Readers React: The Obama administration’s post-Ferguson rhetoric and attacks on police

To the editor: Obviously The Times is right that the police are now facing a new foe, the public. But what is missing in this article is the root of this animosity. To me it’s a no-brainer. (“Police worry about their own safety after killings: ‘It’s a different world,’” Aug. 31)

The recent unprovoked attacks on police officers, including the ambush of a Harris County, Texas, sheriff’s deputy on Friday, coincide with remarks made by President Obama following the events last year in Ferguson, Mo. Instead of allowing the legal process to proceed first, the president and others in his administration expressed sympathy for and even met with those leading the protests. One time, he said there’s a feeling in the black community that the police treat them differently.

From this point on the attacks on police seem to have escalated. And I don’t think we can discount the part this irresponsible behavior played in these acts of violence.

Ed Kaufman, Wilmington

..

To the editor: This article proved only that many police departments have, in the call for their reform, simply become more paranoid and entrenched.

The article noted that no more officers in the U.S. are being deliberately killed in the line of duty than in past years. It is merely that police departments have been discomfited by the fact that Black Lives Matter and other movements have picked up momentum in the wake of the shootings of Michael Brown, Tamir Rice, Sam DuBose, Walter Scott, James Boyd and others.

Work slowdowns undertaken by the New York Police Department last year after the shooting of two officers, and by the Baltimore Police Department after the Freddie Gray incident, have only proved the insular pettiness of these institutions. Somewhat ironically, the NYPD slowdown was celebrated by the city’s people of color.

The crux of the matter is not whether police officers are under siege, but when are they going to realize their jobs would be vastly easier if they stop behaving like an occupying force, embrace de-escalation rather than escalation, and clearly understand that they may be videotaped at any time.

Perhaps the grumbling emanating from the nation’s police departments is the beginning of a shift in attitude and culture. But only time will tell.

Ron Shinkman, Sherman Oaks

Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion and Facebook