Tag Archives: Police brutality

Equality, Politics

The Unjust System

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There are some days when The Huffington Post really nails their front page.  Today would be one of them…

HuffPo For Real

Across the United States, many communities have already erupted in protest following the recent decision not to indict Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson after the death of young Michael Brown Jr.

Shortly before the grand jury decision was even issued in the Darren Wilson case, the city of Cleveland Ohio lost 12 year old Tamir Rice to the actions of yet another police officer… all because the boy was playing with a toy gun.  Evidence has already emerged from Cleveland.com that Tim Loehmann– the policeman responsible for Rice’s death, was previously found unfit to even be wielding a firearm in the first place by his former Deputy police chief in 2012.

And just yesterday, the country learned of yet more shocking news… police officers responsible for the death of 42 year old Eric Garner, taken down in a lethal choke hold after the unarmed man resisted arrest, will also not face a proper trial.  Learning of the decision, New York City immediately erupted in protests, with more across the country sure to follow.

Garner’s tragic death was captured on video.  His last words as a living being on this planet captured for all of the world to see.

“I Can’t Breathe.”  

Even the person who filmed this viral footage, Ramsey Orta, was indicted on two felony counts… ones he claimed he was framed for by the officers involved.

Every minute of my life, I have had to wonder if I would ever be in a situation like that of Michael Brown Jr., Tamir Rice or Eric Garner.

Four times in my life, in two different states, I have been improperly and unjustifiably detained by police officers.  Each time, I was unarmed.  Each time, they were armed.  Each time, they had the ability to take my life.

Whatever the facts of any one particular case, these experiences are simply too much a commonality for certain segments of the American population. There is no other way to say it… the fear is real. Our friends, our neighbors are being profiled and unlawfully detained.  They are being beaten.  They are being killed at the hands of officers across this country.  Since 9/11, police forces have become increasingly militarized with unprecedented access to weaponry and training that would only be seen in the theater of war.   This is not normal, and it is not how you treat American citizens.

I pray for these families.  I also pray for our police officers.  For all of the ones that get up, work hard and risk their lives everyday to keep people safe, I pray for them and I thank them.

But among the vast majority of good, hard-working public servants, there are too many doing wrong to simply ignore.  These people are hiding in plain sight, and getting away with murder.  They may be protecting some communities, but if they are allowed to profile, harass and even kill people without consequence, then they deserve to not only be removed from the force, but brought to justice. Of course, doing so requires having a justice system that is not skewed in their favor.

The time for change is now.  We can’t stop with police body cameras.  We can’t condone profiling.  We can’t stop by a massive reexamination of our nation’s justice system.  We can’t allow police militarization to continue.  We can’t stop by simply asking police forces to return to a more community-centered structure.  We can’t stop by simply reforming police use-of-force practices.  We also can’t afford to keep sitting out on critical elections where we have the power to put people in office that truly listen to community concerns.  The struggle has to incorporate change at all levels.

So please… march. Protest. Blog. Vote. Support our officers that are doing their jobs.  Demand justice against those are abusing their immense privilege and responsibility.  Demand justice for those slain.

We need a new system.  We can’t breathe.

 

 

 

 

Equality, Politics

Language Unheard, Powers Unknown

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Before any comments on the aftermath of hearing the news that Officer Darren Wilson, killer of young Ferguson resident Michael Brown, will not be indicted on any charges, I want to offer my thoughts and prayers to all in Ferguson, Missouri. There’s no way around it… this decision has left many people all over the country confused, scared and angry.

But even in the wake of such difficulty, we must be very careful to not mistake the deeds of a few for behaviors condoned by an entire community.  There is a clear difference between riotous destruction and peaceful protests, as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. showed through his many years of practiced Civil Disobedience.  When asked about the effectiveness of violence vs. non-violence in a  1966 60 minutes interview, here is how Dr. King responded…

REV. MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. (speech): Now what I’m saying is this: I would like for all of us to believe in non-violence, but I’m here to say tonight that if every Negro in the United States turns against non-violence, I’m going to stand up as a lone voice and say, “This is the wrong way!”

KING (interview): I will never change in my basic idea that non-violence is the most potent weapon available to the Negro in his struggle for freedom and justice. I think for the Negro to turn to violence would be both impractical and immoral.

MIKE WALLACE: There’s an increasingly vocal minority who disagree totally with your tactics, Dr. King.

KING: There’s no doubt about that. I will agree that there is a group in the Negro community advocating violence now. I happen to feel that this group represents a numerical minority. Surveys have revealed this. The vast majority of Negroes still feel that the best way to deal with the dilemma that we face in this country is through non-violent resistance, and I don’t think this vocal group will be able to make a real dent in the Negro community in terms of swaying 22 million Negroes to this particular point of view. And I contend that the cry of “black power” is, at bottom, a reaction to the reluctance of white power to make the kind of changes necessary to make justice a reality for the Negro. I think that we’ve got to see that a riot is the language of the unheard. And, what is it that America has failed to hear? It has failed to hear that the economic plight of the Negro poor has worsened over the last few years.

WALLACE: How many summers like this do you imagine that we can expect?

KING: Well, I would say this: we don’t have long. The mood of the Negro community now is one of urgency, one of saying that we aren’t going to wait. That we’ve got to have our freedom. We’ve waited too long. So that I would say that every summer we’re going to have this kind of vigorous protest. My hope is that it will be non-violent. I would hope that we can avoid riots because riots are self-defeating and socially destructive. I would hope that we can avoid riots, but that we would be as militant and as determined next summer and through the winter as we have been this summer. And I think the answer about how long it will take will depend on the federal government, on the city halls of our various cities, and on White America to a large extent. This is where we are at this point, and I think White America will determine how long it will be and which way we go in the future.

As many in the media continue to focus on those that have resulted to destruction to deal with this outcome, their opaque lens has unfortunately done something else.  They are drowning out the voices of those that protested peacefully every day in Ferguson since the summer.  They are drowning out the movement to pass legislation like the Michael Brown, Jr. law that would require all police forces in the United States to be equipped with body cameras, and held to new levels of accountability.  They are drowning out people across this nation fighting for reforms in police protocol and a return to true partnerships between law enforcement and our communities. They may not get the same amount of coverage, but these are the voices that are exercising power that can affect change, and will last much longer than any display of violence.

In their official statement to the media, here are words from the parents of Michael Brown, Jr.

“We are profoundly disappointed that the killer of our child will not face the consequence of his actions.

While we understand that many others share our pain, we ask that you channel your frustration in ways that will make a positive change. We need to work together to fix the system that allowed this to happen.

Join with us in our campaign to ensure that every police officer working the streets in this country wears a body camera.

We respectfully ask that you please keep your protests peaceful. Answering violence with violence is not the appropriate reaction.

Let’s not just make noise, let’s make a difference.”

Lesley McSpadden and Michael Brown, Sr.
Parents of Michael Brown, Jr.

After the family’s statement, President Obama echoed their sentiments.

Please don’t take this post as a lecture to rioters or anyone else… simply an opinion.  The pain of this decision is real, and the divisions exposed within our communities have been very real and unavoidable.  We have every right to see the injustice that has been done, and be angry about it.  But if real change is the goal… if justice and a better, safer society for all is the goal… it cannot be accomplished through violence.  Those goals come through the powers of protest, petition and participation in our nation’s political process.  Sometimes it is very necessary to rock that political system, but it doesn’t have to be done by exhibiting force on the very communities one is said to be fighting for.

 

Houston, Houston Politics

Policing Issues– Cameras Will Help, But What Next??

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In the wake of recent protests in Ferguson, MO., there has been new attention placed on law enforcement interactions with citizens across the nation.  The increased scrutiny is also causing organizations like the Houston Police Department to quicken some of changes that they may have had planned down the line.  For HPD, those changes start with body cameras.  Here’s more from James Pinkerton of the Houston Chronicle…

Houston Police Chief Charles McClelland is asking City Hall for $8 million to equip 3,500 police officers over three years with small body cameras to record encounters between law enforcement and residents as a way of improving accountability and transparency.

Last December, McClelland announced a pilot program that fitted 100 officers with the recording devices at a cost of $2,500 per officer, explaining that body cameras were more likely to record officers’ contact with residents than dashboard cameras in patrol cars.

[…]

Proponents of body cameras – roughly the size of a pager that can be clipped to the front of a uniform shirt- say the technology can be key in lowering use of force by police and citizen complaints. However, the effort to equip additional officers with the devices faces uncertainty as Mayor Annise Parker’s administration acknowledged Wednesday it is having trouble finding money to pay for the project.

The addition of body cameras has had some dramatic effects on other police forces, some of which have seen as much as an 88 percent decrease in complaints filed against the force within one year of deploying the technology.  Perhaps the best part of camera use is that what is records is objective… protecting good the good parties and exposing the bad on both sides.  They don’t take sides between the officer or the person filing the complaint… but merely show the truth of all altercations.    After the horrific and wholly unnecessary assault of Chad Holley, Houstonians already know the difference that one camera can make.

Cameras are a big step in the right direction, but they won’t solve all of the issues with contemporary policing.  HPD, and all area law enforcement agencies can do much more to make the region safer.

There is much more examination to be done on how, when and why police officers engage in brutality, and/or make the decision to take a life.  Many citizens assume from basic gun training that the police know to prioritize non-lethal force when interacting with a possible assailant. But as Dara Lind of Vox recently discovered, this is simply not the case with most law enforcement interactions…

In principle, when a cop fires a gun at a citizen, it’s so the officer can neutralize the threat — he’s not shooting to kill, per se. But in the two seconds that a cop actually has to make a decision, the most certain way for him to neutralize a threat is to aim for “center mass” on the civilian’s body, which is likely to be a lethal shot.

Cops in Richmond, California, have to go through firearms training once a month. But Chief Magnus says that even with that much training, the conditions an officer faces — everything from the stress of a confrontation, to the weather and the lighting — make it impractical for an officer to aim a shot somewhere other than the center of the body. “The notion that it’s possible to shoot somebody just to the level that they’re debilitated — to shoot a gun out of somebody’s hand, to shoot them in the leg — that is the stuff of TV and movies. That’s wildly unrealistic.”

Magnus’ department has a good track record when it comes to lethal force — Richmond officers haven’t killed any civilians since 2008. (Officers shot five suspects during that period, but they all survived.) But he says that once an officer has decided to use a gun at all, he’s deciding to use lethal force — and he needs to accept the consequences thereof. Even if the goal isn’t to kill the civilian,  “you have to accept that that is a very real possibility.”

But the question is whether the officer is thinking about questions of responsibility. That’s not something the force continuum teaches — it just talks about what’s authorized, not if there’s a better way to do things. Nolan, the former union official turned criminologist, thinks there’s a second level of questions that department policies don’t ask — leaving it up to the public to make sure they get answered: “Not only was it authorized and justifiable, and do we support it. But was it, under the circumstances, appropriate and necessary and warranted?”

Of course the culture of police militarization is bolstered, even self-perpetuated by the over-abundance of guns in the United States. Police would not have to always assume the worst if the country’s lawmakers were brave enough to pass sensible gun reforms.  But until that occurs, there will continue to be intense pressure on police to make very difficult judgement calls when out on the streets.

As addressed above, it may be time for a culture change in how police administer the use of force so that they can account for the safety of all parties, instead of just assuming every interaction will escalate into a deadly threat.  For these changes to happen, citizens must first raise the issue repeatedly in public forum. No better time than now, as we approach election season, to shine the light on how to improve law enforcement.

For more on body cameras, see Off the Kuff and Hair Balls– the Houston Press Blog.

Houston Politics

Houston Police Profile, Detain Innocent Man (Again)

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How many times is this going to happen before there are some changes at HPD??

From RawStory.com…

Police in Houston, Texas handcuffed, detained and searched the vehicle of an innocent man for over an hour this week, all because he gave change to a homeless person. According to Houston’s Channel 2 News, police wrongfully accused Greg Snider of giving drugs to the man who approached him and asked for change.

Snider said that he was pulling out of a parking deck and talking on his cell phone when a homeless man asked if he could spare any change. Snider rolled down his window, gave the man 75 cents and drove away.

Minutes later, a Houston police cruiser appeared in his rear-view mirror, blue lights blazing. He pulled over and was astonished to find himself face-to-face with a violently agitated officer.

“He’s screaming. He’s yelling. He’s telling me to get out of the car. He’s telling me to put my hands on the hood,” Snider recounted. “They’re like, ‘We saw you downtown. We saw what you did.’ And I was like, ‘Are you kidding me? I gave a homeless man 75 cents.’”

Officers dragged Snider from his car and cuffed him on the side of the road. At least 10 other police cruisers arrived at the scene and the officers spent an hour with drug-sniffing dogs, ripping apart the interior of Snider’s car and looking for drugs that weren’t there.

Finally, the police were forced to admit their mistake and let Snider go. He is considering legal action and was particularly put off that the cops seemed to find the whole thing funny.

This is precisely the problem with our current drug laws and enforcement culture. Instead of our police spending their time on solving serious crimes, they have been trained to devote most of it to an endless pursuit of minor offenders… so much so that they are willing to make mistakes like the arrest and detention of innocent citizens in the hopes of uncovering a major drug deal. And for the cop to witness the interaction in downtown Houston, and follow him onto the interstate instead of confronting him at the scene? Well, let’s just say it’s not only a waste of Mr. Snider’s time, but it’s also a complete waste of our tax money.

I too have been detained unfairly because an HPD cop thought I had drugs in my vehicle. Though unlike Mr. Snider, I was too scared to file a complaint, fearing possible retribution. Kudos to him for standing up against this atrocity.

Thankfully for Mr. Snider, the police owned up to their mistake on site. But what would’ve happened had they decided to formally arrest him and throw him in jail? For many people, an arrest record means that they are immediately at risk for losing their job. Once detained, that puts them at risk for eviction or foreclosure because they are unable to pay any of their bills on time. Just one unlucky encounter with a cop’s poor judgment can change the course of someone’s life for a long time.

Back before the election, I asked the Mayor about situations involving police mistreatment and brutality. She answered sincerely that steps have been taken to make filing a complaint against the department easier. But beyond changes outside of HPD, Mr. Snider’s incident reveals that much more work is still needed within to stop these abuses of power. I hope this becomes a priority in Parker’s third and final term.