I. The Surrender Position Is Not a Panacea for African Americans
Charles Kinsey, a 47-year-old behavioral therapist helping an autistic patient, was on his back, with his hands in the air, yelling "Don't shoot!," yet North Miami Officer Jonathan Aledda, shot him in the leg anyway. Kinsey was heard describing his job and telling the officer(s) that his patient had a toy truck in his hands, yet the officer fired.
The local police union has claimed that Aledda meant the bullet for Kinsey's patient because he feared that he, himself, might be shot; however, why did he then turn over a bleeding Kinsey and handcuff both him and the patient? Officer Aledda would have then known that the patient and the therapist represented no threat to him, so why should he handcuff both men? Also, why didn't Aledda apologize once he had recognized his tragic mistake?
Commander Emile Hollant has been suspended without pay for radioing in misinformation that the patient was reloading a gun and later lied about it.
One hopeful sign in this matter is that the local SEIU union recognized the need for police unions to stop defending dangerous cops.
II. Teacher Manhandled and Subjected to Racist Haranguing
Breaion King, a 2nd grade teacher, was violently thrown to the ground twice by Officer Bryan Richter. The incident happened thirteen months ago but Austin, Texas Police Chief Art Acevedo said he only saw the video a week ago. Chief Acevedo said he was sorry for what happened to King.
Breaion King was stopped for going 50 in a 35 mph zone. Officer Richter said he reached for King's left arm and she began reaching for the front passenger side of the vehicle. He said he did not know if a weapon was there. King was pulled out of her vehicle and thrown to the ground.
After King is seated in the back of the police vehicle, she asks Officer Patrick Spredlin if he believes that there is racism. Spradlin says he does but that it goes both ways. He then asks King:"Why are so many people afraid of black people?" King replies that she is still trying to figure that out, drawing a reply from Spradlin that it might be due to "violent tendencies." He goes on to say that white people are afraid of black people because 99% of the time you hear about that it is the black community being violent.
Chief Art Acevedo says that Spradlin's comments are not reflective of other Austin police officers, but the public has been exposed to many instances of racist behavior in law enforcement agencies.
The only punishment meted out to Officer Richter was that he was ordered to receive more training and counseling. That situation may be changed, as Travis County District Attorney Rosemary Lehmberg has asked police to conduct a criminal investigation.
III. Some Observations on the Above
In a poll, 71% of respondents said that videos should be released immediately after a police incident. The King case represents at least the third time videos have been withheld for a year or more. One of those cases was when the Chicago Police Department withheld from public view the shooting of Lequan McDonald. Another withholding concerned the shooting of an African American in his own driveway. That video was reportedly withheld because it was too gruesome to show to the family. On balance, it would seem to be the case that releasing videos as soon as possible would reduce the perception that the police are covering up.
In a recent poll, 85% of whites said that the police made them feel "mostly safe." A little over 50% of African Americans made the same response. A poll taken in 2010 found 30% of respondents agreeing that the U.S. had a racial problem. A PBS/Marist poll taken in December 2015, asking the same question, found 60% agreeing there is a racial divide. Despite the attempts to counter criticism of law enforcement officers by arguing that policing is a dangerous job and any abuse of power involves only a few bad apples, the two instances cited above help reinforce my belief that abuse of power and plain old racism by and among law enforcement officers is the primary cause of a widening racism divide.
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