We can't 'trust' a failed system: Column

Someone needs to tell Ohio attorney general Mike DeWine that trust is something that is earned, not just given on demand. It's a lesson that clearly needs refreshing in light of the police shooting of John Crawford, a 21-year-old black man who was killed on August 5th at a Wal-Mart in Beavercreek, a suburb of Dayton. Crawford wasn't armed but was carrying a pellet gun he apparently intended to buy. According to the Sandusky Register, police say Crawford "waved an air rifle at customers and refused officers' orders to drop it." Crawford's father and their attorney, who have seen 4 minutes of the store's surveillance video, deny this account and say he was not only talking on the cell phone but was likely unaware of the police presence before they killed him.

Releasing the video of the shooting, as the family wants to do, could help clear these questions up, but DeWine is against it. "Trust the system," he said. "There will be ample time later for people to criticize what is done, and I'm fully aware of that, but let the judicial process work."

The Sandusky Register has filed a request to see the video, which they argue is public record. "You are unlikely to receive any responsive records by your arbitrary deadline," was the reply they received from the attorney general's office.

Telling the public and the media to forget public accountability and to "trust the system" instead is a problem no matter what the context, but it's particularly distressing in light of recent protests in Ferguson, Missouri that have shown exactly why citizens, particularly black members of the public, have so little trust in the system. Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson shot 18-year-old Michael Brown, another unarmed black man, and every action the police in the area have taken since suggests that they're far more interested in protecting each other from accountability than they are in earning any kind of trust from the citizens.

First the police responded to largely peaceful protests with a shocking show of force, rolling out heavily militarized equipment and being photographed, repeatedly, aiming loaded guns at peaceful protesters. (This behavior can't even be called "militarized", because, as Adam Weinstein of Gawkerpointed out, "The U.S. armed forces exercise more discipline and compassion than these cops.") Reporters were arrested and tear gas was released, all behavior which dramatically tends to reduce trust in the system.

The police department stonewalled attempts by protesters and media to get more information about the shooting. What information they have allowed to trickle out, they always made sure to release alongside information clearly intended to discredit the victim. A video of Michael Brown shoplifting cigars the day of the shooting was released, and only later did the police department admit that Officer Wilson did not know about the robbery when he stopped Brown, who he only suspected of walking in the street. The police made a fuss over the fact that Brown smoked marijuana, even though the much larger scandal should be the anemic incident report that doesn't mention important details about the shooting or its motivations, only just noting that it happened.

Even the memorial laid by family and community members to honor Michael Brown was treated disrespectfully. Mother Jones reports that multiple sources claim a police officer allowed his dog to urinate on the memorial. The memorial then was run over by a car, on a street where only police cars were allowed to drive.Trusting the system is impossible to do when faced with such in-your-face contempt.

Ideally, the public would be able to trust law enforcement and the justice system, but that kind of trust requires transparency and accountability. All too often, as the situations in Ohio and Missouri show, what the public instead gets is stonewalling, disrespect, and even abuse from the people that supposedly work for us to protect us. "Trust the system" is a nice idea. But the behavior that the public all too often sees from police and law enforcement is instead reminiscent of Cartman from the show South Park yelling, "Respect mah authoritah!"

Amanda Marcotte blogs about feminism and politics.

In addition to its own editorials, USA TODAY publishes diverse opinions from outside writers, including our Board of Contributors . To read more columns like this, go to the opinion front page or follow us on twitter @USATopinion or Facebook.