I sat in my living room as the verdict came in for former police officer Kim Potter, who shot Daunte Wright to death on a routine traffic stop. The verdict subsequently came in as guilty for two counts of manslaughter. About a year ago, I watched this video clip of a motorist with a gun on their dashboard on a traffic stop. He defies the police and even drives off against their instructions without incident. That driver is white and alive; Daunte Wright is black and dead. People who talk to me, or read my posts, will know that I generally lean left when it comes to social issues. If I were to follow that trend, I would be celebrating this conviction. I’m not; I’m conflicted.
Police officers have a difficult job; I don’t minimize that. First, they make split-second life and death decisions every day. Second, they put their lives at risk to protect us. I respect and admire that in ways that words can’t adequately express. However, other professions, like doctors, make split-second life and death decisions every day. When they make mistakes, we sue them for malpractice. Other professions, like firefighters and military, put their lives at risk to protect us. However, we still hold them accountable for their mistakes.
We listen with horror to stories of botched surgeries. Surgeons leave instruments or sponges inside bodies only to be discovered later. Consequently, the patients successfully sued the physicians for malpractice. These colossal failures led to changes in procedure; instruments are now meticulously counted before completing the surgery. Do any of us believe these new safety standards would exist if the laws disallowed us from suing our doctors when they make mistakes?
Let’s repeal qualified immunity
I heard the story of Robbie Tolan, a young baseball player, in HBO’s Real Sports. First, the police stopped him for driving a stolen vehicle. They entered the license plate incorrectly; Robbie drove his own vehicle. Second, upon hearing the commotion on the driveway, his mother came out to investigate. Third, the police pushed her up against the wall. Next, Robbie objected to their manhandling his mother. Then, they shot him on his driveway. Robbie survived but never returned to play baseball. Finally, the family sued the police department. One suit ended with not guilty; they dismissed the civil suit due to qualified immunity. Robbie and his family literally got nothing, no accountability, no restitution.
Why is law enforcement magically beyond contestation? And if there are few means of holding them accountable, why expect the police to make any changes? What prevents a Robbie Tolan-like incident from occurring every day in every city? Can an officer simply claim that “he looked at me funny” and have that be sufficient to ‘feel’ threatened and avoid prosecution? Qualified immunity is absurd.
Here’s a distressing idea. Is it really about the safety of the officers? Or is it instead that we don’t want to impede their ability to haul away the trash? They rid us of the criminal elements in our society and if a Robbie Tolan gets mixed in… well, that’s just a rounding error. Is this closer to the truth?
While this specific incident speaks to the misuse of qualified immunity, yes… Robbie Tolan is black. And his Bellaire, Texas police department stops people of color twelve times more frequently than white citizens, even when their citizens are predominantly white. Is a black motorist driving through town enough to warrant suspicion? Why else would they spot check his license plate?
Why this case is different
The jurors on this particular case were conflicted; they hinted to the judge that they may be deadlocked. I wouldn’t presume to second guess the verdict. First, no one presented the evidence to me, nor did I have access to it. For instance, I simply don’t know how differently a Taser and the firearm feel and thusly how likely it is to mistake the two. Second, I don’t have access to the jury instruction; they may rule out entire avenues of compromise. Third, I can’t factor in the interactions with other jurors. I humbly thank those jurors for their service.
To generalize Kim Potter as another white police officer killing a black man is unfair. Therefore, to compare her to police officers like Derek Chauvin is an incredibly unjust characterization. Naturally every case is different, but there are several instrumental exceptions with this one:
- This was a split-second decision. She did not have nine minutes to contemplate her actions.
- She was genuinely remorseful. In fact, she seemed destroyed by her actions.
However, like I mentioned at the top of the post, I’m conflicted. Police are 20% more likely across the board to pull over black drivers over white drivers. These aren’t a few bad apples; this is a nationwide study over millions of stops. In many cities, these numbers are 400%, 900%, even 1200% more likely for black drivers. Do we really believe that black drivers commit traffic violations at twelve times the rate of white drivers? Was Daunte Wright’s death a result of the police’s predisposition to disproportionately pull over black motorists? He had expired license plates and an air freshener hanging from his rear-view mirror; neither is a threat to public safety. Would they have even stopped him on that day if he were white?
Is negligence sufficient to justify prison time?
I honestly believe that Kim Potter did not intend to shoot Daunte Wright with a live firearm; it was a colossally tragic mistake. The world is full of accidents and mistakes. People get behind the wheel after too many drinks and tragically commit vehicular manslaughter, including the likes of Vince Neil from Mötley Crüe. Many serve prison time. Even without intent to harm, choosing to drink and drive is negligent, and we will prosecute you for that. Do I believe that there needs to be accountability for Daunte Wright’s death? Do I believe that she was criminally negligent in her actions on that day? Absolutely!
Here’s where I struggle. Kim Potter was a police officer doing her job. We need good police officers, like we need good doctors. She had a clean police record until that colossally tragic mistake. In the span of a few seconds that changed. However, if a doctor were to make a colossally tragic mistake that results in someone’s death, do we hold them to that same standard? For instance, suppose a surgeon leaves a surgical instrument in a patient’s body, and the patient dies from those complications. Though not intentional, we can collectively agree that this is negligent. I’m all for accountability (large settlement, loss of employment, etc.), but do we really expect that surgeon to serve up to fifteen years in prison for that mistake?
Imagine a doctor, while doing their job, ends up making unintentional, negligent mistake that results in someone’s death. What level of negligence needs to occur before we expect that doctor to serve time in prison? How badly does a doctor need to fuck up before we charge them with manslaughter?
I don’t know where that threshold is for me. That’s why I am conflicted about the verdict.