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| Michael Williams, president of the Memphis Police Association. (Courtesy photo) |
Tears flow like water. But they don’t cool off hot tempers
that erupted following the fatal police shootings of Philando Castile in
Minnesota and Alton Sterling in Louisiana. And they continue to flow after a
sniper gunned down five police officers in Dallas and wounded seven others,
including two civilians, in retaliation.
The loss of life to violent aggression is egregious. Police
departments around the country are now in defensive mode and bracing for the
unexpected. In Memphis, the men and women in blue are in just as much a
heightened state of mind.
“It’s so unfortunate that individuals that had nothing to do
with what happened in Baton Rouge, La., or in Minnesota, had to lose their life
as they were protecting individuals who were conducting a peaceful march,” said
Michael Williams, president of the Memphis Police Association.
The tension between protesters and the police officers sworn
to protect them is escalating around the country. Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland
is calling for calm, using Tweeter to make his case: “Let us all come together,
in Memphis and beyond, and have a peaceful and thoughtful dialogue on the
issues that confront us.
“Our community stands on how we treat each other, how we
treat our police officers, and how we make strides to move forward – together –
in healing,” said Strickland, who is expected to name a successor to replace
Tony Armstrong, who left at the end of January to take a job as director of
security at St. Jude.
Strickland and interim police director Michael Rawllings,
who placed his name in contention for the top job, held a press conference on
July 8 at city hall to respond to the fatal police shootings and the fallen police
officers.
“We cannot survive if we do not work together,” said
Rawllings, expressing anger and frustration. He said police officers are not
the enemy. “We are your ally.” He also said the actions of a few should not
stop “hardworking” and “dedicated” officers from doing their jobs to protect
and serve the community.
“You can’t hold all
individuals, or black people, responsible for what happened, because that
individual acted alone,” said Williams, a 17-year veteran of the Memphis Police
Department, eight of them as the MPA president. “Violence is not the answer.”
Police officers aren’t immune to violence. It’s a hazardous
job for the city’s more than 2,000 commissioned officers. Williams recalled four
recent incidents where officers were either injured or encountered individuals
who were very hostile.
“We still have to maintain some semblance of order in all
the midst of the chaos,” he said. “Right now you have officers on edge. You
have the community on edge. Everybody is on edge. It affects the stability of
our community.”
Williams warns officers not to be hyper-vigilant while
trying to be safe and over-react instead. “You have to find that balance,” he
said, “whereas you’re still able to do your job within the constraints of the
authority given to you. But don’t overstep those bounds. That could propel this
city into chaos.”
Two officers didn’t help diffuse tensions when they were
relieved of duty with pay for posting a “disturbing” image on social media
recently of what appears to be a white hand pointing a gun at a fleeing black
man. An investigation is ongoing.
“We absolutely take this seriously,” Strickland said.
Anger is exploding across the country and the ripple is felt
in Memphis. But the city has its own problems to contend with. The homicide rate
is soaring: 118 since Jan. 1.
“I’m a citizen…I’m a police officer…and I live in a
community where homicides are happening that I’m concerned about,” said
Williams, calling attention to one that happened recently about 1,000 yards
from his front porch.
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