On March 27, Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry announced that his office would not bring criminal charges against the two police officers who shot and killed Alton Sterling as he lay pinned by them to the ground in front of a convenience store in Baton Rouge.
We’re facing, or rather, we need to facing, among other essential questions, a dearth of documentation regarding police department hires of vets of foreign wars who are dealing with PTSD; what the policies are regarding those contracts.
We need regular [semi-annual ?] review of the 1033 program that has been MILITARIZING police forces with often brand new equipment that is now long overdue for in depth analysis.
ACLU review of status of 1033
Under Trump: Retired Police Major: Police Militarization Endangers Public Safety
Think its nothing worth analyzing? read the reports at Fiscal Times
In my opinion we also need to establish institutional policies that are preventative in nature. If an officer is found to:
have LIED about the circumstances of a killing - like we citizens who pay their salaries, should be placed under arrest for the duration of fact-finding investigation, stripped of their weapons and badge and jailed. No more assurances that other citizens are denied. The badge and service are fully honored as long as that honor is mutually exercised.
Pending court findings, if guilty of murder, nationally blacklisted to prevent their hire anywhere else; not permitted to buy or own a gun; …[other additional penalty]
a) This places in stark juxtaposition the priorities of accountability and the nature of local, state and national policy and record keeping/sharing/accountability.
Establish community committee police oversight engagement, with regular meetings with psychiatric and ecumenical presence which an offending officer is required to attend weekly for one year. (or variation of three elements: to make the offending officer answerable to the community; to have this with medical counselling and meetings with the presence of psychologist/counsellor and ecumenical presence.
The numbers of people of color shot to death by police is an epidemic! The impunity with which those killings/murders are committed is an obscenity; a pattern that makes a mockery of "to protect and serve, and the pretense of “justice for all”! The pattern of institutionalized police brutality is a national disgrace!
The so-called “training” of cops is not all incompetent, it is complicit to the inherent depraved indifference of too many cops for the lives of their victims, an indifference the “blue wall of silence” and culture will not address - good cops are tainted and inculcated into the violence dominated mindset!
The usual lies are “we thought he had a gun”, “we were afraid for our lives”, " the victim charges us in an aggressive manner" - all such claims are LIES! Trained BS to justify contempt for life and an MO of violence that INDUCES people to “resist” - NO person can nor react to violent smashing into the ground - the “takedown” almost all interactions now include!
Criminal killer cops are exonerated or not charged at all for thousands of unnecessary and intentional and created by their own actions killings/murders! Mostly black and Latino people as well as whites are victims of the epidemic of murder by cop with ZERO accountability OR truth!!
http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-police-deaths-20160707-snap-htmlstory.html
Although I agree with your analysis generally, I think vets with PTSD that might become cops are not the killer perp-cops by and large - they are victims of violence and brutality. “If vets say they’re suffering from any symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder, NYPD recruiters will likely turn them away.”
“there’s the case of a white cop (vet) who did not shoot a black man holding a gun — and it may have cost him his job.”
Cops who are vets may be just depraved racists and murderers TRAINED to be violent, that killed in war and now have brought their contempt for the lives of others - not necessarily victims of PTSD - they killed “the enemy” abroad and now come home to American cities and towns.
I agree with the fundamental premise that ANYONE who is a killer is a victim but also subject to societal sanction - which should not be a private prison system - a complete distortion of the meaning of societal sanction - it must not be profit driven.
It seems to me the question is whether or not we establish that the tasks of police are PEACE KEEPING first and foremost not making war, killing or destroying in any way shape or form. And how do we structure institutions to hold that as functional premise.
As one young woman recently stated: “You cannot have the police police the police”.
This article should be about murder. Yet the language used includes phrases like:
“Not charging the white officers,” which leaves a blank regarding what they might be charged for.
“Unlawful use of excessive and deadly force,” which not only makes it clear the author is afraid to use the M word, but which leaves open the possibility for excessive deadly force that is lawful.
“failure to hold police accountable,” which puts the merited punishment for the murders in the same category as what should happen to the mayors, attorneys general and everyone else who has the power to stop the murders and decides not to use the power.
“a death threat is not an acceptable warning,” as if what is really needed is more training to make sure officers understand this.
“address and dismantle the conditions,” as if what were really called for here were a study conducted by a think tank that may (or may not) lead (eventually, at some point) to some changes, maybe in police training, maybe in the way further murders are investigated, but not necessarily to charges of what, when committed by any other person would be CAPITAL MURDER.
This is one of the more outraged writers on the topic I have come across. Yet when even the language of the most outraged is this wishy-washy and permissive, what should we conclude?
Another sad day in the USA. Another person becomes a police officer’s prey. The emerging iconography of the USA: Armored Police Vehicle; ICE Raid; Opioid Addict; Prison Cell; AR-15. Signs of the nightmarish American Dream.
The 1033 program is tied directly to the war on drugs hysteria and that fear mongering is the basis of public support for the program itself. The USA populace has clamored for, voted, and demanded itself into servitude long ago.
I might get banned for this post, but I don’t care; although I agree with the progressive movement on a lot of issues (especially the important ones), I am not “doctrinaire”. I reside in Louisiana, so I have followed this story. I don’t see a problem with the cops not getting charged. Sterling was reported as waving a gun around, and then when the police came to deal with it and put him into custody he resisted. Yes, it would be great if cops could somehow handle these situations better, but this is the way it is. And yes, there are a lot of legitimate cases of cops committing malpractice (e.g., Philando Castille in MN), but this isn’t one of them.
There’s that “faith” thing again.
I hope you’re right but personally, I really am beginning to wonder about the whole karma thing.
