“Well” she said, “I hope we don’t have to get used to it.”
It was just one little comment by a young woman on the streets of Brussels in response to a reporter asking what she thought about the overwhelming police and army presence this past week. There were many other comments…and it would have been easy to lose sight of this one. For me it was the most important.
The events in Paris were ghastly and horrific…intentionally so…and they provoked a response that highlighted the holes in our whole system of policing. In Ottawa a year ago the attack on Parliament Hill took only two lives and police were on the scene and shooting in less than five minutes…but that wasn’t because they knew it was coming. It was because the Hill is surrounded by police from at least three departments. Even so…we discovered that they barely talk to each other…and communication on the day was hopelessly garbled. In France I have no idea how many police forces and intelligence organizations they have…not to mention the army and it’s many arms. Belgium, I assume, is similar. With all of this force available it is certain that many attacks have been averted. Yet it only takes one like the Paris situation to expose the in-security of the security forces. They are not intended for this. Their reaction last week was to flood the streets with masked, helmeted, armoured, heavily armed, camouflaged, vigilant, intimidating men and women in the thousands.
The juxtaposition of these military and paramilitary soldiers in full battle mode alongside ordinary people going about their business was stark. And that was what the young woman was talking about. She didn’t want to get used to seeing hundreds of outrageously over-equipped over armed troops all day, everyday as she tried to live her life.
And to be reasonable, they won’t be there all of the time. The numbers will decrease…the presence will become more discreet. blacked out trucks will hide in alleys and side streets…the conspicuous military hardware will go into the trunks of police vehicles. The level of alert will remain high for a long time but the daunting display of warriors will calm down.
But that doesn’t solve the problem. There are two issues here aside from the obvious need to keep people safe from terrorists. First there is the elevation of trauma of being surrounded by intimidating gunmen…regardless of whether they’re supposed to be protecting you. The very fact that they’re there…armed and ready means that if the bad guys come…there’ll be two parties shooting holes in the scenery with you in the middle. That’s a scary thought. Secondly there’s the psychological impact of being one of those guys in the camouflage uniforms with masks up to their eyes and every conceivable walking weapon strapped or clipped or tied to their body. They have to stay alert of course, and it’s the sort of alert that says you need to be suspicious of ordinary looking citizens walking in ordinary looking streets.
I have carried a gun…it does something to your head. I can’t imagine what’s going on the heads of these people. The adrenaline goes up when you put that gear on…stays high and spikes when something suspicious happens…and it doesn’t go away immediately when you take all of that stuff off. Adrenaline is addictive…and toxic.
So I’m with her…I hope we don’t have to get used to this.
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