Michelle Gregg is facing no charges, and I agree with that decision.
The recent killing of Harambe, the 17 year old western lowland silverback gorilla shot by officials at the Cincinnati Zoo after a child had fallen into the facilities gorilla enclosure, prompted worldwide outrage and calls for justice, with particular focus on Michelle Gregg, the mother whose three year old had skittered away, climbed onto and over the wall separating the great apes from zoo patrons, and then tumbled in. The modern media age predictably kicked into high gear and demands that Gregg be prosecuted criminally, ostensibly for negligence or child endangerment (but really as retribution for the gorilla’s death), were widespread. Ultimately the Cincinnati Police Department investigated, presented the results to the Hamilton County Prosecutor’s office without recommending charges, and none were filed. And with that I agree.
In the end, the investigators and prosecutors involved didn’t cave to public pressure, choose to pursue a political prosecution, or abdicate their responsibility to justice. This is not to say Gregg shouldn’t be held civilly responsible – it was her child who entered the enclosure and led to the death of Harambe, who most likely was acting completely without malice but also without the ability to recognize the fragility of a human child; it simply acknowledges nothing in Gregg’s actions rose to the level of criminality and Cincinnati police and the Hamilton County prosecutor acted with courage in the face of overwhelming public opinion.
And then there is Marilyn Mosby, the Baltimore City State’s Attorney who charged six Baltimore city police officers following the death of Freddie Gray in police custody, and the prosecution led by her Chief Deputy Michael Schatzow.
With the hung jury of Officer William Porter late last year, the recent acquittal of Officer Edward Nero in a bench trial before Judge Barry Williams, and now sharp criticism directed toward Mosby’s office in general, and Schatzow in particular, over discovery violations related to withheld (and possibly exculpatory?) information obtained in an interview conducted with another prisoner riding in the same van as Gray, long-held and serious questions over Mosby’s choice to prosecute the six officers are bolstered. And with Judge Williams calling out prosecutors for these discovery violations, is not the very integrity of her office called into question? Whether this is a normal practice or not – and remember, her office represents the state in prosecutions supported by the work of BPD in almost every other criminal case prosecuted – the seeds of doubt about the integrity of prosecutions going forward, and past convictions, have been planted. Add to this five of the officers have sued Mosby and Sheriff’s Major Samuel Cogen, with the most recent suit brought by Nero and Officer Garrett Miller alleging “Their illegal arrests were made without probable cause and demonstrated ill will, improper motivation, and/or evil purpose” and are alleged to have been made “in furtherance of (their) own personal interests and political agenda.”
Ahhhh, political agendas. The specter of political persecution by prosecution is one we fear because endless examples can be mined from history. With power comes opportunity to settle scores, reshape political landscapes through coercion, and acquire more power and favor by catering to the passions of special interests. Add the power of the internet, the ubiquity of social media, and the media’s hunger for stories to drive a groundswell of passion to tap and it is no wonder cops fear becoming the face of the latest “police run amok” bogeyman, with the dread of political prosecution attached. Whether Mosby and her adjutants are guilty of inappropriately tapping into that passion at the expense of innocent officers (whether one of them, or up to all six) is a matter of opinion and yet to be officially decided. So far, things are not looking great for Mosby, even if she will not necessarily suffer any real consequences should she and her office be found to have acted inappropriately in any of these prosecutions; it is starting to look like she overcharged, if criminal charges were warranted at all, and/or too broadly. If so, the probability of these being politically driven prosecutions appears high.
Even if criminal prosecutions may have been too much, or charges leveled for some or all of the officers involved too severe, that doesn’t necessarily mean cannot or should not be held civilly liable – I have no opinion on the matter – but it is the responsibility of the State’s Attorney to act in the interest of justice as it relates to criminal sanctions.
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I raise these two examples of prosecutorial decision-making to compare and contrast courage in the face of public opinion and clamorous calls for justice. Both are front and center in the news of late, both evoke passions in place of evenhanded appraisal of facts, and both put prosecutors – politicians, in fact – on display.
Early in my career I was told, point blank and without apology, at some point you probably will be punished for something you did that, even if not necessarily wrong or out of policy, is still politically charged. As a young cop I was a lot more willing to accept that possibility. With age, wisdom, and the inherent crankiness about politics that comes with it, not so much anymore. Maybe it’s time we push back against, and call out, the political maneuvering that substitutes for integrity among colleagues, bosses, and politicians.
Last month we wrote “Accepting the Reality of Change”, about the current and coming changes we face, the need to accept and even embrace it as inevitable, and how to protect ourselves emotionally from the challenges it inevitably brings. This is the yin to that yang. It is a call to demand political courage among those who make and enforce policy, hold the officers’ lives in their hands, and respond to the angry mob. It is a call to organize and intelligently and respectfully, albeit firmly, push back against those for whom real human lives are mere pawns in their own political gamesmanship. And it is an insistence that we continue to police our own actions, words, and attitudes to always be aboveboard and acting with the highest integrity, so to lessen the need for prosecutors, supervisors, and administrators to have to make tough decisions about discipline or – God forbid – prosecution over a street level decision. Courage entails making the smart choice under pressure, and asking for help when it is difficult to do so.
We need to start demanding more from the powers-that-be, and calling out integrity failures. And of course, we must first demand more from ourselves, including calling out integrity failures. It is then we may start to see politically driven decisions decline.
