海角大神

Why a 5-year old bought ice cream for police, and other pro-police acts

Support for US police ranges from marches to gifts to blue sidewalk curbs. But is #policelivesmatter vs. #blacklivesmatter the right framing? 

On Friday聽, age 5, used her allowance to buy ice cream for seven officers at a McDonald's in Radcliff, Ky., because she knew from a massive outpouring of public support that the police had just come from the funeral of a fallen officer.聽

Kentucky聽State Police trooper Joseph Cameron Ponder was聽聽during a traffic stop.

This small act from a child gained viral media attention this week for its charming innocence and compassion for grieving police officers. But support for the police has taken on a harder edge elsewhere 鈥� and is prompting criticism from some black civil rights advocates.聽

For example, some police backers have taken to spray-painting blue lines on curbs as part of the viral Safe Harbor Initiative started by Anthony聽Welichko of San Antonio, Texas, earlier this month after attacks on police there.

鈥淭o all law enforcement who see this line, know that the residents of this home appreciate your service and dedication to keeping the peace!鈥澛犅犫�淜now that when you enter the neighborhood and see these lines that you are not alone or without 鈥榖ack-up.鈥� We do not need the media to make our voices of support for our police and emergency services heard (though it would be nice). Lastly, if you are in my neighborhood and mean to harm a member of law enforcement, know that decision may be hazardous you [sic] health as someone has that officers [sic] back!"

There is also an ongoing Twitter battle for hashtag supremacy between #BlackLivesMatter and the co-opted #PoliceLivesMatter.

Civil rights attorney and former police officer聽聽of Los Angeles, Calif., says in a phone interview that while she still holds a deep kinship with law enforcement, she sees the Safe Harbor Initiative and comments by Mr. Welichko 鈥渋s an invitation to vigilantism.鈥�

鈥淵ou can鈥檛 go around saying 鈥業鈥檓 going to be the cop鈥檚 cop. And if they can鈥檛 kick your butt, I鈥檓 gonna. That鈥檚 what that sounds like to me. It鈥檚 very dangerous and nobody is speaking to it,鈥� Ms. Harper says.

Harper adds, 鈥淚 was a police officer, it seems like a lifetime ago, and police lives have always mattered,鈥� says Harper. 鈥淲e don鈥檛 need to say it and we don鈥檛 need to put it on a billboard.鈥�

鈥淵ou can鈥檛 ignore the fact that a disproportionate amount of black folks are being killed by police officers, and on camera,鈥� she says. 鈥淭hey should put down their signs and pick up a sign that says #BlackLivesMatter and get a clue as to what the movement is about.鈥�

Harper adds that the duty of police "is to uphold the law and if they see someone painting a curb they need to cite them for it.鈥�

鈥淚f the #BlackLivesMatter folks went out to paint the curb I have the feeling they鈥檇 be arrested,鈥� Harper concludes.聽鈥淗ow would the police treat it if they were painting a red, black and green stripe on the curb in the inner city? They鈥檇 treat it like graffiti and cite the person doing it right there on the spot. Just because it鈥檚 for them doesn鈥檛 mean they get to pick and choose. That鈥檚 called selective prosecution and it鈥檚 a huge problem,鈥� she says.

But many have pushed back against the idea that supporting one group means opposition to another. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 think it鈥檚 us versus them,鈥� Atlanta beat cop Barricia McCormick, who served as an officer in Texas before joining the APD in 2011,聽told 海角大神. 鈥淵eah, the media might have some people looking more closely at police and wondering. But the fact is, I get thanked more now than I did before, and I have people coming up to me just randomly telling me to be safe out there, stuff like that. And I know it鈥檚 related to what鈥檚 going on nationally, because when they approach me they usually mention something they heard on the news.鈥�

For practical and safety reasons, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, the police are asking residents to resist any calls for painting curbs. Local utility workers often paint streets and sidewalks with blue paint to mark buried gas lines, electrical wires, and water lines. that if citizens really want to show their support for police, be their eyes and ears: "Instead of painting a blue line on your curb, consider calling in a tip when you see or hear something."