NATIONAL NEWS NETWORK SPECIAL REPORT

Host: Tonight, we’re in conversation with Senator Alabaster Sloan and law enforcement expert Garrison Hobart, here to discuss the legal case of Darren Henderson, and the shooting of thirteen-year-old Shae Tatum. Protests continue in Underhill.

Sloan: Qualified immunity shouldn’t be a get-out-of-jail-free card. There has to be accountability for law enforcement.

Hobart: Of course, but police can’t be in fear of being arrested for actions performed while on duty.

Sloan: Why not? If it makes them exercise force more responsibly …

Hobart: They’re well trained to react with professionalism.

Sloan: Should their first priority be their own safety at all cost?

Hobart: Yes.

Sloan: At all cost? Really?

Hobart: The point is, no one would ever become a police officer if they didn’t have this immunity.

Sloan: So, you’re saying people join the force to use violence without consequence?

Hobart: Of course not. The point is, using violence is often a necessary part of policing effectively. They can’t do their jobs if they’re afraid of being charged with a crime every time they discharge their service weapon.

Sloan: Why not? Wouldn’t it lead to more responsible policing?

Hobart: No. It would lead to chaos.

Sloan: It would save lives.

Hobart: For example, often during an arrest, if the suspect isn’t cooperating, you have to get physical in order to restrain them. Police officers can’t be counter-charged with assault every time they bring someone in. That’s qualified immunity.

Sloan: There has to be a line—

Hobart: There’s absolutely a line. It’s called “excessive use of force” and …

Sloan: AKA, police brutality. And yet—

Hobart:… and officers can be brought up on charges.

Sloan: Shooting an unarmed child is a far cry from putting someone into a wall a little too hard.

Hobart: There are shades to resisting arrest.

Sloan: “Resisting arrest?” You’re talking about Shae Tatum?

Hobart: Many cases—

Sloan: I don’t agree that a police officer’s first duty is to protect his own life. They want to be celebrated for nobly putting their lives on the line, but also to have carte blanche to engage in self-protective action? You can’t have it both ways.

Hobart: That’s far too simplistic.

Sloan: This was an unarmed child who, at worst, was attempting to flee.

Hobart: Resisting arrest.

Sloan: Is not a capital crime!

Hobart: First responders are trained to protect themselves first.

Sloan: Firefighters run into burning buildings. Risk is inherent in the job.

Hobart: They perform a risk assessment first. There are times they don’t run in, if it isn’t reasonable or safe.

Sloan: Henderson shot her in the back. Where was the threat?

Hobart: It’s akin to putting on your own oxygen mask before assisting others, in the event of a loss of cabin pressure while flying. A police officer’s first duty is to his own safety, because he can’t help anybody if he’s injured or compromised.

Sloan: Why become a police officer, then? The safest thing would be to stay home. We should be policed by a group of people willing to genuinely put themselves on the line for public safety. Not just their own safety.

Hobart: For any officer to discharge a weapon, they must perceive a credible threat. You think officers should be willing to die on the off chance that the suspect who appears armed actually isn’t?

Sloan: Credible threat. Which brings us back to the question you tried to dodge a moment ago. Where was the credible threat Shae Tatum posed to Officer Henderson? Innocent until proven guilty is the backbone of the criminal justice system. Why should police get to circumvent due process when they fire their service weapon?

Hobart: If their life is at risk, there’s no time to impanel a jury to determine guilt or innocence.

Sloan: Their decisions are based on snap judgments, and they routinely snap to the negative in black communities. If this was happening in race-blind ways across the country, you better believe we’d be looking closer at police procedures and practices.

Hobart: Probably true. Systemic bias is a reality, one that exists high above the actions of a single officer on the street.

Host: There are two sides to everything.

Sloan: At least. But let’s not erase the concept of accountability. We can’t throw up our hands and say bias exists, so black people are going to die.

Host: We’ll be right back, with more from Senator Sloan and Dr. Hobart.