Unfinished business

For some of us old enough to have lived through the civil rights movement and the Vietnam War, there certainly are echoes of another time and the opportunity to understand today’s demands through the lens of prior mistakes.

Because that is what today’s movement is about — unfinished business and the wrong lessons learned from the social unrest of the 1960s and the terrorist attacks of the 1990s and 2000s. What we have today is the opportunity to address the mistakes from another time by public policy leaders and law enforcement.

Confronted then with angry protesters who could overwhelm the streets and shut down cities, law enforcement, in the vernacular of now, tooled up. And, along the way, they became the sun around which public budgets were forced to orbit.

The response to civil unrest that overwhelmed law enforcement was not to address the underlying causes of that unrest, it was to militarize the police — to provide gushers of money for tools, equipment and weapons. The widely accepted policy was to be able to respond with superior force.

Then came President Bill Clinton, who cleverly seized the tough-on-crime turf from conservatives and pushed for a dramatic ramp-up in the number of police all across America. Not more training, more cops. It is undoubtedly one of the reasons we have more people in prison than any other nation in the world.

And then came the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, and the justifiable reverence for all those police officers who ran toward trouble. They were heroes. Deservedly so. And all across America, cities dramatically improved the pay of police and approved generous pension benefits.

Fifty years later, all across America, public safety dominates city budgets.

In the end, this is what the “defund police” movement is all about, despite the poor choice of words. Redirect the money to the core problems facing a community that feels justifiably angry and spend time and money to retrain police to practice interaction not confrontation.

It has been my good fortune to spend a lot of my journalistic career in the company of cops. Most of them are dedicated and smart and thoughtful and caring. The best of them are good listeners and are eager to defuse a situation. They can tell you story after story, with justifiable pride, of how they found a way to avoid violence and the escalation of trouble.

Let’s reward that.

IN OTHER NEWS: For a brief while, San Mateo County Supervisor David Canepa’s Facebook page featured a photo of a campaign button that read: “David Canepa for Lt. Governor 2026.”

It has since been taken down, not long after I asked Canepa about it.

Here’s what he had to say, with the caveat that it’s difficult to capture fully not only what he said but how he said it — a light-hearted tone suggesting he doesn’t take this seriously but he wouldn’t mind if other people did. Anyway: “I may be doing it. A constituent made me a little digital button and it’s flourishing.” 

Then, in a rush of words, he offered this political analysis: He was just re-elected (unopposed) to a second term. Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis was just elected in 2018 and would be termed out in 2026, assuming she was re-elected in 2022. He just formed his own committee for his own re-election in 2024.  

“It has never been done in San Mateo County,” Canepa said, “where someone from the county has jumped from the Board of Supervisors to lieutenant governor. We do so many great things in San Mateo County.”

He concluded: “It might be something I just may do.”

CLEANUP ON AISLE THREE: Last week’s column had a quote that not only was inaccurate but was misattributed. It was 1960s civil rights activist H. Rap Brown who said “Violence is as American as cherry pie.” You can read some pretty interesting stuff online about the comment and why he said cherry not apple. Thanks to Menlo College Professor Melissa Michelson for the correct citation. … Last week’s column also referenced graffiti that read “We gon’ be alright.” The Daily Journal’s very own Austin Walsh noted it’s probably a reference to Kendrick Lamar’s powerful rap and video of the same title. I appreciate any effort to stem the tide of rapidly advancing geezer-hood.

YEP, THAT’LL DO IT: The San Mateo County Harbor Commission, beset on many fronts, voted last week to censure Commissioner Sabrina Brennan for her behavior at a meeting in April.

Mark Simon is a veteran journalist, whose career included 15 years as an executive at SamTrans and Caltrain. He can be reached at marksimon@smdailyjournal.com.