Police Training Must Include :
Reverence For Life
Editorial by Jim Gerrish
The phrase "Reverence for Life" was first
described by Albert Schweitzer in 1946. Dr. Schweitzer believed
that Reverence for Life develops from observation of the
world around us. In Civilization and Ethics, written
in 1946, he expressed it in these words:
"Ethics is nothing other than Reverence for Life. Reverence
for Life affords me my fundamental principle of morality, namely,
that good consists in maintaining, assisting and enhancing life,
and to destroy, to harm or to hinder life is evil."
— Albert Schweitzer
James Brabazon (the Author of the Biography of Albert Schweitzer ,
written in 2000) defined Reverence for Life with the
following statement:
"Reverence for Life says that the only thing we are really
sure of is that we live and want to go on living. This is
something that we share with everything else that lives, from
elephants to blades of grass—and, of course, every human
being. So we are brothers and sisters to all living things, and
owe to all of them the same care and respect, that we wish for
ourselves."
— James Brabazon
In light of the recent death of Eric Garner, who died on July 17, 2014,
as the result of being put into an illegal chokehold by New York
police officer Daniel Pantaleo, we need to make some resolutions
to see that this never happens again.
No solutions are being offered by race baiters
and street protesters, who want to link this death to charges of
racism, but Garner's own daughter Erica, in an interview with CNN's Don Lemon, said that she
felt that it was pride and not racism that led to the officer
choking her father.
Nor do any of the politicians heard from thus
far have real solutions for keeping this tragedy from happening
again.
New York Police Commissioner William Bratton
ordered an extensive review of the NYPD's training procedures,
specifically focusing on the appropriate amount of force that can
be used while detaining a suspect, but that has started a legal
debate over what constitutes a chokehold instead of coming up
with a real solution. Still, I feel that the Police Commissioner
is capable of making a real change to the way young new
candidates for the police department are taught, if he will agree
to establish a "Reverence For Life" as part of that
training.
The same should be part of every high school and
college curriculum and taught to all youth in their formative
years, but there is no way to accomplish that. We can't force the
gang members and street thugs to change their ways of thinking
about life by adopting a "Reverence For Life," but we
can surely mandate that training to police officers in police
academies everywhere. It could also be mandatory for all military
personnel as part of their training how to serve and protect. It
is a solution that can be implemented immediately and without
cost by those in charge of training young people everywhere. It
may take years to transform our society to develop a true Reverence
For Life, but it is worth the effort to try.