Asking Questions in the Wake of George Floyd

May 13, 2021
Caleb McNeil argues that just like our brothers and sisters in blue, members of the fire service must constantly re-evaluate the way that we do our job.

On May 25, 2020, Minneapolis Police Department Officer Derek Chauvin knelt on the neck of George Floyd, slowly draining the life from his body. Outrage and protest over the inappropriate use of force and systemic racism within our nation’s law enforcement followed. While the national attention focuses on our brothers and sisters in blue, there are lessons that firefighters would be wise to learn before the focus is trained on us.

The footage of George Floyd’s death is chilling. What begins as a 9-1-1 call over a counterfeit $20 bill ends in an unnecessary death. Throughout the footage, Floyd is agitated and upset but not combative. He is a large man, and he resists the officer’s attempts to restrain him, not with malice but out of fear and confusion. As bystanders film and yell at police, one domino tips into another, with Floyd taken to the ground and Chauvin kneeling on his neck.

For 9 minutes and 30 seconds, Chauvin’s knee remains in place, while Floyd goes from speaking to cries for air to agonal respirations to silence, and still, Chauvin’s knee continues to hold him down.

Also present are three other police officers who watch and participate in the events. They remain silent, while bystanders, including an off-duty Minneapolis firefighter, cry out that Floyd is dying.

Addressing this topic makes me nervous. It carries strong feelings and baggage. Chances are that you, like me, have an opinion on it and you feel it strongly.

My wife recently listened to a podcast that featured an interview with a blogger. She shared with me that in it, the blogger expressed that publishing anything that doesn’t scare you probably isn't worth it.

With that in mind, I find myself compelled to dive into what scares me, a topic that has so many angles that it’s impossible to see them all. I believe that all of us must grapple with these complexities, particularly those of us who are in public safety who find that the issues are our challenges to deal with.

Similar factors

I watched the footage of that day through the lens of a firefighter who has wrestled with many patients on EMS calls: It isn’t only law enforcement that uses force to subdue the public. My very first ride-along as an EMT student included an incident that involved a mental health patient that ended with all three of us who were on the ambulance fighting to lash the man to our cot. We used our bodies to hold him down while we tied his arms and legs to the bed and forced a spit mask over his head. I was shocked at how quickly things escalated, unsure of how to respond.

Firefighters and EMS personnel are all too familiar with the descent into the murky waters of use of force. The truth is, over the years, I probably crossed lines and I let my frustration and anger get the best of me. I might have failed to properly de-escalate a patient. I might have used force in ways that weren’t warranted. What about you? Did you cross a line and use force beyond what was needed? Did you watch someone on your crew escalate a situation when a little tact might have solved the problem?

Police departments all over the country are being forced to evaluate the way they do their job. They are examining whether there are systemic issues that cause these problems. They are asking whether the culture of their department might have lost sight of its mission to serve and protect. They are looking internally to see whether there has been adequate training in de-escalation and whether their policies on the use of force must be changed.

We in EMS and the fire service don’t carry guns or make arrests, but we face challenges similar to those of our law enforcement brothers and sisters. We carry needles that are filled with fluids that have the potential to kill. We stock spit masks and soft restraints. We use our bodies to subdue combative patients. Already, the nation has turned its attention on us in conjunction with the death of Elijah McClain. Was racial profiling involved in that incident? Could the medics have defused the situation in other ways?

It’s difficult for law enforcement to change when a magnifying glass is being held over it, scrutinizing all of the dirt from its past. The magnifying glass hasn’t yet focused on our profession, but we would be wise to look for how change is needed individually, culturally and as organizations.

Complicated situations

When we examine an incident, we are obligated to ask deeper questions, such as what caused each individual to act the way that he/she did? There is more to each story than just what is caught on camera. Every player carries a back story. I don’t know the hearts of the officers who were involved in the Floyd killing. I don’t know their history or background. I don’t know what calls they had already responded to, what their stress level was or how they slept the night before. I don’t know whether they have overt racist beliefs or what their implicit biases are. None of these justify Floyd’s death, but they might have played a role.

As we all know, these situations are complicated. Members of law enforcement and the fire service see a side of society that most people don't. We walk into the worst of situations. We see the murders, the abuses and the domestic violence. We enter houses that are filled to the ceiling with trash. We see the way that drugs wreck lives. We watch those who have able bodies and idle hands abuse systems. We struggle to not allow the compounding effect of these exposures to leave us jaded and negative.

It’s important to acknowledge that we don’t walk into every call with fresh eyes and rested bodies. There are mornings when we carry baggage from our home life to work with us. We set our gear on the rig while a family member is sick at home, or we check the rig fresh off of a fight with our significant other. We respond to calls after spending the whole night dealing with drunks who mouthed off to us. We see the same patient over and over again, and we know how that individual will act, and we are tired of it.

Over the years, we form biases. We know the areas where we expect trouble, the types who will cause us problems. We walk into certain calls on edge, expecting the worst. This is our reality.

We must take the time to look inward. We must do the difficult work of developing the emotional intelligence that allows us to understand ourselves. Every patient demands our respect, and every human deserves dignity. The homeless person who is asleep on the corner should get the same treatment as the millionaire in a mansion. We know this, but it isn’t easy to do.

How do we combat our own biases and see each call with fresh eyes? We must examine ourselves for the places where damaging beliefs and years of calls have unbalanced the scales. It is incumbent upon us to understand when we assume the worst and respond without evaluating the situation fairly, to recognize when our blood starts to boil before we act inappropriately. It’s going to be different for me than it is for you. We must evaluate ourselves and root out the places where the change is needed.

However, this alone won’t solve our problems. There will be calls when our emotions get the best of us, when we fail to recognize the dominoes as they topple into each other. In these moments, we rely on the strength of our teams and in the collective soul of our fellow firefighters.

Ultimately, four officers will be prosecuted for their actions that day in Minneapolis. Only one knelt on the neck of Floyd—and he was found guilty by a jury of his peers—yet they are all held responsible. When one of us crosses a line, we all cross that line if we don’t stop that individual, and we each individually are responsible for the actions of the team.

Our cultures can make it difficult to speak up. Two of the officers who are being prosecuted were new to the Minneapolis Police Department. They graduated from the academy weeks before and were a few shifts into life on the streets. They still were being shadowed by a senior officer, one who was leading the march toward the end of a human life. What internal pressure did they face that day from their own organization? Pressure to watch and learn and keep their mouths shut? Pressure to follow the orders of their trainer? Why did they feel afraid or unable to speak up?

These issues plague our fire department cultures as well. We must empower every person to speak up when that person sees something wrong. We must respect each individual’s values and life experiences even when that person is new to the job. If this isn’t happening in the firehouse, it never will happen on a call.

We are responsible to one another. I need my teammates to pull me back when I have lost sight of what is right.

De-escalation

We must participate organizationally in training and discussions on de-escalation and use of force. When I watched footage of Floyd’s death, I felt the tension of the early moments of the incident, before the scale tipped. I was transported back to the incidents that I faced when one domino fell into another and lines were blurred. I was gripped by how quickly things can turn from a normal call to a life-altering event.

Often, we don’t feel the moment coming until it’s too late. We are participating in the drama, feeling the emotions, caught up in the escalating tension. Only practice can teach us how to avoid these situations. We must train our minds to remain calm, and we must learn how to detach from the moment. What training is needed in our organizations to prepare us for success and keep us from crossing lines? Are there discussions that must be had or policies that must be changed surrounding the use of force?

Like our brothers and sisters in blue, fire departments must evaluate the way that we do our job. We must examine whether there are systemic issues that cause problems. We must ask whether the culture of our department might have lost sight of its mission to serve and protect. We must look internally to see whether there has been adequate training in de-escalation and whether policies regarding the use of force must be created or changed.

We will face another situation where right and wrong hang in the balance, waiting for our actions to tip the moment one way or another. Are we prepared? If not, a day will come when the nation will turn its attention on us. What do we need to change today, and who will pull a domino from the line and prevent the whole group from toppling? Have you looked deep into your soul to find the places where change is needed? Is your team empowered to call you out when you lose control? Has your organization given you the training that you need?

We took an oath to serve and protect our community. Growth always is needed. Don’t wait until it’s too late.

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