Kudos to the Chattanooga City Council for demanding not only answers but also action on the latest allegation of local police bullying and excessive force.
In long and very open discussions through several public meetings Tuesday, council members voiced their disgust and concerns over a video that came to light just over a week ago of a Chattanooga officer punching and cursing a compliant man during a March 2018 traffic stop.
Calling for an independent investigation by the district attorney's office into Officer Benjamin Piazza's behavior in the arrest of Fredrico Wolfe, Councilman Russell Gilbert and Councilwoman Carol Berz questioned how the department is comporting and policing itself.
"Someone had to see this. Someone must have thought it was justified," Gilbert said.
And Berz questioned why it took nearly a year for the video to surface, and for the officer to only then - after the Times Free Press published the video - be placed on paid suspension.
Council Chairman Ken Smith said, "I think there's a number of questions everybody wants to have the answers to."
And Councilman Jerry Mitchell said action against Chattanooga's excessive police force is long overdue.
"I hope we all approach this so we end up not just talking about something, because I've had enough. If the council needs to force change, we need to not be afraid of that," Mitchell said.
Most police officers are "outstanding individuals," Mitchell acknowledged, but "we have a history of police bullying in this town - I grew up with it and don't blame anyone who thinks so. We need to show real leadership and say we've had enough."
Indeed. But it's not just Chattanooga.
» On Dec. 3, a Chattanooga rapper in handcuffs was punched and kicked by a Hamilton County Sheriff's Office detective. A cellphone video captured the incident as officers arrested Charles Toney in connection with a grand jury indictment on charges of drug possession. The officer, who said Toney spit on him and bit his finger, has been suspended pending an investigation. The video shows only the officer punching Toney twice in the mouth then shaking his hand as if in pain.
» In November, a Chattanooga officer was arrested on charges of felony kidnapping and felony sexual battery after allegedly taking a woman caught shoplifting to his apartment, fondling her and telling her he wanted to have sex with her, according to an affidavit of complaint filed against the officer.
» On Oct. 21, a 27-year-old man woke up in Parkridge Medical Center East's intensive care unit after an East Ridge Police Department arrest left him with a chipped tooth, a hammering heart, a bruise the size of a grapefruit around his groin and more on his stomach, wrists and sides.
» In March 2017, a Hamilton County Sheriff's Department vehicle pursuit led to a beating so severe one of the suspect's testicles was ruptured. That incident resulted in a federal lawsuit against the sheriff's office.
We've said here before that there may be no harder job in our society than that of being a cop.
Police officers don't just patrol streets and watch for crime. They are also called on to be social workers, teachers, psychologists, negotiators, trainers, mystery solvers and MacGyver-like rescuers.
But all too often, the only real, sustained in-depth training they have in any of those fields is in aggressive pursuit and self-defense.
Chattanooga has a better-than-average community policing program - including "diversity immersion training" for new police cadets.
But it's obviously not enough, and our council is correct to demand not only answers but also action.
Good community policing comes from a police force that is publicly accountable, subject to the rule of law, respectful of human dignity and that intrudes into our lives only under certain limited circumstances.
Getting there takes a studied effort, by the community as well as by police and local governments.
On Tuesday, local activist Marie Mott called it "crazy and insidious" that the council continues to let the Chattanooga Police Department investigate itself after multiple charges of excessive force. If the community can't get justice in the council or the courts, Mott said, "we'll rise up and get justice in the streets."
She's right, but it needn't come to "justice in the streets." Mott and other activists from Concerned Citizens for Justice have asked for a diverse community board - not one that is mostly officers and other law enforcement officials - to investigate alleged police misconduct. It's a good idea, and one that works in other cities, including Knoxville.
For now, Hamilton County District Attorney Neal Pinkston has asked the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation to look into police body and dash camera footage that shows the most recent incident, and Councilman Chip Henderson said he has asked Chattanooga Police Chief David Roddy to speak at the council's public safety committee Tuesday.
Those are good first steps. Let's see some more.
The council - and community members - are right to be outraged when we don't see good policing.