The Misinformation Struggle: Combating Persistent Lies Against Law Enforcement
Into the Lion's Den: A Retired Officer Faces Off Against 20 Criminals
Kevin Donaldson did a much better job than I could have done. I couldn’t have even considered the job. I’m glad he did and now we can benefit from the unforeseen insights gained through the process.
Surrounded is a new format where one person defends their positions for an hour or more against a roomful, usually 20-30 people of opposing views. It’s a real lion’s den experience. For example in another episode, there is a 19-year-old Vice President Kamala supporter (and self-proclaimed proud debater) who faces off against 20 President Donald Trump supporters. Donaldson chose to participate in this experience facing off as a retired police officer against 20 criminals. He hosts The Suffering Podcast with thousands of subscribers.
The Problem of False Equivalence in Criminal Justice Debates
One of my objections to this setup is that is intended to provide platform for both sides of the justice system to share their viewpoints that it basically gives equal status to both sides. This has been a common issue in recent decades in the media emphasising the power imbalance in use of force scenarios between the police and criminals. Police are issued both offensive and defensive weapons to support their mission of fighting crime, protecting the community and transporting offenders to the booking office.
Crime, whether it is stealing or harming another is evil, and the police are not merely the other side of that coin.
This also drifts into a semantic dilemma where the police must be perfect and without fault to do their jobs. That’s not the case. The police protect all the citizens from the criminals, who victimize and exploit the vulnerable. The police are the virtuous and the criminals are predatory. Only the police defend and protect the people.
Humanizing the Badge: Donaldson's Effort to Break Stereotypes
Donaldson couldn’t have done a better job of humanizing the badge. He did his best to break down stereotypes on both sides. There were a good mix of individuals with personal experiences who were able to share their stories. For those who had a purely criminal background, they told stories void of details. For those who had experienced what they considered to be excessive attention were at the peak of their prolific crime era and their complaint was over enforcement.
For an unknown reason, an OnlyFans content creator was briefly in the hotseat but was part of the discussion seemingly only to tell us that her career is on that platform. The issues related to police encounters with mental health calls were examined. At several points, Donaldson took the risky position of speaking for all of law enforcement. It is this point that I take some pause with him and some of his stances. An individual, probably a national FOP president, would be properly credentialed to do this, but it’s also likely they wouldn’t do it in a million years.
To his credit, if he was still on the job, I would prefer being pulled over by Kevin Donaldson than many other cops. He presents as reasonable and professional though he refers a couple of times as being in the pre-Taser era. I don’t know if that was a department choice or just a preference to not get tased in annual training.
Debating in the Age of Misinformation: Law Enforcement's Uphill Battle
I believe little was achieved in that room during that session. That’s okay. What was revealed, is the power and prevalence of persistent lies against the noble profession of law enforcement. As a profession, what is the smart strategy to combat misinformation? What we are doing is not working!
Donaldson didn’t know the details of the Kim Potter Taser or firearm mix-up. Potter was unfortunately convicted for unintentionally using deadly force - in a deadly force encounter - where she thought she was delivering non-lethal force. Being more informed of that, and the fact that the Chauvin trial was going on at the same time could have provided more context to the YouTube audience of 2,468,938 views as of October 28, 2024. Lesson: be more knowledgeable than the audience you are debating.
Courage in the Court of Public Opinion
While I can think of a few retired law enforcement professionals who might have handled certain points better, Kevin Donaldson’s approach—unconventional as it was—had an impact beyond what I initially expected. By engaging in this tense format, he showed both the vulnerabilities and strengths of those who wear the badge. His willingness to step into the lion’s den revealed an important truth: the real battle is not just about law enforcement’s actions, but about how the public perceives those actions.
The chief takeaway is that the real value of this encounter was learning these persistent lies. This was a benefit that I couldn’t foresee when I first checked this out. With the exception of first person stories, it wouldn’t take much effort to arm every law enforcement employee, from the chief on down, with the accurate stats on arrest and use of force, both nationally and for their areas.
Donaldson’s courage and boldness serve as a reminder that while we might not always win in the court of public opinion, our continued commitment to truth remains distinctive of the best traditions of law enforcement.
Please keep all our nation’s peace officers in your prayers.
Roland Clee served a major Florida police department as a Community Service Officer for more than 26 years. His career included uniformed patrol, training, media relations, intelligence, criminal investigations, and chief’s staff. He writes the American Peace Officer newsletter, speaks at public safety, recruiting and leadership conferences and helps local governments and public safety agencies through his business, CommandStaffConsulting.com. His work is frequently featured on LawOfficer.com, the only law enforcement owned major media presence in the public safety realm.
He also serves as the Director of Engagement for Shepherds and Sheepdogs, LTD on the team hosting the inaugural conference in Orlando, May 12-14. Three days of exceptional speakers who will help you revolutionize the way we treat, train, and lead! Click below to find out more.
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It’s a fascinating debate format. Intentionally putting one person at a tactical disadvantage, which actually provides them a strategic advantage insofar as the audience can see they are outnumbered and gives them the benefit of the doubt.
Absolutely astute observation about how important perception is. I’ve debated with my officers about how the public viewed something they did, and I always use the mantra “perception is reality”