Recently a man called 911 and told dispatch he was going to kill himself. Police were dispatched, and within a few minutes the officer had shot the suicidal man. Adding one more to the number of suicidal people killed by the police. Whatever training our officers have received, it would seem axiomatic that sending an armed officer to confront an armed suicidal person is going to lead to shots being fired and a death.
There have been a number of shootings in my area over the past year. Two of them have been ruled unjustified. Yet no punishment has been meted out to the officers who did the shooting. If an officer commits a sexual offense they are processed through the judicial system very quickly, losing their job and being sent to jail or prison. It would seem that taking a life deserves even more judicial attention and consequences.
There has been a continuing trend since 9-11 to make police, or any kind of security forces, more robust and to allow them more leeway in the use of force, in some cases, overwhelming deadly force. This increasing militarization of police forces has led to police using tank like vehicles on occasion to try to stop criminals. We were treated to one such chase on the interstate system last year. The man was stopped, and apparently wielded a gun at an officer and he was shot by officers. Another man was pursued along the interstate, when he was finally stopped, he got out of his vehicle and police shot him. They stated they thought he was armed. Eighteen months ago, police raided a house to serve a warrant. One officer was killed and several wounded. The accused eventually hanged himself in jail. The fourth hanging at the jail in the last several months. The suspect in this case has been vilified in the press, even after he died, the county attorney continued to release information about the shooting that told the officers side of the story. There is no doubt in many peoples minds the police did not handle the service of the warrant very well, resulting in a massive shootout in a quiet neighborhood.
3 years ago a man was tasered while having a medical event and died. One of several deadly tasering incidents. We have had one police force have over one hundred drug cases thrown out because of police misconduct on the cases. One of their cases involved the shooting, and killing, of an unarmed woman.
Since 9-11 most police forces across the country have used homeland security grants to beef up their supply, and types of weapons, vests, and other tactical gear. So now it is a common sight to see SWAT type forces responding to situations.
At the national level we now know more about the kind of data gathering that goes on, as the government surveils blameless citizens. The FBI, under J. Edgar Hoover, became a very corrupt organization that was incredibly adept at spying on innocent citizens and has never been completely cleaned up. We have also added Homeland Security to the mix, and the CIA has always been allowed wide leeway in their information gathering. All these organizations get massive funding to help protect us from terrorist threats and attacks. With most of what they do hidden from public knowledge and scrutiny. This secretiveness and willingness to look at individuals electronic lives is at work at state and local levels too. Our former police chief wanted to have a small blimp to help spy on the most crime prone part of our city. Our local newspapers online edition, prints mugshots of people who have been cited for low level misdemeanors. Ensnaring the person in a financial tangle to get the photos removed from sites that put them up and won't remove them without being paid. Police drive through parking lots and along streets photographing license plates indiscriminately. The information gathering in the name of keeping us safe has grown exponentially since 9-11, along with a more robust use of police power.
Utah is a small state, population wise, yet we have more and more heavy police use in what used to be very low threat situations. There was a real rush to pass legislation at every level after 9-11. Much of it being passed without proper study and thought. Some has been reviewed and fixed, much has not.
The pendulum has swung too far to the side of overly zealous police presence, enforcement, and information gathering. Much of it is being given a pass by the legal system. The time has come for the nations citizens to begin to ask for, and receive, more thoughtful and restrained policing at every level.
No comments:
Post a Comment