Because our law enforcement officers are issued guns that does not mean they have the right to use them. Their training is inadequate, and all candidates should be forced to undergo comprehensive psychological testing.

It is rare when a member of law enforcement receives punishment for what is obviously murder. A citizen not wearing a uniform, who committed the same act, would receive a long sentence in prison, or worse.

The entire system must believe that the American public is blind and stupid. Video doesn’t lie; and the system doesn’t work.

The Black Lives Matter movement began because of the untimely deaths of several black people at the hands of the authorities. This article reveals that it could happen to anyone. This is not meant to deny the fact that overall blacks are treated differently than whites; that is an undeniable fact. This is meant to illustrate the fact that more Americans distrust the authorities than trust them; it only takes one bullet to end a life.

59-year-old David Kassick was a white man. His mistake was running away from a Pennsylvania police officer after a traffic stop. Video shows Officer Lisa Mearkle, a 37-year-old veteran of the Hummelstown Police Department, tasering Kassick. While he was lying on the ground shaking violently, she continued to yell “show me your hands.” When he was unable to perform the act, she shot him twice in the back. He died on the scene.

No gun was found on Kassick, who had previously served 10 years in a federal prison involving the sale of heroin.

At Mearkle’s trial, an 11-hour deliberation by the jury found the Officer not guilty of all charges. Really!

This is standard for officer-involved shootings; they never pay for their crimes.

Friday, in a Democratic Forum held in South Carolina, Hillary Clinton called for a complete revision of law enforcement policy, including more extensive training. She said that firing a weapon should be the final choice, not the first, second or third.

While many in the GOP, and its propaganda machine FOX Noise deny that there is need for change in law enforcement, and that blacks receive harsher treatment than whites, the facts are there. The truth cannot be denied when video is revealed. The only difference between now and when I was a young man growing up in West Los Angeles in the 1950’s and 60’s is that everyone has a camera.

Tarantino is to be commended for telling the truth, while the right wing remains in denial.

Op-Ed

By James Turnage

Source
Photo Courtesy of Zach Zupancic

Author’s Page http://www.amazon.com/By-James-turnage/e/B00LOCJ2Z2