Stateside With Rosalea: Speechless

Stateside With Rosalea Barker

Speechless

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The photo above is from “The House” written by the official historian of the US House of Representatives , Robert V. Remini. In the text below the photo, Remini quotes from Pat Schroeder’s book on her life in the House: “He [Committee Chair Hebert] said that women and blacks were worth only one half of one ‘regular’ member, so he added only one seat to the committee room and made Ron and me share it.”

Why do I bring this to your attention now, 38 years after Ron Dellums was first appointed to the Armed Services Committee? Well, because last Friday the Oakland Police Department held what must be the biggest PR event any police department in history has ever held, and though Dellums, who is now Mayor of Oakland, had a seat on the stage, he was asked not to speak. The event was the funeral for four OPD officers who were shot in East Oakland the previous Saturday afternoon, and the request that Dellums not speak came, the OPD said, from one or more of the victims’ families.

Am I heartless to call a memorial service a PR event? I don’t think so. Not when 17,000 police officers from all around the country were flown in for it and put up at local hotels—at a cost to whose public safety budgets, the media has not thought to ask. Not when private memorial services had already been held in the cities the four police officers hailed from—three of those cities over the Oakland hills and far away.

And not when a community memorial had already been held earlier in the week at the spot where the officers died, enabling locals to show their support of the police. The photo below shows the front page of the local weekly, Oakland Post, and its coverage of the smaller, Tuesday, event.

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From the beginning, Friday’s event at the Oracle Arena was hyped up as a story of national, even international newsworthiness—the acting police chief said he had received emails of support from all over the world, including New Zealand. All the local television news stations and two radio stations carried the 11am to 2pm service live, but as far as I can tell nary a national news outlet put it in their evening broadcasts. San Francisco Chronicle media blogger, Rich Lieberman, decried the lack of national coverage saying:

“I mean, call me crazy, but it isn't as if this was some small affair, and generally you don't have a Governor, both US Senators, all the mayors from LA, SF, Oakland, and head of the Congressional Black Caucus, with over 25,000 law enforcement and citizens at some obscure memorial-- again, maybe it's me, but someone needs to read the room.”

I’m not entirely sure about whether the head of the Congressional Black Caucus—local US House Representative Barbara Lee—w as at the service; there certainly is no video of a speech by her posted on any of the local news websites. Given she was scheduled to speak at 11:30am at the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco, it’s possible she was a late arrival. As you can tell, I wasn’t there.

But that’s not to say I missed out on observing moments of silence for the officers. First, on a bus that I just happened to board at 11am when the bus radio system announced that AC Transit would now observe a moment’s silence, and then in a store 20 minutes away where the TV was on and the caskets had just arrived inside the arena. What strikes me most about the parts of the broadcast I’ve seen, was how military it was: “Present arms!”, and folded US flags given to the fallen officers’ families, and a 21-gun salute from outside the arena as the coffins left.

I’m sorry about their deaths and for their families, but these were guys who joined law enforcement knowing the risks of the job. What earthly use was a huge event like the one on Friday to the families of the officers or the local community as a whole? And if that wasn’t the reason for holding it, what was? Was it simply the OPD’s desire to show national support for a police force that is often criticized by the Oakland City Council and under investigation by the FBI and the State Attorney-General’s Office as the result of a series of investigative reports by the media?

I leave you with this transcript of part of the eulogy retired OPD Lt. Lawrence Eade gave for one of the officers, John Hege, in which he refers to the media. I’m at a loss to understand which broadcast outlet his negative comment refers to, but the first paragraph I quote here was played on the local CBS station:

I need to set the record straight. I would first like to thank the honorable media who covered this tragic event for their professionalism and compassion. However, to those who manipulate, who lack any semblance of journalistic integrity, may your careers be extremely difficult until you find the value of truth. [applause]

I need to set the record straight. This is not about your ratings, it is about a community, its police department, and four brave officers who paid the ultimate price. The citizens are not arming themselves against the police. There is no war between us, and I might add—you cannot create one. [applause]

One thing about being a police officer is that you learn not to react to bad press. If an officer in Oakland, San Francisco, New York or wherever makes a mistake or dishonors his profession, the next thing you know, the entire police profession is attacked in the media. Not the problem, but every officer who wears a uniform, in every city and every police department. If this were done to any ethnic group, gender, sexual preference or religious group, there would be holy hell to pay.

But there is a positive in this. Through this experience we have learned not to judge others as we have been judged. So I am going to set the record straight. Oakland police officers will continue to provide outstanding police service to the community. It is an honor to do so. [applause] We are committed to your safety and wellbeing. We want to thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your love and support during the most difficult of times.

Your support has truly honored our fallen officers. You see, it is the public trust that is sacred to us, that empowers us, that weaves the very fabric of the uniforms we wear. We revere it, we respect it, and we cherish it. Our very lives depend on it. We salute you, and may God bless you all.

rosalea.barker@gmail.com

--PEACE--

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