‘Be A Parent’: TX Sheriff Blames Police Violence On Mom And Dad

THROCKMORTON COUNTY, TX — One law enforcement official in Texas is looking to put a stop to online speculation about police misconduct, writing on social media that it is up to parents to help prevent negative altercations between police and citizens.

Doc Wigington, sheriff of Throckmorton County in the West Texas plains, took to social media Friday to decry unruly youths and bad parenting — two things he suggests could be the real reason for poor relations between authorities and the people they are sworn to protect and serve.

"In the news cycle over the last few weeks have been stories of young people being shot by police in some type of altercation or another," Wigington wrote in the post. "The public is quick to jump on the officers involved, stating a need for more training, better de-escalation tactics, and possibly shooting the subject in the leg."

Wigington addressed the proposed solutions from what he called "armchair police," saying firing a gun always equates to deadly force, even if the gun strikes a leg instead of a torso.

"When the use of deadly force is warranted that is exactly what it is DEADLY FORCE, not flesh wound force, not any other words to describe it just deadly force," the post reads. "Officers have to make decisions of life and death in a matter of seconds that attorney's, judges, and the general public can debate for years and possibly forever. "

According to Wigington’s post, efforts to de-escalate tense situations are also often futile.

"[T]hese only work when the subject is willing to listen and not in a rage," the sheriff wrote. "Just like when we as parents had a child throwing a fit, they would not listen well the same goes for adults."

Wigington said the onus to avoid troubling interactions between citizens and police should be on parents and careful, intentional upbringing.

"Now as for the final thought, IT IS NOT THE JOB OF THE OFFICER TO RAISE YOUR KID," Wigington wrote. "Parents need to take responsibility for the actions of their FAILURE to raise their child to be respectful, responsible and listen to authority figures."

Manners, responsibility, work ethic and respect are key lessons teenagers who wish to avoid police should learn, the sheriff said.

"By the time that Law Enforcement has to get involved in your child's life its usually past time to be a parent," he wrote.

According to Mapping Police Violence — a research collaborative that tracks data on police violence — 335 people have been killed by police in 2021.

The study looked at state data sets between 2013 and 2020 found that Black people in Texas are 2.3 times more likely to be killed by police than white people. Latin people are 0.9 times more likely to be killed in the Lone Star State.

Despite incomplete data sets, the study found that authorities in the Throckmorton County Sheriff’s Department arrest mostly low-level offenders. Between 2013 and 2019, 43 percent of the department’s arrests were for minor crimes, and only 28 percent were for violent crimes.

The study found no one died while in department custody between 2013 and 2020. In the same time frame, no civilians filed misconduct complaints against the department.