I have maintained for years that law enforcement is poorly trained. I’m not discussing the FBI, or specially trained individuals within our cities, I’m talking about patrol officers and even detectives in many of our nation’s communities both large and small.
Maybe I watch too many episodes of “Dateline,” or “48 Hours,” but many of them have one thing in common; inadequate investigation. I know they’re television shows meant to entertain. The one thing many of them have in common is shown on actual interview tapes. When the police believe they have the person who committed the crime, they fail to investigate anyone else or search for other clues than those related to that one person. They are frequently mistaken, and the actual criminal is never found, while a likely innocent person goes to jail.
Black men and women are too frequently mistreated by law enforcement. A lack of sufficient training results in the use of lethal force on far too many occasions.
By November of this year more than 1,000 people had been killed by law enforcement; Nearly 200 were completely unarmed. 90 percent of them are men. Blacks are killed more often than whites at a rate of 2.5 to one.
On Monday a Texas Grand Jury revealed that no one in law enforcement will be prosecuted for the death of Sandra Bland, a black activist.
On July 10 of this year Ms. Bland was pulled over by a Texas State Trooper. The charge was an improper lane change. The dashcam on the officer’s vehicle recorded the incident. She claimed that she was moving out of the officer’s way; the situation became confrontational, and she was taken into custody. Three days later, when she was unable to pay a $500 bail charge, she was found dead in her cell. It was death by hanging and labeled a suicide. Her family claimed that she was not suicidal.
The testimony was not heard by the public, and the family has challenged the system, and is filing a civil suit for wrongful death.
“Right now, the biggest problem for me is the entire process. I simply can’t have faith in a system that’s not inclusive of my family that’s supposed to have the investigation,” Bland’s mother Geneva Reed-Veal said, according to KPRC.
Law enforcement is seldom indicted for the death of a citizen. Even when videos prove that a wrongful death has occurred, the officer or officers involved are seldom punished.
Why is lethal force the first option? Should every law enforcement officer be armed with a weapon of mass destruction? Isn’t it logical that more inclusive training be the priority? Why doesn’t every candidate undergo a psychological evaluation before they are issued their weapon?
The motto of the Los Angeles police when I grew up was “To Serve and Protect.” I’m not sure that applies any longer.
Black people in America do not fear ISIS as much as they fear the law enforcement officers in their community. That’s not the way it’s supposed to be.
Op-Ed
By James Turnage
Photo Courtesy of Tony Webster
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