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It’s a horrifying sight: two boys, just seven and nine years old, armed with a loaded handgun facing off against Albuquerque, New Mexico police. We don’t want to think about what might happen next. But, despite clumsy de-escalation attempts with rubber bullets and conversation, cops wrestle the gun away. The children survive—this time.
Albuquerque’s sheriff says officers may have used deadly force had the gun, belonging to the boys’ incarcerated father, not malfunctioned when they fired it. Deputies had responded to trauma at their residence at least 50 times before.
But how often have police instead weaponized trauma to justify adultifying and brutalizing Black children? Why can’t they extend empathy and caution to children like Tamir Rice and Aiyana Stanley Jones? And, even if every officer woke up wanting and able to treat Black children as they treat white children, would we be safe?
Police “de-escalation” is systemically mediocre. In 2021, just hundreds of 18,000 agencies began training. But it’s often a few hours a year, and officers aren’t necessarily rigorously practicing complex skills. Basic lessons include stopping force when people aren’t resisting, or talking instead of shooting first. Cops still lethally fail, especially compared to mobile crisis units and other alternatives.
Whether police view children as de-escalation rehearsals or target practice, their precious lives are still at risk every time they encounter officers alleging to “protect and serve.” The children are ours. And they deserve better.