Anti-Vax Police Officers, Police Brutality, and Racial Injustice

Anti-vax police officers aren’t surprising at all, considering decades of corruption in law enforcement.

Time and time again United States police officers prove it’s not the people they live to serve and protect. On the same day Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot announced city employees will be required to be vaccinated against COVID-19, John Catanzara, Fraternal Order of Police president, told Chicago Sun-Times it’s a “Hell no” from him and even went as far as comparing the mandate to Nazi Germany.

Across the country, many police officers are resigning or threatening to resign because of the vaccine mandate. I thought these were the people that were put in power to keep our communities safe, yet so many of them are perfectly fine with ignoring public health regulations. As if the police were not deadly enough! Officers refusing the vaccine is just another form of violence inflicted by police.

What Anti-Vaxxers and Police Ideology Have in Common:

People who oppose vaccines, and people who compare mask and vaccine mandates to Nazi Germany, often believe thier freedom is somehow being threatened. They accuse their blatant disregard for health and safety as their own right. Perfect example of abusers playing victims. Kind of reminds me of police officers.

Despite their gun and badge, police officers (like Catanzara) have this skewed idea that they are an oppressed minority and it has everything to do with the way U.S. law enforcers are trained. In the article “What the police really believe” Vox explains the tenets of American police ideology:

Officers are conditioned to see themselves as constantly in danger and that the only way to guarantee survival is to dominate the citizens they’re supposed to protect. The police believe they’re alone in this fight.

Police officers are trained to believe their line of work is “me versus them”. I think the whole “Blue Lives Matter” moment is a great example of this. It was never about bringing awareness to first responders, but a direct response to the Black Lives Matter movement, which fought for racial justice and also the defunding of American police. Police felt threatened and they reacted. They reacted aggressively.

How This Affects POC and Police Officers Alike:

In the article “How Racial Segregation and Policing Intersect in America” Tufts sociologist, Daanika Gordon, stated:

...predominantly Black neighborhoods are simultaneously over-policed when it comes to surveillance and social control, and under-policed when it comes to emergency services.

Police have already been targeting POC. And the COVID-19 crisis has disproportionately affected POC communities from risk of exposure, to access to testing. And on top of all that, coronavirus infections were the leading cause of death for police officers last year. First responders' line of duty involves close contact with the community, and if they aren’t vaccinated, that risks infection to the people they are meant to protect and serve.