The Ferguson Effect and its horrible cost on public safety

The Ferguson Effect is when police officers hold back when they shouldn’t.

A female officer who has served for 17 years on the Chicago police force was beaten by a man high on PCP.  She could have shot him, legally, but she chose not to. That’s the Ferguson Effect.

The assailant beat her unconscious, slamming her head against the pavement until she passed out.

Why did she choose not to fire her gun when she could have? The Chicago Police Superintendent said that the officer “thought she was going to die. She knew she should shoot this guy but she chose not to because she didn’t want her family or the department to go through the scrutiny the next day on national news.”

This woman was choosing to die rather than to use the firearm she had every right to use. Is this what we want to be happening? If you’re in a situation where an officer needs to save your life, do you want the officer to hesitate because they don’t want to be in the national spotlight?

We need to stand with our police officers because they are not white supremacist murderers. We also need to have discussions with the people that are concerned about what’s happening with policing nationwide.

We are the party that wants government responsibility. We are the party that wants the government to have less power. We want to see limits. 

African Americans are concerned about runaway police power. Conservatives are too! We’re about one set of rules for everyone. That’s our entire design as “Constitutionalists.”

As always, please listen to the full audio clip for complete context.