While it is perhaps unfair to second guess individual police officers at this point in time so soon after a shooting, especially by us with scant knowledge, can we agree that there is room for improvement in both police performance and police oversight?
Unfortunately we will never know the truth. We will never feel confidence in the judgements made behind closed doors without the participation of the public. It is no consolation that the Hennepin Cty. Prosecutor and the Sherriff's Dept. will conduct an investigation. They hardly maintain "arm's length" relationships with MPD. Forget about Internal Affairs. CRA, even when it was fully funded? Ditto! Whether or not any of these agencies can perform an unbiased investigation is beside the point. They will be perceived by a large part of the populace as having a direct conflict of interest. Roseanne Campagnoli of the Sherriff's Dept. said for the press: "Anybody who is brandishing a machete and a crowbar in a public area needs to be taken seriously" I agree. To do otherwise would be foolish. What the police officers did not take seriously was the life of Abu Jeilani. To them he was just what Roseanne referred to: a man swinging a machete and crowbar. They did not see him as a mother's son, a member of a community, a woman's husband, a child's father, or just a human being in need of consideration that is not administerd through the barrel of a gun. One person referred to the MPD as being "trigger-happy". Another shot back "what need is there for an investigation when that is the attitude." Indeed! What need is there for an investigation when we have a police chief who all but exonerates officers while urging the public to withhold judgement before all the facts are known? The Mayor's announcement that the HCSD will undertake an independent investigation is about as consoling as Joe Duffy conducting a thorough investigation at City Hall in Regulatory Services. If past performance is any indication of the future, I wouldn't hold my breath in expectation of a thorough and unbiased investigation. More importantly, there will be no meaningful reform of police procedures, training, philosophy, reporting, etc until citizens are able to participate on an equal footing with politicians and police administrators in setting policy. If you accept the idea that you cannot understand what its like to put your life on the line as a cop then it must also be true in reverse for the cops. They need to understand what it means to be stopped on a daily basis for no reason other than the color of your skin. They need to feel what it is like to be made to lay face down on the pavement or told to sit on a curb while you watch your car be towed away for minor infractions. It might not hurt for them to have the cuffs put on REAL TIGHT and get yanked off the ground by the cuffs. It might be helpful for lone officers, one by one, to go into a setting where they are surrounded by eight to sixteen people wielding guns and shouting commands at them in a second language. How to explain schizophrenia or manic depression? Is talking about hearing voices that supercede anything they might tell you make sense. How do you explain the fact that every step and breath you have taken is foreordained and has brought you to this spot and you won't move for hell nor high water. Would it change anything? If one held a machete or a toy gun or was in a slow rolling car? What scares me about this police department is that it has the taste of blood in its mouth institutionally. The Crisis Intervention Training is something foisted on this Chief. He wanted this like he wanted a hole in the head. That is not meant to diss the cops who have taken the training. It's window-dressing to him. Public Relations. What he wants is to buy a new hovercraft or full riot gear for 600 officers that sits in an armory when it might do some good in a cop car's trunk on Chicago and Franklin where a confused man might be saved. We need new recruitment practices, new training, etc. We need to start from the ground up and build a new police force that reflects the community but first we need a vocal army of citizens who are sick of having blood on their hands from shared silence and who will speak for those who can speak no longer. Tim Connolly Citizen __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Try FREE Yahoo! Mail - the world's greatest free email! http://mail.yahoo.com/ _______________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest option, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
