release the dog or not, regardless it happened, and frankly was a situation that escalated way beyond what was appropriate—recall that this was all initially regarding a missing mud flap! After being treated and released, Rose was jailed and charged with failure to comply with order or signal by a police officer, a fourth-degree felony.
As I ponder the situation, the word “escalation” comes to mind. There were a series of actions that led to the escalation. But at the root was the fear stirred up in Rose when he first pulled over, not even aware of why he was being pulled over, to see officers with their guns drawn. I’d be curious to know the mindset of those initial officers—why did they draw their guns in the first place to pull over this man for such a minor situation as a missing mud flap? My heart cries out, as I think about how I would feel in the same situation. It’s easy for people to blame or judge, but try to even imagine yourself in the same situation—what would you do? And we as white people don’t know and cannot fully relate, because this situation would not happen to us.
It is shortsighted to always blindly defend law enforcement’s actions; rather, we need to take an honest look at situations like these and ponder what can be done differently. Because if we don’t, then nothing will change.
When we come to care enough to learn how others think, feel and perceive; when we come to look beyond the color of one’s skin, beyond their nation of origin, and to see the value in everyone; we can come to a point of understanding that can lead to more positive relations.
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