Leadership Thought:  A Lesson I Learned in Protesting Police Authority.

Dear Friend,

I was recently involved in  protesting the actions by the police. No, I was not participating in a peaceful protest gone south. There were no rubber bullets or tear gas, or police bullying tactics. I was simply sitting quietly in front of my computer while involved in a zoom call with the judge of the Red Bank Municipal Court preparing to fight a traffic ticket I received.

In June I was stopped by a policeman who pulled me over while on my way to visit a church member who was in Red Bank’s Riverview Hospital. He nabbed me for doing 36 in a 25mph zone as well as failure to pull over in a timely manner. In his words he felt I was trying to avoid apprehension.  I told him I didn’t know I was speeding (there were no signs of a change from a 35 mph zone to a 25 mph speed limit), and I had no reason to believe his blinking lights were for me as I had no idea I was speeding or that I was the subject of his pursuit. This policeman was in no mood to accept my explanation, and he handed me a ticket for speeding and trying to avoid apprehension by failing to pull over when signaled to do so.

As you can imagine, I was none too happy about the episode, and so at a friend and church member’s suggestion who happened to be a policeman, I decided  to fight the charges. I hadn’t had a ticket in years, and I didn’t want my insurance rates to be impacted by this incident.

The prosecutor threw out the speeding ticket, but he told me “I will dismiss one of the charges, but I can’t dismiss both of them even if I wanted to. So, the end of my five-minute zoom traffic court appearance cost me two points and a $114 dollar fine for court costs and a conviction for failing to pull over even though I was never aware that I was directed to do so.

But in spite of my displeasure, I wasn’t ready to do any looting or burn down any building or cry out for police defunding, for I recognized they have a job to perform.

I don’t wish to make light of police brutality, or racism, or any of the internal changes that may need to take place within law enforcement. I know there are good policeman and bad policeman, just as there are good lawyers and doctors and bad ones, but let’s not get caught up in irrational decisions  because some policemen have not always acted in honorable or prudent ways. To me it is illogical to talk about defunding the very police who are sworn to protect us. Instead let’s do what we can to correct the areas within law enforcement  that need improvement, and encourage the kind of changes that all of us would like to see, but let’s stop the hue and cry for police defunding.

I just heard a similar response from a school principal in Minneapolis who was televised as she spoke on behalf of over 50 other school principals who had lined two city blocks to protest the city council’s decision to defund the police. This despite the substantial uptick in crime, the continued looting and burning of buildings, including the police department headquarters, and the blatant lawlessness that was being evidenced throughout the city.

Proverbs 28:2 reminds us that “When a country is rebellious, it has many rulers, but a ruler with discernment and knowledge maintains order.” Yes, unrighteousness in a nation produces political instability and wisdom promotes social order and long rule.

In the book of Romans, Paul reminds us that we are to “be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore, whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed and those who resist will incur judgment. For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval” (Romans 13:1-3).

No, I was not happy with the policeman who stopped me for what he viewed as two separate traffic violations, and I was not satisfied by the judge’s refusal to drop only one of the two charges against me, but I fully understand the role they both played as my governing authorities, and even though I disagreed, I had no right to take things into my own hands and defy their decisions.

I close my thoughts with the comments of Oswald Chambers who writes “Self-chosen authority is an impertinence. Jesus said that the ones in this world exercise authority, but that in his kingdom it is not so; no one exercises authority over another because in his kingdom the king is servant of all. If a saint tries to exercise authority, it is a proof that he is not rightly related to Jesus Christ.” Enough said!!!!!

Yours in faith and friendship,

Tom