A reader asked me, referring to Mexico, “How could you live in a country that is so corrupt?” This was based partly on a cited incident in a story by Tim Donnelly entitled, Sanctuary Lost, in which Mr. Donnelly says,
“Almost 80% of the illegal aliens in Los Angeles County come from Mexico, where corruption is a way of life, where you are just as likely to be robbed and beaten by a policeman as helped.”[1]
For the record, I want to say that Mr. Donnelly makes some excellent points in his op-ed piece and I encourage you to go to the website I have cited in the footnote to read the entire article for context. I don’t agree with everything Mr. Donnelly says about this issue but would love to sit down over a cup of coffee and hash it out. I think he sounds like an interesting fellowsomeone I would like to meet.
I take issue, however, with Mr. Donnelly’s statement about Mexico, “where corruption is a way of life, where you are just as likely to be robbed and beaten by a policeman as helped”.[2]
He cites as his proof an incident reported by Sara Carter. I spoke with Ms. Carter about Pel Hernandez, the subject of her reporting, whom the Mexican police allegedly beat so severely that he suffered loss of his vision.
I was not able to get much information from Ms. Carter. I was not able to get, for example, who the witnesses were to this attack (whether they were credible) or what the circumstances were. I was not able to ascertain what the provocation was for the alleged beating. I was not able to ascertain whether there was credible evidence the police committed the act. There was no photographic or video evidence.
As far as I know, the beating by police is only what Mr. Hernandez alleges.
However, let’s say for the sake of argument that Mr. Hernandez is telling the truth. Let’s even say that he was involved in a criminal act of some sort and was resisting arrest. Is that any provocation for beating the man so severely that he is now blind?
Probably not.
I suppose the ultimate answer would depend on if Mr. Hernandez were armed. Then the beating and its consequence is better than being shot by the Mexican police.
I was not there. No one is forthcoming with more evidence for me to report.
What sticks like a “bee in my bonnet” is that this incident is cited as a sweeping statement to prove that,
Mexico is where corruption is a way of life, where you are just as likely to be robbed and beaten by a policeman as helped.
Am I wrong here? Am I reading into this? Does not the language of this statement explicitly say that in Mexico you are liable to be the victim of the Mexican police as helped?
I find this logic astounding!
Using the same reasoning, let’s take a look at American police behavior and see if we can come up with the same conclusion that in America you are just as liable to be beaten as helped.
Rodney” Glen King (born April 2, 1965, in Sacramento, California) was an African-American motorist who, while videotaped by a bystander (George Holliday), was struck repeatedly by Los Angeles police officers (LAPD) during a police stop on March 3, 1991. [3]
According to Amnesty International: “There is a widespread and persistent problem of police brutality across the USA. Police officers have beaten and shot unresisting suspects; they have misused batons, chemical sprays, and electro-shock weapons; they have injured or killed people by placing them in dangerous restraint holds.”[4]
Excessive force has been used against mentally ill or disturbed people, who are engaged in nonthreatening behavior. In Fairfield, California in June 1996, James Parkinson, an unarmed, mentally ill man running naked around a swimming pool, died following being sprayed by police with pepper spray, hit with a taser gun and shackled face-down. [5]
Police brutality changes journalist’s life By Art Marroquin, Cal State Fullerton June 14, 1996
“Racially motivated police beatings are stories most reporters want to cover. But for minority reporters, these beatings are more than stories. They represent horrors minorities potentially could suffer everyday. Such was the case for syndicated columnist Roberto Rodriguez. Five Whittier, California, policemen cracked his skull when he was 24 years old.”[6]
And to what should be everyone’s horror the list goes on and on and on–right here in America!
Go to the Internet search engine and type in this search term: Police brutality in America and you will get to spend quite a bit of time reading more than 697,000 hits on this subjectRIGHT HERE IN AMERICA!
Shall we use these incidents to paint the picture with a large and broad-brush that
AMERICA is where corruption is a way of life, where you are just as likely to be robbed and beaten by a policeman as helped?
Based on these reports of police corruption in America shall we indeed tell the world that if you come to the U.S. you are just as likely to be beaten senseless by the American police as helped?
I guess my point is that I truly do not understand the statement coming from the mouth of an American, “Mexico is where corruption is a way of life, where you are just as likely to be robbed and beaten by a policeman as helped.”
Maybe we should have that cup of coffee, Mr. Donnelly, Sir, and perhaps a little Danish and hash this out.
I’m buying!
[1] Sanctuary Lost By Tim Donnelly Jun 4, 2005, 22:44;
[2] Ibid
[3]
[4] Police Brutality in American;
[5] Ibid
[6]
Doug Bower is a freelance writer, Syndicated Columnist, and book author. His most recent writing credits include The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Houston Chronicle, The Philadelphia Inquirer, and Transitions Abroad. He is a columnist with Cricketsoda.com and the Magic City Morning Star, and more than 21 additional online magazines. He lives with his wife in Guanajuato, Mexico. His newest book is, Mexican Living: Blogging it from a Third World Country
FREE CHAPTER: CLICK HERE
Then click on “Preview This Book”
