| We citizens of Spokane should count ourselves as fortunate that the afternoon protests downtown last Sunday were peaceful–and even more fortunate no one was gravely injured or killed in downtown Spokane last Sunday evening and night. The media, local law enforcement, and government officials all distinguished between peaceful protests in the afternoon and agitators, some of them apparently radio-coordinated, breaking store windows, trying to stir up unrest in the evening. We in Spokane were lucky the distinction between protests and agitation seemed fairly clear. Scenes of law enforcement officers conversing with–and sometimes kneeling with protesters–on Sunday afternoon were heartening–and a great contrast to scenes from our nation’s capitol on Monday as peaceful protestors, media people, and clergy were tear-gassed and knocked down by shield and club-wielding police so that Mr. Trump could have his Bible-hoisting photo op in front of St. John’s Episcopal Church across Lafayette Square. Law enforcement consists of individuals, individuals with lethal power, individuals called upon to make life-and-death decisions under stress. They are people, like all of us, people with a mindset honed through a lifetime of influences, background and training. Many law enforcement officers already come from military backgrounds. Part of military training involves identifying the “other,” often distinguished by a uniform, and, if necessary, quickly and dispassionately snuffing out that life. Community law enforcement is requires a level of decency–and respect for the humanity of the people among whom the law is to be enforced. May we assume that the Spokane County Sheriff’s Department and the Spokane Police foster this decency? No, we cannot. We need to pay attention and communicate. I encourage a visit to the Washington State Criminal Justice Training Commission, a WA State government website. https://www.cjtc.wa.gov/training-education There, scrolling down, you find an ad for “Mindset Bootcamp,” an educational opportunity offered this October 27, 2020, at the Spokane County Sheriff’s Training Center in Newman Lake. Both presenters, Dave “JD Buck Savage” Smith and Lt. Col. Dave Grossman, have military backgrounds. Lt. Col. Grossman tours the country peddling instruction to law enforcement from his “Killology Research Group.” In 1995 he authored a book entitled “On Killing.” Grossman argued, based on slim evidence, that humans have an innate resistance to killing other humans, a resistance which, for the sake of military effectiveness, must be trained out of recruits in order to psychologically prepare them to kill. Based largely on his book, Grossman has a career speaking not just to the military but to civil law enforcement agencies in the U.S. and Canada, with over two hundred speaking engagements each year. Note the shift: A West Pointer, a military psychologist, a student of combat, makes a career out of training domestic law enforcement officers to lesson their resistance to snuffing out the life of another human being. Note also that it has been during the last twenty-five years since the publication of Grossman’s “On Killing,” that local police and sheriff’s departments have acquired a lot of military grade hardware, while Grossman encourages its use. Spokane County Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich’s heart, I believe, is in the right place. He rightfully recognizes that the rioters last Sunday night were not from the African American community. He sympathizes with the peaceful protesters of Sunday afternoon. Unlike many local Republicans, he publicly stood up against Rep. Matt Shea (soon to be Pastor Matt Shea of Covenant). It is fair to ask Sheriff Knezovich, however, why Lt. Col. Dave Grossman, a military man and self-promoter, gets a venue to preach desensitization to killing to civilian law enforcement, particularly in light of a growing number of black and white citizens killed instead of subdued by these same enforcers. What role might desensitization have played in the death of Ethan Murray, a young, unarmed man shot dead in Spokane Valley last year by one of Ozzie’s deputies? George Floyd is dead, dead thanks to the actions of a police officer evidently with no qualms about dominating and killing a completely subdued man crying out, “I can’t breathe.” How much more of Dave Grossman’s “killology” can our society afford? What happened to de-escalation? Read more. Ask Sheriff Knezovich ( OKnezovich@spokanesheriff.org ) and Chief Meidl ( cmeidl@spokanepolice.org ) how this came about. What are thinking? What message does hosting Dave Grossman’s “Mindset Bootcamp” at a County facility send to our community? Keep to the high ground, Jerry Additional reading: https://www.insider.com/bulletproof-dave-grossman-police-trainer-teaching-officers-how-to-kill-2020-6?fbclid=IwAR3Vd3tp0Z33IIpESSBBngzBkaX9n6e1NSJsDVUKtRCOO2DvDkkHRKifgvM https://sports.yahoo.com/george-floyd-death-in-custody-puts-spotlight-on-warrior-training-for-police-195640810.html In fairness to the Washington State Criminal Justice Training Commission, they do post a disclaimer: The courses labeled as WSCJTC are fully supported by Washington State Criminal Justice Training Commission, all registration, curriculum, and instructors are managed by Commission. Courses labeled with Vendor are being advertised as a courtesy to the stakeholder agency hosting the course. WSCJTC has not evaluated the content or presentation for these courses – these listings are merely a convenience to our stakeholders and should not be interpreted as an endorsement by WSCJTC. “Mindset Bootcamp” is labelled “Vendor,” but it is hard to conclude that the “stakeholder agency” is anything other than the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office. |