America needs nationally standardized protocols for all police use of force. We see an almost daily parade of horrors on TV, so that almost any interaction with police today primes the subconscious and hormonal pumps of both citizen and officer. Adrenaline speeds up the heart and the breathing. The skin flushes or pales. The person sweats and pupils dilate, which make it appear that they may fight or run.

The officer suffers the same response. This triggers a mutually reinforcing cycle of danger for everyone, particularly if the police approach with threatening body language, drawn guns and/or verbal abuse.

Police need training in de-escalation and calling early for backup. Every police encounter must be recorded. There must be an absolute ban on beating or manhandling a suspect that starts instantaneously when resistance stops, because the mind says you will feel more pain and be more severely injured if you just lie there. Handcuffed persons may never be jerked around or thrown onto car hoods. Fleeing suspects may not be shot.

We are lucky to have community policing everywhere in Maine. In 35 years working in Maine emergency rooms, I never once saw an abused prisoner. But my fear escalates anywhere else. Do I put my hands on the wheel or out the window? What happens when I instinctively reach down to lift my painful hip? Will my umbilical hernia burst if I’m thrown onto my car’s hood?

A Black trauma surgeon was in tears on national TV about losing several white Dallas policemen after a shooting, but also being in visceral fear of them when out and about.

Sen. Collins must condemn Trump’s efforts to escalate the national cycle of violence against Black Lives Matter for political gain and work for reform.

Death penalty appeals must not take 8 minutes and 48 seconds.

 

Paul A. Liebow, MD FACEP

Bucksport and Great Cranberry Island  

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