The truth is many instances in the USA where an unarmed citizen is killed at the hands of police officers, the citizen is denied their constitutional rights. This applies to all ethnic minorities and the economic minorities of the homeless.
The findings for Ferguson, Missouri is important. It is important not just to the city of Ferguson, but, lawmakers both state and federal. These municipalities are still rebounding off fear and have armed their police as if military. There should be clear definitions of constitutional rights of minorities and the homeless and what that means to the police that enforce the laws of all levels of government. It has to translate into employment policies to be aggressive in hiring minorities officers. It also has to govern the clear misinterpretation of the laws that bring about death to citizens in need of a citation and/or escort to jail and/or a home.
When police become feared in a community we have witnessed minorities taking the law into their own hands as in New York City when two police officers were assassinated as they sat in their police vehicle.
There are all kinds of topics that can be addressed including minimal standards for officer safety including bullet proof glass in their vehicles and bullet proof vests in their uniforms. It may be states will have to tap their federal lawmakers to find funding to make these vital changes so police are protected to carry out laws in effective ways whereby the USA Constitution applies to all citizens lives and minor infractions of law doesn't translate into trial by police officer met with a death sentence.
March 4, 2015
By Julia Edwards
(Reuters) - The U.S. Justice Department (click here) has concluded that the Ferguson, Missouri, police department routinely engages in racially biased practices, a law enforcement official familiar with the department's findings said on Tuesday.
The investigation into the police department began in August after the shooting of unarmed African-American teen Michael Brown by a white police officer in Ferguson sparked national protests.
Analysis of more than 35,000 pages of police records found racist comments from officers as well as statistics that showed African-Americans make up 93 percent of arrests while accounting for only 67 percent of the population in Ferguson, the official said....
The findings for Ferguson, Missouri is important. It is important not just to the city of Ferguson, but, lawmakers both state and federal. These municipalities are still rebounding off fear and have armed their police as if military. There should be clear definitions of constitutional rights of minorities and the homeless and what that means to the police that enforce the laws of all levels of government. It has to translate into employment policies to be aggressive in hiring minorities officers. It also has to govern the clear misinterpretation of the laws that bring about death to citizens in need of a citation and/or escort to jail and/or a home.
When police become feared in a community we have witnessed minorities taking the law into their own hands as in New York City when two police officers were assassinated as they sat in their police vehicle.
There are all kinds of topics that can be addressed including minimal standards for officer safety including bullet proof glass in their vehicles and bullet proof vests in their uniforms. It may be states will have to tap their federal lawmakers to find funding to make these vital changes so police are protected to carry out laws in effective ways whereby the USA Constitution applies to all citizens lives and minor infractions of law doesn't translate into trial by police officer met with a death sentence.
March 4, 2015
By Julia Edwards
(Reuters) - The U.S. Justice Department (click here) has concluded that the Ferguson, Missouri, police department routinely engages in racially biased practices, a law enforcement official familiar with the department's findings said on Tuesday.
The investigation into the police department began in August after the shooting of unarmed African-American teen Michael Brown by a white police officer in Ferguson sparked national protests.
Analysis of more than 35,000 pages of police records found racist comments from officers as well as statistics that showed African-Americans make up 93 percent of arrests while accounting for only 67 percent of the population in Ferguson, the official said....
