When a few years ago stories emerged about former Sweetwater Union High School District superintendent Jesus Gandara inviting district contractors to his daughter’s wedding, the man was mocked, ridiculed and ultimately found guilty in an eventual corruption trial.
Current city councilman John McCann was goofed on and made fun of for everything from videotaping the public during a school board meeting to admonishing a city council colleague for perceived slights to his time in the naval reserve.
Former mayor Steve Padilla was scoffed at for his use of a taxpayer funded bodyguard during his one-term tenure.
I can think of a few more public servants that were the objects of derision but hopefully you get the idea: When you’re a public official and you screw up, you’re fair game to those who would find fault and toss ridicule your way. There are calls for trials, investigations and reform.
But sometimes it seems as though there is a double standard. Where one group of public officials are widely dismissed and on occasion gleefully chided, another tends to get a pass. There is a tendency to bite one’s tongue, retract the claws and admonish anyone who would question the behavior and motives of police gone bad. Or at least momentarily haywire.
The latest example (fortunately?) comes from Anaheim—home of Disneyland and the happiest people on earth, unless you’re a teenager who gets manhandled by a reportedly off-duty cop, and not South County. Videos have emerged showing an off duty officer in plain clothing forcibly detaining a teenager by clutching the kid by his shirt. The initial story is the cop was angry with the boy and his friends were repeatedly walking on the cop’s lawn.
In the videos I watched the man did not identify himself as a police officer and it was only until after some of the teen’s peers pushed the man and the boy through some hedges—presumably in an effort to free their friend—that the adult drew a sidearm from his waistband. A sidearm that eventually discharged, though it was not clear if the gunshot was intentional. Fortunately none of the children or the man was shot.
On Wednesday there was a protest in the officer’s neighborhood, condemning his actions. Authorities have said they will investigate.
But there are others who absolve the officer and others like him simply because he has a badge and the authority to police. To many he and others like him, are above reproach and can do no wrong. While this incident will be handled on an individual level a broader approach to police reform won’t be pursued.
It seems we can make fun of and demand more from people we elect into office but when it comes to demanding more of people who have decades of public service before them, who are responsible for everyone’s safety, we fall silent except for a few who are derided as anti-cop. Quite a double standard.
