Last week, the nation recognized Peace Officers Memorial Day and Police Week, 2021. At the same time, the political attacks from the Black Lives Matter movement and other anti-police groups ramped up.
The Arizona Sheriffs Association is having none of it.
The Association, led by Cochise County Sheriff Mark Dannels, issued an open letter which vehemently condemns bias and denies the claim that policing is systemically racist.
The sheriffs admonish those who say to suggest that “isolated bad acts provide evidence of a systemic problem is maliciously unsupportable and patently false.”
Across the country, reformers are advocating for an end to Qualified Immunity, which prohibits the courts from finding an officer liable for violating someone’s rights, unless the law was clearly established at the time of the constitutional violation.
In his letter, Dannels explains and defends the protections embodied by the immunity.
“Law enforcement officers often must make split second decision based on very limited information. Information that later may be found to be inaccurate or incomplete,” wrote Dannels. “Frequently, these are literally life and death decisions. Qualified immunity does not protect knowingly lawless and unconstitutional behavior on the part of law enforcement. It’s simply does not.
“Removal of the protection of Qualified Immunity will have a chilling effect on current law enforcement officers. It would exponentially increase liability claims and associated defense costs. Finally, it would make it vastly more difficult to recruit future personnel. Arizona Sheriffs do not support immunity or protection from prosecution for those extremely few law enforcement officers who knowingly engage in unconstitutional violations of anyone’s rights, liberties, or personal safety.”
On a national level, the House passed the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act in a 220-212 vote in March. The bill calls for ending qualified immunity for law enforcement.
Open Letter: Law Enforcement Reform
Arizona Sheriffs believe that prejudice is wrong. We believe that stereotyping is wrong. We believe that bias is wrong. We believe the discrimination is wrong. We hold strong our belief that these four things are wrong. They are always wrong and can never be justified. We believe this to be true even when these things cast doubt law enforcement officers. We hold the moral high ground for those who will direct these things towards law enforcement officers. We hold them to always be wrong; universally wrong and unjustifiable. We believe that if we allow prejudice, stereotyping, bias, and discrimination to be cast toward a group, even with some supposed righteous justification, it risks allowing it toward nay group. This is always wrong.
We are told by those who hold unsupported biases towards law-enforcement officers that doing so is right and proper. They argued that there exists “systemic” racism in law enforcement. Systemic is an important word. ”A systematic problem or change is a basic one, experienced by the whole of an organization or country I’m not just particular parts of it” (source: dictionary.cambridge.org). start work. Arizona Sheriffs believe that there is no evidence to support the existence of “systemic” racism in law enforcement. None. We base this on more than a hundred years of collective experience.
The very isolated bad acts of an extremely few members of the any profession should not provide the basis for indictment of the entire profession. Moreover, to suggest that these isolated bad acts provide evidence of a systemic problem is maliciously unsupportable and patently false.
Every day and communities large and small law enforcement officers make thousands of public contacts that result in no use of force complaints from the public or give rise to any indication of racism. They put their lives in jeopardy to serve those whom they do not even know. They do so with honor and distinction. Every year, many lay down their lives while protecting their communities.
Arizona Sheriffs hold in contempt any law enforcement officer who violates the public trust in any manner. Bad law enforcement officers must be ferreted out and removed from our profession. These very few bad individuals are leveraged by those who hold law enforcement in hatred and contempt. They use them to dishonestly indict an entire profession. The honorable profession to which we have dedicated our lives.
Those, who through prejudice, stereotyping, bias, and discrimination indict all of law enforcement officers as being systemic racists now use those assertions as a platform to mandate law-enforcement reform. Some even tacitly or directly encourage violence against law enforcement. They do so based upon the zealous false assertion that law enforcement is systemically racist. This assertion does not move us forward. Rather it divides us. It detracts from any real and meaningful law-enforcement reform.
The issue of law enforcement reform is now infected by politics. Political leaders with no law enforcement experience now seek to direct law-enforcement reform. They do this with political agendas or to gain favor with some political constituencies. Arizona sheriffs embrace efforts at real reform. We support reform that could make law enforcement more effective and better at addressing the concerns of the diverse communities we serve. We reject reform efforts based on politics. We reject reform driven by the false assertion that our personnel are systemically racist.
Some of the calls for reform seek to eliminate “Qualified Immunity.” This is an important protection for law enforcement officers that does not in any manner constitute absolute immunity. Harlow v. Fitzgerald (1982) provides the modern formulation of Qualified Immunity. This immunity does not apply when the defendant’s conduct when the defendants conduct “violate[d] clearly established statutory or constitutional rights of which a reasonable person would have known.” The standard “provide[d] no license to lawless conduct.” Further, ”If the law was clearly established, the immunity defense ordinarily should fail, since a reasonably competent public official should know the law governing his conduct.”
Law enforcement officers often must make split second decision based on very limited information. Information that later may be found to be inaccurate or incomplete. Frequently, these are literally life and death decisions. Qualified immunity does not protect knowingly lawless and unconstitutional behavior on the part of law enforcement. It’s simply does not. Removal of the protection of Qualified Immunity will have a chilling effect on current law enforcement officers. It would exponentially increase liability claims and associated defense costs. Finally, it would make it vastly more difficult to recruit future personnel. Arizona Sheriffs do not support immunity or protection from prosecution for those extremely few law enforcement officers who knowingly engage in unconstitutional violations of anyone’s rights, liberties, or personal safety.
Arizona Sheriffs stand ready to engage in meaningful and honest discussions about law enforcement reform. We take an oath to support and defend the Constitution and the laws of our state. We have dedicated our lives to do so. However, with summarily reject the malicious and groundless attacks on our personnel and any move towards law enforcement reform that is politically motivated or driven by false assertions.