NYTimes Opinion Piece by retired police captain: "We Must Stop Police Abuse of Black Men"

[ellenrr]

Author Eric Adams is the Brooklyn borough president, a retired New York Police Department captain and the co-founder of 100 Blacks in Law Enforcement Who Care.

"Hours after coming out of the police academy, I was told something as a new rookie officer: You’d rather be tried by 12 jurors than carried by six pallbearers. In my impressionable first days, I saw officers leave the precinct every day touching the lockers of their fallen brothers. They started their shift on the defensive, thinking about protecting themselves, as opposed to the communities they served, regardless of the complexion of those communities. One of my white fellow officers once told me that if he saw a white individual with a gun, he took extra care for himself and the individual. When he saw a black individual with a gun, he took care only for himself.

These are the lessons to which I was exposed, and the reality of what policing communities of color has been, not just in New York City but across America. There is a legacy of inequity that did not just appear overnight, but was carved into the culture of law enforcement over decades."

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/05/opinion/we-must-stop-police-abuse-of-black-men.html

[gollygee]

1. Huge K&R

It isn't just mean people. It's institutionaized. This is how racism works. It's taught, backed up and built into systems. Perpetuated generation after generation.

[ellenrr]

3. quote by NYC Mayor Bill De Blasio:

"Hundreds of years of racism have brought us to this point."

I agree.
50 years ago I began my life as an activist protesting a cop killing of an African American in Newark.
Nothing changes.
I'm thrilled by all the people in the street, now, and esp. by the shutting down of highways, and the support from places like Netherlands and Japan.
But I don't see how all of this is going to translate into changing the system and the immunity of the cops.

[marym625]

2. Thank you, ellenrr

K&R +1000

I wish that an officer, not retired, would speak out. There are quite a few retired officers, high officials included, that are speaking out. A couple even protesting. But I have yet to see one current officer official condemn what is going on, the blatant racism and police brutality

[ellenrr]

4. It would take a very brave person to do that.

They would be ostracized, moreover, it would put their life in danger, from other cops.

[marym625]

6. Yes, it would

But isn't that part of the job, bravery?

I understand why they haven't. It's a horrible position. But I bet if they got together and took a stand, even more would. So many are saying it in whispers.

It's a wish. Not something I think would come true

[BumRushDaShow]

9. Some are

on progressive/black radio talk shows...

I even heard one last week indicate that from the testimony, Wilson claimed that his gun "clicked" after pulling the trigger when there was purportedly a couple empty rounds. He and some later officers who called indicated that this model of gun does not "click" and went on to call out the mindset of many officers. I even heard an officer from Tupelo, MS call Joe Madison Thursday (on SiriusXM) to voice his disgust with the issue, notably the Cleveland fiasco.

[marym625]

15. That's awesome

Wish those were more publicized. Thanks for letting me know

[loyalsister]

16. Here's something a little closer to what you're looking for

This former LEO quit.....


Being a cop showed me just how racist and violent the police are. There’s only one fix.

I liked my job, and I was good at it.

But more and more, I felt like I couldn’t do the work I set out to do. I was participating in a profoundly corrupt criminal justice system. I could not, in good conscious, participate in a system that was so intentionally unfair and racist. So after five years on the job, I quit.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2014/12/06/i-was-a-st-louis-cop-my-peers-were-racist-and-violent-and-theres-only-one-fix/

[marym625]

17. Thank you.

I just replied to someone else on another thread that said he doesn't think "Black lives matter" is even a real thing. I am going to edit and add what you just posted. But I doubt it will do any good. It's been addressed time and time again and hasn't changed anything.

Thanks for the article!

[Baitball Blogger]

5. "There is a legacy of inequity that did not just appear overnight"

So true.

[myrna minx]

7. K&R n/t

[ellenrr]

8. the author Eric Adams is going to be on radio station WNYC shortly.

wnyc is having a 2-hour special on the situation.

I'm not a fan of Brian Lehrer, or wnyc, but it is interesting.

[BeyondGeography]

10. Eric Adams is a good and thoughtful man

K&R

[ellenrr]

11. this wnyc show is bullshit. Good to know that my low opinion of Brian Lehrer stands.

they talk about all these details. Anything so that they can avoid talking about the point- the point is 400 years of racism.
They talk about how people should just obey cops.
I'm sure if Eric Garner could have seen the future, he would have obeyed.
But he has probably been harassed by police for his whole life.
so maybe 100 times he obeyed, and maybe this was the 101 time, and he said, I am not going to comply any more. I've had enough.

that is the difference between him and me. I was raised to think of the cops as my friend. As a child I was told if you ever get lost go to a cop.
As I grew up, I learned they are not my friend either. (at least not when I'm protesting.). Altho I've had a few negative encounters with cops, it hasn't been anything to the degree that most Black people have.

[Enthusiast]

12. Kicked and recommended!

Thank you, ellenrr.

[Sedona]

13. the most important points in this piece

"Open, preliminary hearings in court can and should determine if a case should be stepped up to a trial. Additionally, the handling of police shootings should be wholly separated from local grand juries. These bodies cannot handle cases involving local police officers on whom they rely every day.

Special grand juries should be convened for police-related incidents, and independent agencies must gather evidence even before they convene, at the time of police encounters where a death has occurred; the evidence gathered at that moment is the evidence that will shape whether there is an indictment, as well as whether there will be a fair trial based on the facts"

[mountain grammy]

14. K & R Read it all, it's an excellent piece!