It is unfortunate that there is mistrust in the black community towards the police. It’s also unfortunate that, in general, the most dangerous neighborhoods for police officers to patrol are those which are heavily black.
Of course, it should not be too hard to make a connection here… if law-abiding citizens are afraid to call the police or assist them (due to increased fear of being mistaken for suspects, or the perception that the police are chasing or detaining someone because s/he is black rather than because s/he is committing an actual crime), then criminals have more freedom to commit crimes.
The girlfriend stated today that he told them to put their hands up, then he asked for id, which is when he informed him he had a weapon. Why in the world would you have to have your darn hands up during a traffic stop for a busted tail light?
If you listen to the video, the girlfriend is so composed, the officer has lost it. Are you kidding me? You are supposed to be trained and vetted.
I am tired of the endless loops of this murder. News organizations loop our deaths like its no big deal. Its just like the mass shootings, eventually we become desensitized. I call it tragedy porn, and it needs to stop. It was awful that NY Daily News decided it was okay to publish that cover. Its disrespectful to the family.
I have no sense that things will change. Heck there was more outrage when Cecil the Lion, and Harambee were killed.
Yes, it’s clear that the officer is just realizing the consequences of what he’s done, and he can’t believe it himself.
I understand your feelings that it’s “tragedy porn,” but the alternative is that no one pays attention, and I don’t think you want that either.
Now CNN is reporting that the officers involved in this Louisiana shooting have been investigated 5 times for excessive use of force. The video of the police shooting in Minnesota yesterday after pulling an AA couple and their child over for a broken taillight appears to be just as terrible.
Something has to be done about this. I understand that police have a very difficult job, but the almost daily string of video taped shootings for DWB can not be allowed to continue.
It seems to me that the rules for when an officer’s gun can be drawn need to be more restrictive. Once an officer draws his/her gun, it is easy to shoot someone by mistake. When that happens, it appears that to avoid prosecution, an officer only has to say that he/she made a split second judgment and made a mistake. Once again, the officer walks away and another person, usually an AA, is dead.
I understand that mistakes are made, but the frequency of this is way too high, and the disproportionate targeting of AA’s in these incidents is completely unacceptable.
The frequency would be greatly diminished if a few of these trigger-happy officers actually landed in prison and were locked for life.
The Baton Rouge police officers had each only been on the job for 2 years or so. How could they get 5 citations for excessive force in such a short period of time and still be on the job?
I also read that the man killed in Minnesota had just come from having his hair done for his birthday. Unbelievable.
A relevant article, indicating that, in Chicago, there seems to be a small number of officers who attract a large percentage of the misconduct complaints:
http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/how-to-predict-which-chicago-cops-will-commit-misconduct/
Some police departments evidently do not have very high standards.
These videos make me cry.
Until the police in this country stop protecting their own weak links, things won’t change. They need to change from within and not abide these failures in the system.
I would encourage everyone to watch this officer call out fellow officers, and calls for making the community more accountable. Her video went viral.
And to think Jesse gave his speech before such shocking events. And I say shocking not in the acts of violence against black people – which we’ve all become more aware of and perhaps some of us desensitized – but shocking in how it snapped me out of this “fairy tale” of a carefree and self-loving lifestyle. If any people of color can relate, please let me know, but it’s like when you personally choose to block out any prejudices, influences, and stereotypes and decide to embrace who you are one hundred and ten percent…your spirit is lifted…you are sure and certain of who you are and what you’re capable of…and then the winds change.
And you’re reminded of how people perceive you and people who look like you. You’re reminded of their comments and their opinions. It feels like a warm summer rain shower, the ones where the sun is out and the rain is light and plentiful. You’re overjoyed and you run into it, letting the rain soak your hair as you squish your feet into the mud. It’s refreshing and its youthful. Just one though on your mind is enjoying yourself. Then you look over and see those who you were previously with huddled in their ponchos under an umbrella. They look at you with strange eyes, slowly your smiles fades, and you notice muddle splatters trail from your toes all the way to your waist. And you are suddenly hyper aware of your situation.
It’s not that playing in the rain is bad. It’s not that people can’t stay dry if they want to. It’s the sudden awareness that you’re not doing what others want you to do. That you’re not acting how others want you to act. That you are not what you’re supposed to be, where you’re supposed to be. It’s the awareness that you feel misplaced and dare I say not accepted under the circumstances. When will we be able to just “be”?
And the fact that our blackness is too hard to swallow, that those who’ve clenched it between their back molars, holding it down until they can’t hold it any longer, it escaping in the last moments – fight or flight – are in such depths of denial that they allow themselves to rip men, woman, and children from their loved ones lives. I’ve been snapped out of my trance.
I don’t know what to do our how to act. I always had faith that justice would come with evidence. Always saying with the next shooting, “Ah, but the video is less shaky this time. Two different angles were caught. And this person didn’t have a criminal record. Just maybe…”
I get the point about the disproportionate numbers now, I apologize for my faulty logic. Thank you to the posters who corrected it. Though I’m sure we’re all aware which race disproportionately commits the highest number of violent crimes, which I would venture to guess has some role in at least some (granted, not all) of the killings. http://www.amren.com/news/2015/07/new-doj-statistics-on-race-and-violent-crime/ But I could be wrong of course. You all are experts on police workings and crime.
As for my remarks on guns, my point was that making generalizations about any group is stupid, white, black, gun owning, police, etc. I was throwing out some of the stereotypes some people had previously made about gun owners who carried them in public and cops to show that you can’t just stack people in neat little piles and treat them the same - which is exactly the issue you all are upset about here. I wasn’t suggesting that he should have shot at the police or anything like that. I made no mention of race in my previous discussions of guns because it shouldn’t make a difference - Americans are Americans, and we should have the right to carry guns. But I see that some people seem to think that white=racist, so I guess my opinion doesn’t matter since I am automatically branded a racist because of the color of my skin. I guess “if you can dish it out, you should be able to take it” is the mentality.
There are huge issues with this shooting, and the one in Minnesota. They are terrible and if racism is the cause, then the cops involved should be prosecuted. I hope as much as you all do that justice prevails and racism stops being the root of crime.
Blacks also overindex in terms of violent crimes they commit. Both things can be simultaneously true - they can overindex in terms of committing crime, and they can also overindex in terms of being victims of police shootings. Two wrongs don’t make a right.
^ Agreed.
Re: #71 and http://www.amren.com/news/2015/07/new-doj-statistics-on-race-and-violent-crime/
Not sure it helps your credibility to reference a site that says at http://www.amren.com/about/issues/ :
So now a bunch of idiots are spreading rumors that bus loads of black people are coming to Baton Rouge for a “purge” like in the movie.
It’s like some folks cannot accept the fact that we have had peaceful protests here thus far. Surely all these people of color can’t gather like this without causing some sort of violence.
Oh, MY, albert. I poked around that site and here’s what it says:
I certainly hope this isn’t a site you spend a lot of quality time with. Kind of sounds like white supremacists who haven’t quite settled on how they feel about the gays and the Jews.
If that culture is one of racism, I guess it’s a good thing that it’s getting swallowed up. Besides, I think the stats themselves were from the DoJ. No, that was just the first site that popped up from my search with the numbers. I can find another if you like.
No, that’s fine. I just feel a little better that it’s not a site you frequent.
Not at all! I didn’t think to look if it was that kind of site because I was just looking for an article about that topic. Many sites have covered it. But whatever, like you said it doesn’t make the killings right at all.