It should come as no surprise to anyone that, over the past 5 years, we have witnessed a raft of police shootings, nationwide, resulting in the death of dozens of unarmed men, women and kids. Albeit that there are white males and an occasional female on the list, the preponderance of these victims are young black men (YBM's). The police and the media would have us believe that these individuals - with emphasis on the YBM's, were all thugs, crime driven individuals, a plague on society and well deserving of the fate handed out to them by well trained, professional police officers, committed to their motto - To Protect and To Serve. This position is undoubtedly not true and subsequent events, as they unfold over time clearly demonstrate the fallacy of the media hype.
This elaborate cover up is pervasive and encompasses all 50 states. Government officials, judges, upper and lower echelons of law enforcement pay homage to this process - protect the honor and the integrity of police officers, no matter what. Officers yield to rage, anger, emotional outbursts just as any other human being, so why should they be granted immunity from the rigors of the laws established to protect our society when they transgress. Well, they are, but after the media hype has settled and the event in question is swept to the background of peoples minds, the system quietly goes about trying to make amends for the officers' misdeeds - heck, crimes. Listed below is a schedule showing the total compensation dollars paid out to victims' families over the past 10 years. The amount is - a) not complete by any means; b) staggering, by any stretch of ones' imagination.
Settlement Compensation Dollars Paid to Families of
of Victims Killed or Injured by Unwarranted Police Action
Locations Dollars in Millions
New York City: 965.0
Illinois 526.0
- Chicago 450.0
- Cook County 76.0
California: 204.2
- Oakland 74.0
- LA Sheriff's Dept 54.0
- LA PD 54.0
- Ca. Highway Patrol 19.0
- Santa Anna PD 2.8
- San Diego PD .4
Philadelphia: 40.0
Dallas 21.0
Milwaukee 14.0
Denver 13.0
Baltimore 11.5
Cleveland 8.0
GRAND TOTAL - 1.8 Billion Dollars Paid out over 10 yrs $1,802.7
Source: www.beforeitsnews.com
www.oaklandpolicebeat.com
of Victims Killed or Injured by Unwarranted Police Action
Locations Dollars in Millions
New York City: 965.0
Illinois 526.0
- Chicago 450.0
- Cook County 76.0
California: 204.2
- Oakland 74.0
- LA Sheriff's Dept 54.0
- LA PD 54.0
- Ca. Highway Patrol 19.0
- Santa Anna PD 2.8
- San Diego PD .4
Philadelphia: 40.0
Dallas 21.0
Milwaukee 14.0
Denver 13.0
Baltimore 11.5
Cleveland 8.0
GRAND TOTAL - 1.8 Billion Dollars Paid out over 10 yrs $1,802.7
Source: www.beforeitsnews.com
www.oaklandpolicebeat.com
Clearly, this is not a complete total; several States and prominent cities are notably absent from this list. Consequently, we could conservatively project that over the past 10 years , Cities and States across the nation have paid out close to or maybe even more than 2 Billion Dollars in compensation to family members of victims killed or severely injured by wanton police action. Several questions and comments spring from this conclusion. This is a significant dollar payout, all made from the tax revenues of these cities - in other words, paid for by the citizens of those cities. Wouldn't it make sense for these municipalities to look for ways to reduce this Cash outflow? Identify the root cause of the problem and invoke the steps necessary to quell the issue; one would think, but sadly this is not the case. From Maine to California and everywhere in between, Judges, Mayors, Governors, the upper brass of the police forces, the police unions and last but not least, the citizenry itself support the exoneration of these rogue police officers, even as they launch that well rehearsed vilification process against the victims.
I have set forth this perspective before and will do it again because its recognition is critical to any solution that is forthcoming. Police officers are people - human beings, subject to the same failings and weaknesses as any other person. Giving them a badge and a gun and turning them loose in a city does not absolve them from these failings. And just as we make errors of judgement in hiring the CEO or the CFO for a large industrial conglomerate, in similar fashion, we make errors in hiring police officers. A CEO deemed to be incapable of adequately discharging his responsibilities as CEO, is summarily dismissed. That logic and process should also be applied to police officers. This approach would go a far way to healing the open wounds. Citizens would feel a sense of moral equity - Police officers are punished for the bad things they do, just as citizens are similarly punished. Citizens would no longer feel the need to take matters into their own hands and punish bad cops - that approach is wrong, compounded even further by the fact that they don't know who are the bad cops and invariably end up taking the life of some innocent person. Citizens and police would coalesce around what, ultimately, is good for the community; and all would be well ... better in our world. But sadly, there's no indication that any change is likely in the near future.
I have set forth this perspective before and will do it again because its recognition is critical to any solution that is forthcoming. Police officers are people - human beings, subject to the same failings and weaknesses as any other person. Giving them a badge and a gun and turning them loose in a city does not absolve them from these failings. And just as we make errors of judgement in hiring the CEO or the CFO for a large industrial conglomerate, in similar fashion, we make errors in hiring police officers. A CEO deemed to be incapable of adequately discharging his responsibilities as CEO, is summarily dismissed. That logic and process should also be applied to police officers. This approach would go a far way to healing the open wounds. Citizens would feel a sense of moral equity - Police officers are punished for the bad things they do, just as citizens are similarly punished. Citizens would no longer feel the need to take matters into their own hands and punish bad cops - that approach is wrong, compounded even further by the fact that they don't know who are the bad cops and invariably end up taking the life of some innocent person. Citizens and police would coalesce around what, ultimately, is good for the community; and all would be well ... better in our world. But sadly, there's no indication that any change is likely in the near future.
On Thursday afternoon James Blake, former top ranking US tennis star suddenly found himself thrown to the pavement in front of the Grand Hyatt Hotel - E 42 St. The victim of mistaken identity, the five officers who accosted Blake, were out of uniform, did not identify themselves and refused to listen to what he had to say - "... you shut your mouth..." they told him as he was pinned to the pavement. They "roughed him up" slammed him against the wall and placed him in handcuffs. Not until another officer, having recognized Blake and vocalized the error, did the incident subside and the handcuffs removed. No apologies from the 5 men who attacked him The travesties of this incident - and there is clearly more than one is NOT the mistaken identity - that we can understand, even though police officers are supposed to be careful and diligent. The travesties are - a) the manner in which the officers - all out of uniform, executed the confrontation with Mr Blake; b) not one of the "officers" apologized to James Blake for their error and the worst of all - the attempt by public officials to smooth over the situation - clean it up, if you will. Words like "... Mr Blake was incorrectly detained - really??? and when the error was discovered he was released with an apology..." "... the alleged suspect could have been his twin brother..." etc. All in an effort to hold the "officers" faultless for their brutish and unprofessional behavior.
Since yesterday afternoon, the media has been parading a host of talking heads, all attempting, in some fashion to hold Mr. Blake responsible for what occurred "... we need to hear the officers side of what actually happened..." Suddenly, James Blake - a Harvard educated tennis star/professional is not nearly as credible as 5 police officers who did just about everything WRONG in this situation and more than eager to be given the opportunity to explain their way out of the hole they dug for themselves. James Blake is a wealthy individual in his own right, nonetheless, the treatment he received will undoubtedly leave him in physical pain - hopefully with no permanent damage, for several days to come. He has every right to sue the city and the 5 police officers and no doubt he will. However, if the 5 officers are allowed to keep their jobs, to walk away as if this was just a normal day of policing in New York City, then - a) no lessons would have been learned; b) the city will again suck up another large settlement; c) five officers will walk free to launch their brutish behavior on some other hapless and unfortunate individual just going about their business.
Since yesterday afternoon, the media has been parading a host of talking heads, all attempting, in some fashion to hold Mr. Blake responsible for what occurred "... we need to hear the officers side of what actually happened..." Suddenly, James Blake - a Harvard educated tennis star/professional is not nearly as credible as 5 police officers who did just about everything WRONG in this situation and more than eager to be given the opportunity to explain their way out of the hole they dug for themselves. James Blake is a wealthy individual in his own right, nonetheless, the treatment he received will undoubtedly leave him in physical pain - hopefully with no permanent damage, for several days to come. He has every right to sue the city and the 5 police officers and no doubt he will. However, if the 5 officers are allowed to keep their jobs, to walk away as if this was just a normal day of policing in New York City, then - a) no lessons would have been learned; b) the city will again suck up another large settlement; c) five officers will walk free to launch their brutish behavior on some other hapless and unfortunate individual just going about their business.
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