So... you know how all the police associations unify and publish /
present in media the same narrative during all the recent "white officer
shoots unarmed black man" incidents?
The silence of the same police associations in the wake of the Walter Scott murder is deafening.
I'm a big fan of effective, efficient, community focused police.
They're there to protect us, we should be there to support them. When
that breaks down we get police departments who fight wars against our own
people and a frightened, cornered, occupied population. Every encounter
is a potential shooting, a potential assault, every incident puts
everyone in extreme danger, and people on all sides flip the fuck out.
...and the unarmed colored folks are doing the dying.
I want my son growing up in a world where police are respected, trusted, loved and fiercely protected by their communities so they can do their jobs: providing essential services and protection to the communities they serve.
Until then I get to worry that, even though we have the privilege of living in an area with great local police, if my son who is half latino stays outside enough and gets a little too brown or ends up in the wrong area or hangs with brown or black friends, he may feel he has to run when he sees the police instead of giving a friendly wave and a smile.
Here's hoping individual officers step up publicly, condemn this shooting, and reaffirm their own commitment to protecting the people they serve so we can restore a little sanity and start working on fixing our problems.
In the meantime, here's an incomplete but rolling recent list of "excessive use of force against minorities" incidents.
c/o The Chicago Tribune
FBI investigating death of teen shot 16 times by Chicago cop
Chicago police officers trailed the knife-wielding teen for nearly a half-mile last October, from a trucking yard where he'd allegedly been trying to break into vehicles through the parking lot of a Burger King and onto a busy street in the Archer Heights neighborhood.
...with family commentary on the settlement from the Chicago Sun-Times.
c/o The Guardian
Michael Slager radioed in Taser claim six seconds after firing at Walter Scott:
Analysis of police audio synced with video raises further questions about whether officers performed any CPR on Walter Scott after he was shot eight times
I want my son growing up in a world where police are respected, trusted, loved and fiercely protected by their communities so they can do their jobs: providing essential services and protection to the communities they serve.
Until then I get to worry that, even though we have the privilege of living in an area with great local police, if my son who is half latino stays outside enough and gets a little too brown or ends up in the wrong area or hangs with brown or black friends, he may feel he has to run when he sees the police instead of giving a friendly wave and a smile.
Here's hoping individual officers step up publicly, condemn this shooting, and reaffirm their own commitment to protecting the people they serve so we can restore a little sanity and start working on fixing our problems.
In the meantime, here's an incomplete but rolling recent list of "excessive use of force against minorities" incidents.
c/o The Chicago Tribune
FBI investigating death of teen shot 16 times by Chicago cop
Chicago police officers trailed the knife-wielding teen for nearly a half-mile last October, from a trucking yard where he'd allegedly been trying to break into vehicles through the parking lot of a Burger King and onto a busy street in the Archer Heights neighborhood.
...with family commentary on the settlement from the Chicago Sun-Times.
c/o The Guardian
Michael Slager radioed in Taser claim six seconds after firing at Walter Scott:
Analysis of police audio synced with video raises further questions about whether officers performed any CPR on Walter Scott after he was shot eight times
c/o The Washington Post w/commentary via Daily Kos
Report confirms that police killed Natasha McKenna with her hands cuffed and legs shackled
A mentally ill woman who died after a stun gun was used on her at the Fairfax County jail in February was restrained with handcuffs behind her back, leg shackles and a mask when a sheriff’s deputy shocked her four times, incident reports obtained by The Washington Post show.
A mentally ill woman who died after a stun gun was used on her at the Fairfax County jail in February was restrained with handcuffs behind her back, leg shackles and a mask when a sheriff’s deputy shocked her four times, incident reports obtained by The Washington Post show.
...and for a counterpoint of police restraint when "white people be crazy":
c/o CNN
Christian family band members in deadly parking lot brawl aka: "Brawlmart"
Arizona investigators have released dramatic video of a Walmart parking lot brawl that left a police officer wounded, one man dead, and reportedly involved members of a Christian family band.
Arizona investigators have released dramatic video of a Walmart parking lot brawl that left a police officer wounded, one man dead, and reportedly involved members of a Christian family band.
c/o mLive
Tense encounter between open-carry advocate and Kalamazoo police detailed in recordings, reports
Police reports and recordings of a sometimes tense 40-minute encounter with a belligerent, rifle-toting man offers insight into how officers tried to defuse a volatile situation without infringing on his right to openly carry the gun on a city street.
Police reports and recordings of a sometimes tense 40-minute encounter with a belligerent, rifle-toting man offers insight into how officers tried to defuse a volatile situation without infringing on his right to openly carry the gun on a city street.
...with some commentary via Daily Kos
....aaaaaand for what happens when the good ones stay silent. The bad ones speak up
Supervisors told to falsify reserve deputy's training records; department announces internal review
Supervisors at the Tulsa County Sheriff’s Office were ordered to falsify a reserve deputy’s training records, giving him credit for field training he never took and firearms certifications he should not have received, sources told the Tulsa World. Bates, 73, is accused of second-degree manslaughter in the shooting death of Eric Harris during an undercover operation on April 2.
....aaaaaand for what happens when the good ones stay silent. The bad ones speak up
Supervisors told to falsify reserve deputy's training records; department announces internal review
Supervisors at the Tulsa County Sheriff’s Office were ordered to falsify a reserve deputy’s training records, giving him credit for field training he never took and firearms certifications he should not have received, sources told the Tulsa World. Bates, 73, is accused of second-degree manslaughter in the shooting death of Eric Harris during an undercover operation on April 2.
