Dear List, You know, I fail to see any relevance in playing the game of which city has better cops. That gets us nowhere fast. We just want to get Minneapolis cops to the point where Minneapolis residents feel safe with THEM patrolling OUR streets. Minneapolis residents live in Minneapolis, not Chicago or LA.
And, just maybe we should really look at what our mellow sister city St. Paul is doing and emulate them. I am not saying they are perfect, but they have a better reputation at present. And I strongly disagree with Michael. People do not want to face up to this reality, but I feel quite strongly that race and mental health DO have a lot to do with it. Plus, by concentrating mental health residents in low income communities, coupled with high minority populations, the excuse can be used more often than not that the police had to defend themselves and the community from harm. How many of these types of incidences have occurred in Kenwood, Prospect Park, Linden Hills, etc., to name a few other communities? It is as if the Central, Phillips, Whittier, Stevens Square, etc., neighborhoods are being set-up in advance as target practice. The residents in these latter communities know EXACTLY what time it is. They are trying to help prevent future catastrophes like this by stopping the proposed Lydia House Project. This murderous situation has escalated to the point where Minneapolis cannot make anymore excuses for itself. It cannot blame the residents for thinking that by police not using other known methods to avoid taking a life that they are committing outright murder. Residents are correct in saying they do not feel safe. I am the mother of a 20 year old African American male. He is very kind, gentle and peaceful young man, and has never done anything to harm another soul. I fear for his life simply because of his color, but my fears escalate because he is in Minneapolis, and thereby, in the realm of the police force. If something ever happened to him that was without cause, I would never settle for the type of routine injustice that the city of Minneapolis has routinely meted out to victims families and the public a-large. Some say what will marching on city hall do? Perhaps the same thing that the investigation by the sheriffs office will accomplish. Absolutely nothing. But there are other things that can be done, and people should not let the matter rest. It is time for the city to come correct with its police force. The time for retribution has come due. Pamela Taylor (A not-so-nice Minnesotan living in Tampa, FL) --- Anderson & Turpin <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Excellent post, Michael. I concur with your last > sentence particularly. > Mpls cops are definitely better than LA or Chicago > cops. Some of the posts > here have said how bad Mpls cops are compared to > other cities. Where are > these paradises where police can disarm crazy people > with no loss of life? > Name some cities. Actually, to answer my own > question, St. Paul seems to > have a little more mellow cops. But that may be > because it is simply a > little less rough over there - it's a more mellow > city all around. ------------------------------------------------------ > I believe that the death in this latest incident had more to do with the weapon, then with race or mental health. > If there had been no weapon and they'd shot him, I'd most likely be marching with you. > > > > Michael Atherton > > Prospect Park > > __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Sports - live college hoops coverage http://sports.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
